Originally
posted by
Mr Snow:
I don't believe that much extra water is necessary, unless you're going someplace you could get lost. Maybe if you're not in good shape, or sweat more than normal, or... Depends on how far/where you're going. But I do agree wearing anything on your neck will get old fast, especially a water bottle.
I love this water bottle (1-liter Touch models):
http://www.sigg.com/ch-shop/en/classics.html
The nalgenes are nice as well.
When i go hunting (bowhunting) i carry my deer stand (grand old vision weighs 30 pounds), my bow/arrows, and my backpack. All told i am packing in about 60-70 pounds on my back (depending on how cold it is). When i used to be super hard core i once packed in 4.5 miles with 3 friends. We each only brought 2 liters of water each and a flashlight. We hunted till dark and met up at our rendezvous spot and sure enough, we were all out of water and thirsty, we all had our flash lights burned out (they must have gotten turned on in our packs) and we were pretty much up fluff creek. The only thing that saved us was seeing a camp site down along the river and those guys gave us each a MRE and an extra gallon of water and we slept (unprepared) around a camp fire. It was bad.
Now most of my hunts involve packing 60-70 pounds of gear in 1.5-2.5 miles each way. Plus, if i kill a deer i still have to pack out the meat. That can add an extra 40-60 pounds. So ya, i pack a lot of water and its worth it.
See, i can pack that crap in say 1.5 miles and out the same on only 2-3 liters of water. However, if anything goes wrong, i kill a deer, get hurt, get lost (never happened yet), or run into someone else in need it is critical to have the extra water. You must PLAN on things not going as planned or when they do go wrong you will be in the fluff.
BTW- other hard core trips include hiking 2 miles, crossing a river naked (water up to balls) and then getting dressed, going another 3/4ths of a mile to where i hunt and coming out with a deer the same way- In MID NOVEMBER. when it is freezing.
I have also (once and NEVER AGAIN) canoed a flooded river at night to float in and camp for a hunt the next day. I was alone and used only a powerful head lamp and a lantern in the front of the canoe. Again- mid December for this on a flooded river at night. It was the worst. The beach i was going to camp on was 5 feet under water. I swear i almost didn't make it. NVER CANOE on a flooded river night or day.
Ya, tho i walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no retals,
Cause i have the biggest, baddest, and toughest country in the valley!