hey guys welcome to the channel today we are doing a deep dive into hydration and water for day
hikers this is such an important topic and we're going to talk about why in the video but it's also
the area that i see a lot of hikers both beginner and experienced hikers go wrong so let's start off
with the very sobering reality that in general humans can last about three days without water
three days right that is not a long time and so we really want to be prepared when we head out on
these hikes to be able to stay hydrated even if something goes wrong you have to stay out
longer than you expected right in this video we're talking about day hikes but what if that day hike
turns into an overnight what if you end up in a survival situation or an emergency situation
water is so important so this is a crucial topic to talk about this is something that like i said i
see so many people go wrong now that three days is kind of assuming you're hydrated going into
that three days which is probably not the case at any given moment you and i are probably not
hydrated we drink coffee we drink sodas all these things that really dehydrate us and then we don't
drink enough water in addition to that when you're out on the trail you're hiking you're sweating
like all these things right so that three-day window is realistically probably even shorter
so what are some of the things that we can do to better prepare for a day hike
so that we can stay hydrated when we're out on the trail and be able to adapt to maybe
unexpected or changing conditions that we might encounter that's what i want to go over in this
video i cannot tell you how many times i've been out on a hike and seen so many people hiking with
literally nothing so we're not going to go into all the other day hiking gear that i carry and why
but but literally no water just a few weeks ago i went out on a hike with a friend it was a seven
mile hike over 3000 feet of elevation gain and we arrived at the trailhead the same time as another
group and pretty much everyone in that group except for i think one person was carrying nothing
no water no snacks no no other gear so i want to hopefully prevent that you're watching this video
so you're not going to be one of those people that's carrying nothing but one of the other
common things that i see is someone carrying just one single plastic water bottle in their hand as
they're moving along on the trail i guess that's better than nothing right that is a little bit
of water but i can pretty much guarantee that's not enough water for the duration of the hike
and it's kind of annoying to hold that in your hand and it's just not a good system because you
can't get any more water if you need some which likely you're going to need more than just one
little plastic water bottle so that's also not really a great way of carrying water when you're
out hiking the next thing that i see a lot is people carrying perhaps a bigger water bottle
that's on you know in a pocket on the outside of their pack or even inside their backpack
and again that's not going to be an ideal system because now you got to stop take your backpack off
to drink some water and then put it back in there and then start hiking again i can pretty
much guarantee that you will not stop to do that nearly as often as you need to to actually stay
hydrated in addition again same problem with just carrying a water bottle that's a finite amount of
water always in the back of my head i'm like what if i need more water because water is so important
i'm thinking what if i need more water and if i'm just carrying a water bottle well that's all i got
if i run out too bad right so again carrying that water bottle in your backpack isn't really going
to be the best system when you're out on day hikes because you want to be drinking water frequently
throughout your hike so that you can stay hydrated versus having a bottle buried in your bag and then
stopping like once or twice to like chug a ton of water once you're already experiencing symptoms of
dehydration being able to carry a lot of water and drink frequently is going to be the best
option for staying hydrated while you're on the move so that brings me to what i carry this is
a water bladder sometimes called the water reservoir as you can see it holds quite a bit of
water this is holding two liters of water and you can get bigger ones as well and it has a hose here
the hose system is really what you want so this slides right into my backpack and i'll show you
a close-up of that so it slides into the backpack right close to my back and it has a little pouch
there so that it's not sloshing side to side as i hike that's really important and then this hose
is awesome because it threads through the backpack and it comes and it sits right by
my face all right so this goes into the backpack and you'll have to look at your day hiking
backpack i would recommend buying a backpack that has some of them actually come with these bladders
or it just has the system to where you can store them easily so this goes into a little pouch here
the water bladder is something that i usually put in my backpack first before all my other gear
and it actually clips in so that it doesn't slide down it doesn't move side to side because that's
not going to be comfortable as you're hiking and then this actually feeds through there's a little
slot here and it will come out the back of the bag which if i have to complain about one thing about
this bag it is this slot is like nearly impossible it's going to come through the backpack and i can
zip all this up and now you can put this on either side of your shoulder and i just slide it through
this little strap here now the water bladder is in my backpack and the hose is coming down here
by my face guess what now as i'm hiking along it is super easy for me to sip on
water frequently throughout my hike i don't even need to stop and it has a little lock
you know you twist it to lock it so that you set your bag down or something it
doesn't leak water everywhere and it sort of sits in my peripheral vision so i remember
oh keep drinking water there's water here and it just makes it so easy and convenient
to both drink a lot of water and carry a lot of water when you're out hiking so this is kind of
where i think a lot of people stop they have a big water bladder fill that thing up and they go
out on their day hikes but again this is this is a finite amount of water and what if you need more
right so we want to take it a step further and have a way to get more safe drinking water when
we're actually out on the trail so one of the things that i am doing in order to prepare myself
to be able to get more water when i'm out on the trail is a lot of research and before every single
hike there is a ton of research that i'm doing to prepare myself one of those things is looking
for if and where there are water sources along the hike so for example am i going on a hike that goes
up to an alpine lake am i going to be hiking on a trail that parallels a stream the entire way or do
i cross a river at some point are there are these water sources year round so i'm really looking
at the landscape i'm looking at the hike and i'm trying to figure out where water sources will be
along that hike so that i know i can get more water if i need it with the appropriate gear that
we'll talk about in a second this is a really important piece of information to have and if
you're hiking in the desert which i do a lot i do a lot of hiking in southern utah in the desert
and sometimes the the answer to that research is there is no water source and that's also
important information to know because then you can better assess the risk of what you're doing
but chances are there's probably unless again you're in the desert you know there's probably
water sources that you're passing along the way or hiking up to and you want to know where they are
so that you can tap into them if you need to so let's say i'm hiking up to an alpine lake and i
get to the top there and i am out of water and i want to get some more water i can't just go and
fill up my reservoir in some lake somewhere right there's all sorts of things that you just don't
want to be drinking in water so we need a way to purify or filter the water so that it's safe
to drink and that's where i carry a water filter now i'm not going to go into like
all the many different options of filtering and purification i'm just going to show you what i do
i carry the sawyer squeeze and you'll have to do your own research like i said on all the different
options and what might be best for you i love the sawyer squeeze i've been using this for years it's
going to be hard to to take me away from this because i really love it it's super lightweight
it's durable it works really well the flow rate is good it's small it hardly takes
up any space i also have these little bags that it comes with so this is my dirty bag
and i will fill this up with the water from that alpine lake in our example and twist it on here
and then out will come clean drinking water i can filter directly into my reservoir which is what i
do i have an adapter that connects to this and then i can just get fresh drinking water along
my hike if i'm hiking along a stream or crossing a little river stream or whatever it is i can easily
get more drinking water and so this thing it's just so small and lightweight it's like why not
carry one it's not something that i think a lot of day hikers think about because like i said
you know i think the mentality is well i can just carry all the water i'm going to need
for a day hike and yes while that may be true again you got to ask yourself since you only
got a three-day window to work with what if i need to stay out here longer how can i get
more water so something so simple and affordable as this it's like why not carry it right now
with any of your gear it is so important that you take the time to really understand
how it works how to use it properly how to store it and all that kind of stuff because
you don't want to just buy something like this chuck it in your backpack and hope you'll figure
out how to use it when you're out there and you actually need it so whatever gear that you do
decide to take you always want to make sure that you really spend some time reading the
instructions and learning how to use it and take care of it properly that's super super important
so you know this type of thing isn't even just for if you are in an emergency or a survival situation
it's also sometimes just so nice to be able to filter really cold water coming down through the
mountains and i do that all the time because the water in your reservoir will get kind of just like
warm or room temperature it's sitting right by your back and sometimes it's really nice to be
able to fill up from that cold water coming down from a stream you know that snow melt and get ice
cold water to drink on a hot day it's so nice so i use this a lot just for that kind of enjoyment of
being able to get cold water when i'm actually out hiking all right let's take this even
further i told you we're going deep today in all things hydration and water for day hikers and this
brings me to an old adage two is one one is none so for any of your essential life-saving survival
gear such as your ability to get clean drinking water two is one one is none in other words you
really want backups of these life-saving systems and pieces of gear what if this breaks what if
i'm dependent on this and i lose it i drop it it it just isn't working i want to have some sort of
backup in order to get me through that survival situation for me for a backup i personally choose
to carry water purification tablets and just gives me something else like an extra layer
to my crucial gear i've never had to tap into them because part of your pre-hike preparation
is making sure that your gear is working properly and like i said taking really good care of things
so luckily i've never had to use my backup for my filter but i like the peace of mind knowing that
it's there so i'm always checking to make sure that this is working properly before i head out
on the trail so that i don't end up in a situation where i'm like carrying this thing but it's like
broken for some reason i can't figure out why or whatever it may be like i want to check make sure
things are working smoothly as i'm packing my gear at home in addition to me carrying a backup to my
system here nick and i hike together all the time and nick also carries one of these it's a great
thing for every single person in your group to have i do not like being dependent on other people
in my group to carry something as crucial as a water filter and a way to get more clean water
again it's so small it's so lightweight it's like why not everyone carry it and then within
that group you have multiple backups of this stuff so it's just something to keep in mind
if you are hiking with friends and family like encouraging everyone to think through this stuff
and really be prepared all on their own in case someone gets separated or whatever it is i want to
hit the trail self-sufficient and confident with the gear that i'm packing and that i know how to
use it so with this setup i both can carry a good amount of water sip on it and drink it frequently
throughout the hike and i can get more water if i need to from nearby streams or lakes that i might
be hiking by so this is a great system that works really well for me when i head out on my day hikes
and i love the peace of mind of knowing i have backups to these systems and that i can get more
water again that research at home is going to be crucial so that you know where water sources
are along your hike should you need to tap into them the last thing i want to just touch upon is
when you're sweating a lot and it's really hot and sunny and all that kind of stuff you're losing
more than just water right you're losing salts and so you want to carry perhaps some electrolytes as
well to help you stay hydrated so it's not always just water but also those electrolytes will help
you retain water and like i said just stay hydrated better so i carry electrolyte tablets
tablets or powders in my backpack and if you want me to make another video on the ones that i have
tried and that i really like and why and all that kind of stuff i'm happy to do that just comment
below if you'd like to see a video specifically on electrolytes that i carry but that is just another
piece of gear another part of the hydration puzzle that is important to mention so that really rounds
out kind of everything i know about water for day hikers and some of the ways that i'm preparing
for unexpected situations when it comes to water out on the trail you are responsible for yourself
it is so important to take care of yourself when you're actually out on the trail and listen to
your body and be proactive in staying hydrated and healthy hydration also really starts at
home right like you don't wanna chug two cups of coffee at six a.m and then just like start a hike
i'm always thinking about like drinking water and having a good meal and starting off a hike
hydrated and well fed so that i can have a good safe experience when i'm out there so you have
to listen to yourself and be proactive if you're with a group if you need to stop and take a break
you know speak up say so and make sure that you're drinking water because other people aren't going
to be as aware of how you feel as you would be right so you're responsible for yourself
drink before you're thirsty be proactive in taking breaks and going at a good pace on
your hike so that you can stay hydrated and not get dehydrated and burnt out and all that stuff
so i hope this video was helpful if you liked it make sure to give it a thumbs up and share it with
a friend share it with a hiking buddy or family member people that you go outside with often what
is the biggest takeaway that you got from this video i'd love to chat with you in the comments
below so make sure to say hi there and subscribe to my channel for more hiking and camping content
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