We always need to bring plenty of water.when we are on day trips, a gallon or two should do it. But what about longer excursions, even for just a few days, how do you get enough water?? We have room in boats to hold water for many days, but gear, food, drybags take up the room.
But what I’m really pondering is how do people attempting to break world records and paddle thousands of miles get water?? Even if they have a purifier, their is still salt in the water.
inland stream and lakes
Inland from the ocean. You can filter from them.
Are you planning
on crossing an ocean in the Pamlico?
If you paddle in freshwater you use a filter, if you paddle in coastal water you paddle upstream rivers until there is no salt and use the filter. If you cross the ocean you use reverse osmosis systems to produce freshwater (that taste like crap) from saltwater, same system (just a little smaller) cruise ships use.
boil
I’m always camping around freshwater so I just boil it. Let it cool before drinking though 
You don’t need water
if you pack enough beer.
A few bottles of Zinfandel helps
on cloudy days.
ever watch Man vs. Wild?
(Hint, bring two Nalgenes, one full, one empty.)
pee?
I haven’t seen the show but is that what you’re suggesting?
and it makes it easier
if the empty one is opaque
photo from week long trip
– Last Updated: Jul-26-07 7:21 PM EST –
Here is a photo of the gear from a week long group trip (about 10 people) we did in the San Juan Islands of WA a few years back - http://www.singlespeed.org/temp/waterbagsandgear-sanjuans.jpg.
The islands we were visiting do not have fresh water, so we had to bring it all. You minimize use by using salt water for washing (yourself, dishes, etc.), so fresh only gets used for food and drink. We were limited to 1 medium size (about 20 liter) bag for our personal gear.
The water bags we mostly used were soft sided 2.5 gallon bags that used to be available at REI. They are better than those 5 gallon water cubes you can currently get at camping stores, because they will flex to fit into smaller spaces. The Dromedary bags on the market should work also, but they are expensive.
On longer trips, even salt water island circumnavigations, you would bring a filter and take advantage of fresh water streams whenever you can. The nutty people doing the solo cross ocean trips would have to have some form of desalinization process.
beer dehydrates you.
the alchohol does pushes water out of you. So does caffine. Thats why I dont drink soda or coffee for hydration. Water is the dest for hydration. Nothing hydrates you better than water. Water is pure hydration.
Drink enough beer and who cares?
That’s right
less water to water down the beer in your system…
solar water disinfection
it doesn’t work well in higher latitudes, but…
http://www.sodis.ch/Text2002/T-Howdoesitwork.htm
Those guys doing ocean kayaking
stunts aren’t spending nights in the kayak. Don’t you know they have a 50+ foot motor yacht following, with water, beer, and blonds. They spend the night in their suite, complete with hot tub and wet bar. Its how do you like your steaks grilled? Another cold one?
I go to the army surplus store
and buy packets of dehydrated water.
A.) Install sponsons. B.) Fill hull
to brim with water. C.) Dip water from hull as you need it. Filter if you prefer.
Get a canoe
Trips on many western rivers require that you carry all your water with you. There is too much silt in the Green or the San Juan (each of which I’ve done a week long trip on) to filter the water. We carried about a gallon per person per day–that’s about 56 lbs of water for each person.
We tried to use river water whenever we could–for dishwashing (after settling it out) and washing. Neither time did we come close to running low, but the trips were in April when it was still cool.
Not really a big deal–if we had needed to, we probably could have hauled double that load, although that would probably be about the limit along with our food and equipment.