Snow As A Source Of Survival Water

When the desert sees its share of snow, it does not usually last very long. As seen in the video, we received 6 1/2 inches of snow in one day. In 4 days all the snow had mostly melted away with the exception of the mountain areas. This was in Southern New Mexico, where 3 inches around this time of year is average.

Snow melts more slower in shadowy areas, like the north side of the sand dunes as seen in the video where the sun does not get to at this time of year.

The snow can be melted and drank as is if it was taken from a clean area of the ground. There is caution given about eating snow without first melting it. The caution being that doing so would lower your body core temperature making you more prone to hypothermia.

If the weather is warm and you need to hydrate, consuming small amounts of un-melted snow should not be a large factor.

In the video I gave a demonstration about how much water you would get if you melted the snow first. In this demonstration the snow was semi-wet and compacted very well. A one gallon plastic bag produced about a half gallon of water. Had the snow been more powdery and harder to compact, it would produce even less. Heating the snow in a fire would cause even more of the liquid to evaporate.

Water can still be found if all the ground snow was gone and the ground was still moist. As shown in the above picture and as demonstrated in the video, you can dig below ground and have a good chance of getting enough water to drink.

Stay Prepared! Stay Alive!

Charlie

Where To Locate Water In Desert Mountains

Should you find yourself in the mountains of a desert terrain, you have a good chance of locating a source of water by following these tips.

1. Check in the low concave areas in river beds, and arroyos where water would have settled at the lowest point. Dig down below the top soil. If you hit moist dirt within a foot of digging, you may have a chance of obtaining water. Keep digging deeper. If the soil gets wetter to the touch, dig a slight bit deeper and see if the hole to fill with start to fill with water. If the soil is just muddy and not wet enough to seep into the hole, you may be able to extract the water by placing the mud in a shirt or bandanna and squeezing the moisture out. 

2. If it has recently rained within a 2 or 3 days, try looking in the potholes of rock beds and other flat rocky areas.

3. It to a higher elevation on a hill overlooking the terrain and see if you can spot areas with green lush looking vegetation. Trees like willows and cotton woods need water to survive. Pick out an area and check it out. If that does not pan out, go to the next green area.

4.  Check at the base of hills and canyons where the water would drain from the top and down into the base of the terrain.

5. Watch for birds and insects. They are usually not too far from a water source, especially bees. Bees are normally within 5 miles of a water source. But, sometimes this is not a as reliable as the other sources.

Stay Prepared! Stay Alive!

Charlie

Coping With Survival Stress

Finding yourself in a survival situation can be a very challenging, life changing event depending on your level of wilderness survival skills. 

No matter what level of survival knowledge one has, everyone will be affected by stress.

Here is a video produced in 1961 by the US Air Force on Survival Stress. Thirty three years later and the signs, symptoms and how to deal with survival stress remains the same. 

Stay Prepared! Stay Alive!

Charlie