Water Rationing

[maverick]

We all know how important water is to our performance, health, and existence, especially when out backpacking. Ascending a couple thousand feet with the sun beating down on us, while doing up one of the big stair climbers on the eastern side, is no place to run out of water.

How do you ration and plan your water refills? How often do you drink, do you drink every 20-30 min's? Do you set your alarm, so you don't forget to drink, instead of waiting till your thirsty?

Do you check your route, prior to your trip, for all the water sources?

Do you load up on water and hike as far you can and get, or do you carry a minimal amount and just refill frequently?

[bobby49]

To a certain extent, you can train your body to "camel up" better. With the right electrolytes, you can go a long way on a little water.

One year I was going up the Mount Whitney Trail on a cool summer day. Starting from Whitney Portal, I got up to Trail Crest, I drank my first eight ounces of Gatorade, and then I continued on up to the summit. Then, of course, I had to catch up on my fluids in order to prevent muscle cramps.

[oldranger]

Always pay attention to water sources on my route. Seldom carry more than a pint.

[Lumbergh21]

How do you ration and plan your water refills? How often do you drink, do you drink every 20-30 min's? Do you set your alarm, so you don't forget to drink, instead of waiting till your thirsty?

Do you check your route, prior to your trip, for all the water sources?

Do you load up on water and hike as far you can and get, or do you carry a minimal amount and just refill frequently?

Whether or not I check the route for water sources depends on where I'm hiking. In the Sierra, I just look ahead one water source or if I'm carrying 2L, not even that since I know there will be more water before I run out. Everywhere else I've hiked I do pay attention to water sources and plan ahead.
I drink when I'm thirsty except when water is short, then I ration, the amount depending on how much water and how many miles to the next source. In these situations I end up resting and trying to rehydrate at the source as well as fill my containers, even if the next source should be easily reachable mainly because sources can't be counted on. My worst experiences, the ones I vividly remember, are of thirst and knowing there better be water at the next source, times when I had no saliva to eat.

[balzaccom]

Sorry, but we are big believers in drinking water. As a cyclist, I know that I start to dehydrate if I don't drink every 20-30 minutes during heavy exercise. So we carry enough water to do that, and we stop every half-hour on the trial to re-group and re-hydrate. We also prefer to carry a bit more water, rather than stopping to filter every 30 minutes from the next stream, which may or may not arrive on schedule.

If you are hiking and found yourself at all worried about dehydration, you are probably already dehydrated. And rationing your water at that point won't make much difference. Your body needs the water both to re-hydrate tissues and to wash away toxins. If you scrimp on water you are not only dehydrating your cells, but you are also concentrating the toxins. This is why death from dehydration is usually due to kidney failure.

There is no value to any experiment to see how long you can go without water, because the risks are high. The higher elevations and extremely low humidity of the Sierra make dehydration a much quicker process there. Many hikers don't realize that they are sweating away lots of water, because that sweat evaporates immediately in the Sierra...except where your pack touches your back. Pay attention to that. Better yet, simply follow a pattern that requires you to stop at pee at least once every two hours. And that pee should be clear, not yellow or darker. There is a wonderful chart in the restrooms in Death Valley that shows different colors of pee---and the proximity of death due to those colors!

Dehydration leads not only to cramps. it also leads to diminished mental capacity, which means making poor decisions--like continuing on even though you really should stop and drink. And that leads to worse decisions...

[SSSdave]

During physical activity if I'm sweating, I'll need to drink water. If not I tend to not drink much unless I feel thirsty. As a kid in hot Sacramento summers often walked 2 miles back and forth to a local small lake then spent all day fishing without ever carrying water or we kids would spend hours rambling creeks without ever carrying food or water. As an adult for decades have often hiked or backpacked several miles without bothering to drink anything as long as I'm not sweating. This last Tuesday skied Heavenly Valley for 5 hours with 18,900 feet of vertical half of which were down mogul runs that can be strenuous and just ate a small amount of snow off tree branches the whole time. Note skiing bumps also requires a high level of quickness, alertness, and strength plus no lunch or break, a cold day with low 20F temps. That chilly day I joined Maverick and several others climbing Mission Peak, I just took a few sips where we stopped at the top for lunch and then again at a restroom stop not because I really needed to but because we were on breaks.

So am painting a picture of someone that unintentionally over long years has accustomed my body to drinking little again as long as I am not sweating and that has obviously not affected my mental condition. It is true I am an unusually cool thin person that has a higher threshold before i start sweating. If I am hiking in warm weather with a heavy pack up a trail, I am going to be just as thirsty as the next person. My detailed trip planning in the Sierra Nevada includes map work understanding where I might find water not only along trails where people visually see water but also near trails. That is because even late summer I have learned where water is likely to be found simply viewing topographic and geological maps plus satellite maps. So sometimes will stop along trails or routes and vector off a ways to where I might find water. Show me a map and I'll point to where you might find water and note that may not be where a map shows a stream or seep. Like Mike, my Nalgene water bottle is often just half full. Additionally I don't often bring along or if I do, use a water filter while otherwise being wise about where and how I fill up at.

[Jimr]

I carry a liter unless there is a water issue on a particular leg between sources. Pretty rare in the Sierra, but I wouldn't go up one of the big 4 without at least two liters. Other stretches come to mind as well. I normally drink very little while hiking and camel up at sources. The end result is I tend to carry water I would be better off drinking. I've made an attempt the last couple of years to pay more attention to drinking more while hiking. When my quads start to burn and a short, 10 second rest doesn't seem to help, I need either water or food.

[Wandering Daisy]

I carry max 1 qt -mostly half full. I do not sweat much and rarely go all-out rather a moderate steady pace. If I run out I drink directly from streams. Everyone is different. I rather drink water as needed and then just deal with the consequences, if I run out later. I do not mind the uncertainty. Most of the time it works out. I do not dehydrate easily. I have never been able to "gulp" down a lot of water. It is a real challenge for me to even drink one large glass of water at home!

I climbed years before I became a "backpacker", and learned to drink my water when in camp, and take very little on the actual climbs. My system seems to adapt to this well; other's may not. This, of course, results in drinking at night, which makes one have to go out to pee once or twice. But I rather do that than haul more water when hiking.

[dave54]

My wife accuses me of carrying far more water than I need. I usually have unused bottles or a half filled bladder at the end of the day. My philosophy is better to have it and not need it....

I have not tried hyperhydration using glycerine/creatine. The literature gives conflicting findings. Reportedly, WADA is considering banning glycerine in competitions, so they seem to think it works.

[Dave_Ayers]

We used to not carry and just scoop and drink at every crossing. Pops used to half-joke/half-challenge about keeping our upper body fitness by doing pack-on push-ups to drop our mouths into the stream and drink.

These days I fill (and possibly treat) a liter and sip frequently until it's gone (or nearly so), then repeat. Occasionally I carry more if there is a multi-mile known dry stretch ahead or an unknown stretch with no water shown on the map. I keep a bottle at hand by the sleeping bag also for night sipping, especially if feeling a bit low on H2O.