Prepper's Pantry: Hydration

As we all know by now, proper hydration is extremely important for both survival and health. Back in August I attended the Gun Owners of America GOALS Expo where I encountered two interesting products which directly address hydration.

First is the Iceplate by Qore Performance. Simply put, it's a ballistic plate-shaped water bottle that can be frozen for cooling the wearer or filled with hot/warm water for use in winter environments. There are two main models, one plain and one with a drinking tube attachment. If Qore Performance had a cooler full of these on range day, they would likely have sold out before noon.

Iceplate by Qore Performance

From their website:

Worn close to the body, ICEPLATE® Curve is a Medium ESAPI-shaped water bottle that cools/warms/hydrates you with 50 fl oz (1.5 L) of drinking water, delivering 70 watts of cooling power or 52 watts of heating power with hands-free plate carrier or backpack hydration for unparalleled control over your environment. Another way to think of ICEPLATE® Curve is like a booster rocket designed to put you into orbit with a full gas tank, not necessarily to last the entire mission. Engineered for elite users looking for every edge in the performance of their duties, ICEPLATE® Curve creates decisive competitive advantages where none previously existed by weaponizing temperature to enhance performance and survivability.

Fill and freeze ICEPLATE® Curve for an unparalleled 70 Watts of Cooling Power per plate, keeping your core body temperature where you want it for hours. As the ice melts, you will have ice cold water to drink. Fill with hot water and enjoy 52 watts of conductive heating power.

Qore offers several other products as well, including plate carriers compatible with the Iceplate, safety vests, iPad cooling cases, and more.

https://amzn.to/3XJUO6b

The other hydration-related product which caught my attention was Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier, a powdered and flavored potable water additive. While I find most of these to have an unpleasant chemical aftertaste, the Liquid IV didn't. I especially enjoyed the lemon lime flavor.* Even though I almost certainly exceeded the recommended daily usage, I stayed hydrated and comfortable throughout the day, despite the heat and sun.

From their website:

Get faster hydration than water alone. Powered by LIV HYDRASCIENCE™, our science-backed formula contains an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins, and clinically tested nutrients. Hydration Multiplier® has 3x the electrolytes of the leading sports drink, and 8 vitamins and nutrients in every stick.

Mix one stick of Liquid I.V. with water as directed on packaging. For Hydration Multiplier® we recommend mixing 1 stick with 16oz of water.

Remember, hydrate or die-drate.

* It's got to be good, it's got electrolytes. It's what plants crave. 

Guest Post: Electrolytes Revisited

by George Groot

George is a member of our Facebook Group and has written for us before.

With summer coming up, I wanted to write about the importance of electrolyte drinks and oral rehydration salts. 

For me, the first sign that I don’t have enough salt in my bloodstream is a horrible headache (sometimes in the form of an ocular migraine) and a general lack of energy.  In this case, a bit of salty water (home mixed or commercial product) peps me up very quickly. This is because the cells of the human body can’t pump water, but they can pump ions, and due to osmotic pressure the water will follow. Your cells cannot take in water without salt, which is why sports drinks have salt: to speed up the intake of water.

Hyponatremia is the condition of very low blood sodium. If you drink a lot of water and sweat it out, you aren’t replacing the necessary salt. The signs for hyponatremia are the same for low salt: headache, fatigue, muscle cramps, nausea and/or vomiting. In addition to sodium, our body also needs potassium, calcium, and magnesium. These are easily absorbed by your body as salts such as sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium citrate, or magnesium citrate. The two most easily lost through sweat and urine are sodium and potassium. 

Make Your Own Drink

Generally, you'll get all the electrolytes you need from food. But strenuous activities, or even simply being in a really hot environment (such as Georgia or Florida with no air conditioning) where you sweat profusely, can cause your normal diet to be insufficient at providing the salts you need to stay healthy.

To make a simple sodium/potassium drink, get some pure table salt and Morton’s Lite Salt and mix 1:1 to make a salt mix that is 75% Sodium Chloride and 25% potassium chloride. 

There are about 5.7 grams of salt in a teaspoon, so to make a sports drink mix you’ll want about 1/8th of a teaspoon per 16 oz of water depending on your taste buds. One teaspoon per gallon is a good starting point for a hydration drink that replaces sweat. If you find that you can’t taste the salt at that level, odds are you can add a little more and be fine.

For an oral rehydration mix, you'll want greater concentrations of salt; mix about 1/2 of a teaspoon into a 16 ounce water bottle and sip as needed. 

ORS

Oral Rehydration Salts (sometimes you’ll hear a veteran or medic talk about ORS packets) add calcium and magnesium to the mix. This is because after your body starts running low on sodium and potassium, it starts giving up calcium and magnesium to keep you alive, so if you are severely dehydrated you’ll need to replenish those ions as well. I generally don’t recommend people mix their own ORS salts because food grade calcium and magnesium citrate aren't things that you normally find at a grocery store, but you can find it on Amazon and a tub or sack will last you a very long time. 

There are also commercial Oral Rehydration Salt packets available. I don’t recommend people consume them on a regular basis, but they are excellent for having on hand to treat a heat casualty, and I recommend people carry a few in their bug out bag.

I recommend the Ultima brand, and in a recent trip to Kuwait I used some DripDrop after a 10 mile run in the heat, but I honestly don’t have any brand preference here as they all work. Unfortunately they are all a bit more expensive than blending some table salts together from the grocery store. The good news, however, is that shelf life is essentially indefinite, so having a few on hand is really cheap insurance.

Rectal Rehydration

In an emergency where your buddy passes out, stops sweating, and you need to save his life right now, you might consider rectal rehydration, or what veterans refer to as an “Israeli IV.” The steps to turn a Camelbak or other hydration bladder, into a rectal rehydration setup can be found here, but by adding a cheap enema kit to your preps you can apply an ORS solution that way instead of ruining a Camelbak as the technique is the same. 

I prefer the rectal rehydration method for most cases, as severe dehydration can make starting an IV line difficult even for experienced medics, and the risk of infection is massively decreased.

Have a happy, healthy, and safe summer.

Prudent Prepping: Summer Shift

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

I've started changing out my GHB gear from what I carry for winter in California to what is needed for summer. Certain folks have mentioned that changing for the seasons means wearing socks with sandals when it is "California Cold," but I always have socks in my gear since I never know when it'll drop below 50°!

Summerizing my Get-Home Bag and Vehicle
What's changed? Not that much, really: a wool sweater is out, and a long-sleeve t-shirt replaces it. Two pair of wool socks stay, along with the rain gear, because even if it doesn't rain during the summer here, it can be very foggy and damp along the coast. I have been an "essential employee" all during the virus panic, so there hasn't been any down time for me or my car. After checking dates on the food I carry, my bag is ready to go.

On to the car, which is getting a new set of wiper blades, washer fluid and an oil change. Blades and fluid are purchased, and oil is going to be fixed this week. I have to do a little bit of work before installing the wiper blades, though; due to the parking area at work being surrounded by pine trees, I have sap all over my car and several dents from green pine cones. My first job is cleaning the windshield of tiny droplets of sap that prevent the blades from clearing the glass well, and after that I have to do the rest of the car with Tar and Sap remover.

Coolant level, belt (singular), tire pressure and battery are checked out and in good shape, but I'm due for a major service soon, so I'm budgeting for that.

What's Happening
There was an unusual situation last week at work: an employee got dizzy and felt sick. No, it wasn't the virus, it was dehydration. Now that sounds somewhat funny to me since it hasn't been hot here; what has happened, though, is the requirement to wear a mask while working. It seems that the employee in question had been taking breaks but not drinking any water between those breaks.

Just as a reminder, the standard for water consumption is '8 glasses a day', which is 64 oz or two quarts. Now before anyone gets jumpy, that is a general guideline and YMMV, as the Mayo Clinic states in this article. An excerpt:

How much water do you need?

Every day you lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. For your body to function properly, you must replenish its water supply by consuming beverages and foods that contain water.
So how much fluid does the average, healthy adult living in a temperate climate need? The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is:

• About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids for men
• About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women

These recommendations cover fluids from water, other beverages and food. About 20 percent of daily fluid intake usually comes from food and the rest from drinks. 

Further down in the linked article it explains that as long as you don't feel thirsty and your urine is clear to light yellow, you are doing okay. None of this is a hard and fast rule, so adapt your drinking to your personal situation.

I admit that finding the time or place to drink when wearing a mask has been hard, since before this I just grabbed a water bottle and drank on the floor. Now that isn't quite so easy, since a local store was fined $5,000 for employees not properly wearing masks. I'm not drinking as much water as before, and I expect that many others are in the same boat; as it warms up, I believe that dehydration may unfortunately become more and more common.

Recap And Takeaway

• Don't neglect your car preps, even if you're not driving much. There can still be an emergency that requires you to go somewhere quickly. 
• If you have to work, don't neglect drinking enough water to keep you healthy, no matter how much or little that is.
• Wiper blades and fluids were purchased locally from an independent auto parts store. 

* * *

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Drinking Distilled Water

If you watch survival shows on TV. you'll often see folks distilling water, and for good reason: it's a guaranteed way to get all the contaminants out of your drinking water. In fact, back in 2014 I wrote an article about how to set up a very basic still.

There are plenty of reasons to buy or make your own distilled water. In addition to knowing it's contaminant-free, it's also far gentler on things like humidifiers and CPAP machines and is the water you're supposed to use to top off lead-acid batteries. This is especially important if you have very hard water*, like we do in my area.

However, the argument that distilled water may be unsafe to drink gets made time and again, so in this article we examine the question "Will drinking distilled water get you through an emergency, just to kill you afterward? Or is it perfectly safe, and the innocent victim of internet experts?"

Distilled water is quite useful, cheap to buy, and easy to make. It's also known to not have anything bad for you in it. Why wouldn't you want to drink it? First of all, it tastes... well, it actually doesn't taste; it lacks all of the things that give water the flavor you're used to. This flat, lack-of-taste can be quite off-putting, which means you might not drink as much, especially when you need to be consuming lots of fluids.

The second traditional strike against distilled water is that it strips minerals from the body. This has been proven to be untrue. There is, however, a related issue: while distilled water doesn't take anything from you, it also doesn't replace anything your body naturally uses, either. Regular water from your tap, or the filter on your refrigerator, or wherever you get your water has minerals and electrolytes in it that your body needs to function.

If you're drinking distilled for a short period of time, your may be sore or fatigued or otherwise less than 100%, but you'll probably suffer no long-term effects. If you're eating a healthy diet, you might suffer no ill effects at all. If you choose to drink distilled water for a longer time frame, though, you may want to look at taking some kind of multivitamin supplement product to replace what the water isn't giving you back.

The lack of mineral content also means that distilled water doesn't hydrate you as effectively as non-distilled water, and you may have to drink more to obtain the same effects. Keep an extra sharp eye out for signs of dehydration.

In short, distillation is a great way to purify water. Don't be afraid to drink distilled water or use it in household processes. If you do drink it, be conscious of your mineral and electrolyte intake, and take supplements if you need them to stay in good health.

Lokidude

* Hard water, for those unfamiliar with the term, is water that contains very high concentrations of minerals. It causes nasty buildup anywhere those minerals get deposited and allowed to dry, and things like humidifier evaporation panels and swamp cooler panels get coated with a hard, salty looking shell rather quickly.

Hydration Tube Inline Hijinks

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

If you have a hydration bladder in a backpack, you know how difficult it is to refill without unpacking the entire thing -- which is not something you want to do on a hike, let alone while bugging out on foot or trying to get home.

If you're refilling in the wild, then water purity is also a concern. Sure, you could boil water and then pour it into your bladder after it's cooled, but that requires you to make camp and build a fire. If you have a long ways to go, or don't have the time or ability to make a fire, that might not be a good choice.

I'm going to show you how you can refill your hydration bladder using its drinking tube while filtering it at the same time. I consider that last part very important, because once you introduce dirty water to your system it must be considered permanently dirty until you're able to clean it with soap and hot water, and during an emergency you might just forget that your formerly clean water supply is now dirty. With my method, everything that goes into your hydration bladder will be clean.

What You Will Need

1. Mazama MagmaFlow Quick Disconnect Coupler
2. Two Sawyer Products SP115 Fast Fill Adapters for Hydration Packs
• Some pumps (below) may come with fast fill adapters. What's important is that you have two sets of male & female adapters. 
3. Sawyer Products SP110 Inline Hydration Pack Adapter for Screw On Filters
4. Sawyer Mini Water filter. 
• If you do not already own a Sawyer Mini, then purchase their Dual Threaded Water Filtration System which comes with the screw-on adapters in #3. This will save you $4.50.
5. Superglue, epoxy putty, or plasti-dip. 
6. A pump filter. 

About That Pump...

This will be the most expensive part of the setup, but it is necessary to fill your bladder via the tube and, in my opinion, the convenience is worth the cost. I'm using a Katadyn Hiker which I bought about 10 years ago when I first started getting into prepping. It is also a filtration system, and the fact that this means I'm double-filtering my water is a feature in my book. 

However, the quality of filtration is less important than having a pump. If you can find an inexpensive pump that doesn't need a filter to operate, go ahead and use that so long as you feel its construction is durable enough for your needs. I couldn't find any like that, and most of the hiking pumps to be found online are about $50... although I did find one on Amazon for about $27.50 with no reviews whatsoever. I consider that to be super sketchy, but am including it here for sake of completeness. 

Instructions
1) Cut your drinking tube approximately one inch from where it attaches to the mouthpiece and attach the MagmaFlow coupler. Be sure to pair the larger part of the coupler with the longer part of the tube! This is important because the large piece has a shutoff valve which will prevent water from leaking out of your drinking tube when you take off the mouthpiece. 

2) Take your Sawyer Mini and attach the gray threaded adapter to the bottom. Then, using the tubing and fast fill adapters, place them like so:

You may find it useful to remove the cap from the drinking end of the filter like I did.

If you are using the Dual Threaded Sawyer, then you will unscrew the pop-up valve on the drinking end and replace it with the blue adapter.

https://amzn.to/2JMKeFZ

3) Take the remaining fast fill adapter and seal the ends with something tough and waterproof, like plasti-dip or epoxy putty. Even superglue will work, although I recommend you color it in so that you can tell at a glance which of the adapters are sealed.

4) Your finished product will look like this. The sealed caps will prevent contamination of the clean output end by droplets from the dirty input end. This is how I store it in my GHB.

Operation
To refill your hydration bladder with inline filtering, do the following:

1. Remove bite valve from drinking hose using the MagmaFlow disconnect. 
2. Remove sealed valve from the clean end of the Sawyer filter and place it over the bite valve lead to keep it clean.
   
   
3. Insert clean end into drinking hose. 
4. Remove cap from dirty end and place it where you won't lose it. 
5. Assemble your pump and plug its output into the dirty end of the Sawyer. 
6. Place input of pump into water and begin pumping. 

The finished version will look something like this:

Performance

It is reasonable to expect that this double-filtration setup would increase the time it takes to refill a hydration system, but that is not my experience. I tested this with a 2 liter bladder and 2 liters of water. 

• Without the Sawyer, it took me a little over 2 minutes to fill the bladder with 2 liters of water. 
• With the Sawyer, it took me about 1 minute 50 seconds. Since adding another filter cannot make the pump go faster, I attribute this increase to warming up the pump and/or increased familiarity with the process. 

Be Advised!

With your hydration bladder inside your backpack it will be difficult to see how full it is! Be careful not to over-fill it or else you risk rupturing your bladder. 

To prevent over-filling, I recommend that you practice with a known quantity of water. For example, it takes me 60 pumps to move 1 liter of water; therefore, if my hydration bladder is empty then I know I need to pump 120 times to fill it. 

Once you have this number, write it on your pump with a permanent marker. 

Final Thoughts

I am not familiar with all pump systems, but the Katadyn Hiker has an expensive filter ($40) with a limited lifespan (200 gallons) and no ability to backflush it. Conversely, the Sawyer Mini can be backflushed and can filter up to 100,000 gallons over its lifespan. 

With that in mind, if you expect to be drinking from a lot of dirty sources during a bug out or get home scenario, it might be prudent to use the cleanable filter with the longer lifespan to handle the majority of the work. In that case, the solution is simple: get another set of fast fill valves and place them in the input hose of the pump, so that the pump filter is only processing already filtered water. 

Only you know which version is right for you. 

Prudent Prepping: Re-Mixing Right

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping. 

It pays to have friends who know more than I do, and frankly the list of those friends is pretty long. A reader of the blog asked me if I had looked at a well-known and easily-found powdered drink to use as a recovery aid. I hadn't and was told, "Look it up, you might be surprised!" I was.

What I missed in my post last week is pretty shocking.

https://amzn.to/2QWHRF1

Emergen-C Vitamin C 1000mg Powder 
Yes, I know, everyone in my circle has at one time used Emergen-C for cold relief or to attempt to keep from catching a cold. I have some in my GHB and usually have several in my lunch box. This is what is in my pack.

From the Amazon page:

• Includes 60 single serving packets (0.32 oz; each) of Emergen-C Original Formula in Super Orange flavor
• Each serving provides daily immune support* with more Vitamin C than 10 oranges(1)
• Also contains B Vitamins, Electrolytes, and other Antioxidants like Zinc and Manganese
• Flavored vitamin mix is made with natural fruit flavors for a delicious Super Orange taste
• Vitamin C drink mix is a powder that dissolves quickly in water; it’s refreshing and caffeine free
• Enjoy Emergen-C Original Formula Vitamin C supplement every day for routine wellness
• Emergen-C Original Formula is also available in gummy and chewable forms
• When buying, please check whether the product is "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com" just below the product price to make sure you are receiving this product from the manufacturer of Emergen-C to ensure proper product dating 

The actual contents of Emergen-C look like this:

https://amzn.to/2QWHRF1

When compared to the Dr. Price's that I reviewed in this post, things look different...

https://amzn.to/2QXCOV1

... different enough to make me rethink my possible choices in what to buy and keep in my stores. I'm not saying one product is bad and don't buy it, what I am saying is to keep looking at what is available, compare and then choose wisely.

I'm going to keep the Dr. Price's and use it up, but I am absolutely going to repurchase more Emergen-C very soon. 

Recap And Takeaway

• Here's a prime example of my smarter, better-informed friends steering me to wiser choices. 
• Something right in front of my face seems to fit my requirements, is found almost everywhere, and is reasonably priced.
• Both Dr. Price's mix and Emergen-C mix are available from Amazon.
• Nothing was purchased this week.

* * *

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Prudent Prepping: Mixing Right

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping. 

I had a very nice holiday season, staying close to home and spending time with family and friends. This was a good thing for me, since in my last post I wrote about how sick I had been and some of what I did to get better. I don't want to be that sick again for a long time.

I now have the one electrolyte mix mentioned in that post, and I sourced two more from a local health food store. The Dr. Price's mix was an easy choice, since it was recommended by a friend. What else did I get?

The Contenders
One disclaimer: I did mention that Gatorade was going to be in my taste test, but it's not because I wasn't able to find the powder on the shelf locally.

Trace Minerals Electrolyte Stamina Power Pak
I wanted to try the same flavor from every company, but Trace in lemon lime was not on the shelf, so orange had to do.

https://amzn.to/2sZvLSq

From the Amazon ad:

Why Power Pak?
These nutrients will help you maintain proper fluid balance to reduce muscle cramps, optimize energy levels, and protect your immune system so you can function at your best.So play harder, endure longer and feel replenished with Electrolyte Stamina Power Pak.

Provides 18 Vitamins and Minerals
Antioxidants - Vitamin C, Selenium, Zinc, and Manganese are powerful antioxidants that support and protect your immune system and help seek out and destroy roaming free radicals.*B Vitamins – Help maintain energy and support metabolism.*

Electrolytes – Potassium, Sodium, Calcium, and Magnesium are essential electrolytes that help your body maintain hydration, prevent muscle cramps, and maintain energy and stamina.* It also includes an electrolyte concentrate of full spectrum trace minerals from seawater.

BodyTech Electrolyte Fizz
This brand did have a Lemon Lime flavor on the shelf.

From the Vitamin Shoppe ad (This is a Vitamin Shoppe house brand, advertised also on Amazon):

https://amzn.to/2T2F0ff

• 1200 mg of Vitamin C
• All major Electrolytes
• Trace Minerals & Elements
• Antioxidants
• No sucralose

Electrolyte Fizz is convenient, on-the-go refreshment that provides valuable, endurance-supporting nutrients, including:

• Potassium, Magnesium, Chloride and Sodium
• Vitamin C (an essential antioxidant)
• ConcenTrace, a special electrolyte trace mineral blend

Revitalize and recharge your body's natural energy sources with Electrolyte Fizz.
ConcenTrace is a registered trademark of Trace Minerals Research.

The Taste Test
I followed the directions for the correct amount of water listed on each packet.

• Dr. Price's: Does not fizz and mixed well. Flavor is very similar to Gatorade. The recommended amount of water is 16 oz., several times that of the others!
• Bodytech: Fizzes and takes a while to de-fizz. There are some particles in the bottom of the glass that did not dissolve. This also has a similar taste to Gatorade, but since it fizzes there is a little chalky aftertaste. Recommended amount of water is 4-6 oz.
• Trace Minerals: Fizzes a small amount. Did not completely dissolve but has less residue than Bodytech. The orange flavor made it hard to taste compare easily, but it also has a little chalky aftertaste. Recommended amount of water is 3-4 oz.!

The Results
I'm okay with any of these packets, but I do think I'll be keeping the Dr. Price's, because it has no sugar (even if it is sweetened with Stevia) and leaves no residue in the glass. The others are so low in added sugar to be a non-issue, but Dr. Price's wins for me just because it mixes well.

Recap and Takeaway

• I'm sold on Dr. Price's, but any of these will do.
• The test packets were purchased from my local Vitamin Shoppe but are available from Amazon. I highly recommend taste testing them for yourself.
• Nothing else was purchased this week.

* * *

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Prudent Prepping: a "Going" Affair

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

This is a follow-up to last week's post, detailing some of the things I'm doing now to be better prepared for similar 'issues' in the future.

What Now?
I need to be set up with things here and now to take care of intestinal distress not only inside me but also inside those around me. Since the focus of this blog is Emergency Preparedness, I don't see much difference if my distress is caused a virus or possibly bad water after a disaster. Yes, I understand that both of these situations could be closely related.

Since I was lucky to have Gatorade bottles here, that part of my recovery (mentioned last week) was an easy one. If there were an actual disaster, hauling bottles around would be the less than ideal; I need to have an easily portable way to replace minerals. I decided to order Dr. Price's Electrolyte Mix Super Hydration Formula to test out.

From the Amazon listing:

https://amzn.to/2Z2EXBe

• THE HIGHEST QUALITY ELECTROLYTE HYDRATION FORMULA. Unlike many other supplements, Dr. Price's Electrolyte Mix has a blend of over 72 Trace Minerals and Electrolytes created to benefit individuals ranging from the elite athlete to your personal hydration needs.
• NON-GMO, GLUTEN FREE, VEGAN, KETO & NO SUGAR! 100% Naturally Sweetened with Stevia Leaf Extract.
• EASY TO USE! Convenient to-go packets that you can take anywhere.
• Powdered water-soluble sports drink formula that mixes with liquid for FAST and EASY absorption.
• Powdered water-soluble sports drink formula that mixes with liquid for FAST and EASY absorption., Balances and Restores HEALTHY Electrolyte Levels for Super Hydration. Minerals, including magnesium, sodium, and potassium. Trace elements of zinc and 72 other trace minerals.

I'll give this a taste test against Gatorade powder as soon as it arrives. Several people in the BCP Facebook group mentioned a sugar-free replacement drink, and that advice and info I have made this a fairly easy product to pick. If you know me you know that mineral replacement is the reason this was picked, not any of the points mentioned in the second bullet point. 

Going through my stores, I saw that my Imodium was out of date by 2 years. Now that isn't that big a deal for me, since it's stored in my house and not exposed to high heat, light or humidity., but I'm still going to replace it as soon as I can get to either CVS or Walmart and compare prices.

Recap and Takeaway

• Having things on hand to make being sick bearable is much better than running around trying to buy them when you are 'running' uncontrollably.
• A 30-count box of Dr. Price's Vitamins was ordered from Amazon: $12.88 with Prime shipping.
• The balance of the replacements will be purchased locally.

***

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Prudent Prepping: Summer Has Arrived

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

If the saying goes 'Spring has sprung', then this year I'd have to say that Summer crashed the party. It's been over 95° for the last 4 days, and over 100° yesterday and today; on Monday we had two short power outages just far enough apart that all the digital readouts weren't reset when the second one hit. After that, it was decided to just wait it out.

Beating The Heat 

Honest, low humidity

I know that the San Francisco area is supposedly known for mild weather, but that's only close to the water. I'm over a set of hills on the hot, inland part of the Bay Area, and we have to plan and deal with the weather differently than those close to water. Fortunately for us, our humidity really is very low, so all that 'well, it's dry heat' really is true compared to most of the country. (I'm not talking about you, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona!) Today, even though it's 104, the humidity is 9%. This is much lower than normal, with 40% being closer to average.

First, stay out of the sun. As stupid as it sounds, don't go out if you don't have to.

If you do need to be out, wear a hat with a wide enough brim to shade your whole head.

Wearing light colors will help keep you cooler than dark shades.

Most importantly...

Drink Lots of Water
From the CDC:

Drinking water before, during, and after physical activity is one way to keep your body’s air conditioner working. Keep these tips in mind to help your body stay cool:

• Top off your tank a few hours before you hit the court, the field, or your own backyard by drinking about two cups of cold water.
• Keep a water bottle handy to guzzle during water breaks, halftime, or time outs. Try to drink about 10 ounces — that’s about 10 large gulps from your water bottle — every 15-20 minutes.

Our very own Lokidude wrote about make-your-own sports drink in this post, so you can save money and flavor the mix however you want.

In The Heat Of The Night 
Running the air conditioning can be expensive. Last year at my old place, the jerk roommate cranked the thermostat down to 68 during the day one month. This practice stopped  when the electricity bill came and it was $500!

There are plenty of alternatives for keeping things cool, such as fans, closing off windows in south-facing rooms with heavy drapes, or making a makeshift swamp cooler, like this:



Even with this using electricity, compared to your air conditioner you're saving money!

Recap And Takeaway

• If it seems like it's too hot to be out in the sun, it is.
• Nothing was purchased this week, other than 2 cases of water to take with me to work.

* * *

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Guest Post: Electrolyte Replacement Drinks

by Stephanie Osborn

I first started using electrolyte replacement drinks when I was active in equestrian sports, baking my brains out under a riding helmet in an open field without any shade at all. In a humid Alabama summer with heat indices well over 105º F, wearing protective body armor on top of a hot, sweating horse gets hot for the rider fast. When I suffered heat exhaustion verging on heatstroke on the field one day, I realized I needed to start doing something to replenish fluids and electrolytes, so I started grabbing a couple of quart bottles of that old standby, Gatorade, throwing them in a cooler, and heading out to my event. I’d pull out my chilled bottle and down it over the course of the event, often working well into a second quart by the end of the event. Problem solved... or so I thought.

As it turns out, that didn’t work so well. I started having a lot of problems with fluid retention, even developing rather severe vertigo on several occasions, becoming so dizzy I was unable to stand, which was sufficient to send me to a doctor. That’s when I found out I needed to do something different.

According to many doctors to whom I’ve talked, most commercial electrolyte fluids actually do not do that great a job at replacing electrolytes. Sure, they replace sodium and potassium, but at very high levels, which means they contain too much sodium. Most doctors I’ve talked to recommend diluting them with plain water by at least half; some have recommended 1 part “electrolyte replacement” to 3 parts plain water. They also don't provide any of the other minerals the body uses as electrolytes.

According to Medical News Today, and substantiated by several similar sources, the electrolytes needed by the human body include (but I suspect may not be limited to):

• Sodium
• Potassium
• Calcium
• Bicarbonate
• Magnesium
• Chloride/chlorine
• Phosphate

That’s a wee bit longer list than the standard sodium & potassium found in most sports drinks, huh?

In addition to Loki’s recommendation, two I’ve used successfully in the past include Emergen-C  (avoid the varieties with caffeine if you are trying to replace fluids), and Energy-C with Electrolytes, by Swanson. Emergen-C has also come out with a line specific to electrolyte replacement, called Hydration. (I haven’t tried this one yet.)

All of these come in a box of convenient one-serving packets, though not infrequently I only use part of a packet per bottle of water — since one packet can make around 2 quarts, at 30 packs per box, you’ve got a couple months of daily hydration and electrolyte replacement. If you’re working out really heavily in the heat, you might boost usage to one per day, but even so that’s not too rough on the billfold price-wise.

Another option is something called “sole,” pronounced “SOH-lay.” This is a drink consisting of Himalayan salt (designated halite, but containing far more mineral salts than table salt’s sodium chloride.) Sole is made by placing a large chunk of Himalayan salt (like this) in a non-metallic jar/lid (Tupperware or Rubbermaid containers work well) and covering with room-temperature water, then setting it aside and allowing the chunk to dissolve in the water. This process can take as long as a couple of days; the warmer the room, the faster it progresses. Don’t try to heat the water, though, or you’ll end up with a super-saturated solution which makes things complicated.

This dissolution process makes a fully saturated solution — DO NOT DRINK THIS SOLUTION. It will be far too strong and will make you very ill in numerous ways! — so instead, take anywhere from 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of this saturated solution (the quantity depends on your taste and your electrolyte needs) and mix it in at least 8 oz. of plain/filtered/distilled water (which can be chilled or not to your preference; I use filtered chilled), then drink that.

The resulting dilution will still taste very salty, but I find that the more I need it, the better it tastes, and I know I no longer need it when the saltiness becomes unpleasant. Furthermore, unless I've been doing some serious exertion in the heat, I typically only drink one of the above glasses per day. If I’ve been doing a lot of activity in the heat, I'll drink a glass after the exertion, then a glass morning and evening for the next few days until I start to lose the taste for it. That’s when I know I can stop. Although in the summer in the South, at least half a glass a day is not a bad plan if you’re outdoors a good bit, or without air conditioning.

Unlike plain table salt dissolved in water, I never have a problem with fluid retention when consuming sole, and it minimizes any muscle cramps, which for me usually aren't the result of sodium depletion, but rather that of potassium, magnesium, etc. When I first started using this, I was frankly skeptical, expecting to have problems with the amount of sodium (fluid retention, vertigo, etc.) yet still having problems with muscle cramps and overheating. Much to my surprise, none of that happened. What's more, my natural tendency toward muscle cramps (including the dreaded nighttime leg cramps) diminishes drastically when I am regularly consuming the stuff.

I keep a small jar of the concentrate in my kitchen all the time now. Refrigeration is not only not necessary, but will cause the salts to leave the solution, weakening it. Should I need to take it with me, I simply throw the container into my travel bag, along with a plastic dose cup, and go. I have to admit, however, that grabbing a handful of packets out of the box of Emergen-C or Energy-C is a lot easier for travel.

In conclusion, there are quite a few options other than the prepared sports drinks that are suitable for fluid and electrolyte replacement, and they'll do quite well for your needs. Best of all, they’re portable.

Electrolytes: They're What You Crave!

I’m not normally the food guy around here; what I am, however, is a construction worker who spends 40 hours a week sweating. Sweat pulls needed nutrients from the body, and those need to be replaced in order to keep you running in top form.
Commercially available sports drinks do a great job of replacing electrolytes and other minerals in the body. The original Gatorade sports drink was developed in 1965 for the University of Florida football team, and being engineered for top-flight athletes lends a bit of credibility to the product. Unfortunately, it tends to be quite expensive and has a somewhat limited shelf life.

There are also innumerable home-brew electrolyte drink recipes circulating on the internet. These vary wildly in taste and nutritional content, due to both the recipe and the particular quality of ingredients used. While some of these recipes are wonderful, others border on absolutely worthless, and without a nutritionist on call, it can be very difficult to tell which kind of recipe you’ve got.

 

There is a middle ground to be had, though: commercially produced, consistent-recipe electrolyte powders are now available. At $0.20 per 1 quart serving, they are 10x more budget friendly than pre-mixed sports drinks, and the powder has a far longer shelf life. The friend who introduced me to them sold me with the fact that there is zero taste, so you can drink it with plain water or add your flavoring agent of choice. I’m a fan of adding lemon juice to my water, mostly because a little flavor encourages me to drink substantially more, and when I'm sweating enough to actually lose weight from fluid loss, I need to drink as much water as I can.

 

Take care of yourself, so you can work longer, harder, and better, and recover faster.

Lokidude

Winter Hydration

Even though it is still officially autumn for a few more weeks, we all know that winter is just around the corner. While most of us pay attention to our water intake during the summer, it is just as important to manage hydration during the cold season as well.

Dry sinuses are one of the reasons colds and flu are more prevalent during the winter than the summer -- humidity levels in the air drop with the cold weather, making our mucus membranes work harder to stay moist, and
bacteria and viruses aren't being trapped in mucus and eliminated from the body. Drinking plenty of water will help replace the moisture lost through sneezing and expectorating phlegm.

Water will also replace moisture lost from exhalation as your body tries to warm and moisten the air before it hits your lungs. That's part of the reason our sinuses are so convoluted; it gives air time to warm up before it reaches our lungs. Breathing through your mouth won't help retain water any better; your lungs are moist and you'll still lose water as you exhale.

Drink Warm Things
Cold weather can also reduce the urge to drink, especially if the only available liquids are cold. Warm (room or body temperature) liquids will help maintain your body's thermostat. Hot liquids are good for boosting morale, since they tend to raise core temperature a bit and help relieve the piercing cold some of us deal with. 

Keeping your canteen or water bladder inside your clothes will prevent it from freezing and keep the water warm at the same time. Metal canteens can also be warmed by placing near a fire, but that doesn't work very well with plastic containers. 

Finally, check your water filters for winter storage requirements. Once a filter is used it will retain some water, and if that water freezes it will likely damage the internal parts of your filter. I keep mine on a cord around my neck and inside my jacket when I carry one during the winter.

Be Careful With What You Drink
Caffeine and alcohol are poor choices in cold weather, since they are both diuretics (they make you urinate more often) and will lead to a net loss of water in the body. Their stimulant and depressant effects are routine, and most people like their routines, but there are a wide variety of teas and infusions (made by steeping leaves in hot water) that are better suited to winter.

My personal favorite is rose hip tea. Wild roses are our state flower, and they grow like weeds. The “fruit” of a rose is a small berry that appears under the blossom and is known as a rose “hip”. Split it open and scrape out the seeds, then soak the hips in hot water for a while; the tea has a decent flavor and is high in Vitamin C, which I consider a bonus.

Look around your area and ask some of the more “back to basics” types about a good, local substitute for commercial teas and coffee.

Don't Eat Snow
Melt it and drink the water so your body doesn't have to waste the calories to do the melting once it is inside you. Munching on a snow-cone during the summer is a great way to col off, so why would you want to cool off if you're surrounded by snow? If someone asks I'll explain the physics involved, but just melting ice takes a lot of energy compared to warming the resulting water.

How Much Should You Drink?
Just like in the summer, you need to be taking more water in than you are losing through evaporation (sweating and breathing). Also like in summer, you can monitor your hydration level by observing the color of your urine. I covered the color spectrum of urine in a post about rehydration a while back; it's actually a little easier to check if you have snow on the ground.

When I was in the Army, NCO's (sergeant and above) were taught that the best way to oversee your troops' hydration level in the winter while in the field was to establish a “pee tree”: all of the guys urinated against one tree, so the sergeant could tell by a glance at the snow if any of his troops needed to be reminded to drink more often. Ladies, you'll have to come up with something similar on your own; w didn't have many females in my unit, and damn few of them went to the field with us.

You may not need a gallon a day, but you still need to drink water all winter long. Watch yourself and your tribe to make sure everyone is getting enough water to stay healthy. 

Gun Blog Variety Podcast #109 - One Aux Port Closes, Another Port Opens

Shh. It's okay. Just try to relax and enjoy this episode of the GunBlog VarietyCast. You'll only feel a little pinch...

• Beth went to frickin' Crimson Trace where they put frickin' lasers on frickin' guns. She's back to tell all us about it.
• What kind of father takes a .44 Magnum and shoots at his son? What kind of son makes it necessary? Sean takes a closer look.
• The iPhone 7 loses an aux port and the Galaxy Note 7 loses its cool. Barron tells us which is important and which is just not worth worrying about.
• Tiffany invites police officer and tactical trainer Chuck Haggard to discuss the very timely issue of police/community relations.
• You hoped she'd never go there, but she does. What do you do when you need to rehydrate someone but they can't drink? Yes, the old urban legends are true, and Erin tells you how it works.
• He's the anti-gunner's favorite "gun guy", but he's really just a sheep in wolf's clothing. His interview with Boston Public Radio gets its very own Patented Weer'd Audio Fisk™.
• Our plug of the week is for the Gun Rights Policy Conference Livestream at www.PoliticsAndGuns.com/Live.

Thank you for downloading, listening, and subscribing. You are subscribed, right? We are available on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and now on Google Play Music!

Listen to the podcast here.

Read the show notes here. 

Thanks also to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.

And a special thanks to our sponsors for this episode, Remington Ammunition and Lucky Gunner.com.

Rehydration

The human body runs on a mix of chemistry and electricity, and electrolytes are a major component of both systems. They are kept in balance by our kidneys, and too little water in the body (hypernatremia) or too much (hyponatemria) will skew the balance of sodium and potassium and cause problems.

Hyponatremia

Hyponatremia is a lower than normal amount of sodium (also known as Natrium, the source of the chemical symbol Na for sodium) causing the cells in the body to swell due to osmotic pressure. Sodium is also needed for the proper function of muscles and nerves, which is why headaches, muscle cramps, and fatigue is associated with heat injuries.

A modern form of college hazing involves forcing a pledge to drink several gallons of water in a short period of time leading to hyponatremia, which has symptoms similar to being drunk. The excess water dilutes the normal concentration of electrolytes and the constant urination removes them, causing further imbalance in the body. This is a life-threatening condition that needs medical treatment just as much as the alcohol poisoning that it replaced.

Drinking plain water while working in the heat can cause the same imbalance because the salt lost through sweating is not being replaced. Sodium, and to a lesser extent potassium, need to be replaced in order to treat or prevent the symptoms of heat exhaustion.

Hypernatremia

Consuming too much salt, or not enough water, leads to an increase in electrolytes, which causes the cells of the body to shrink and leads to brain damage and irregular heart rate.*  Losing water through sweating can reach the point where blood volume is lowered and blood pressure will drop, leading to the symptoms of heat stroke. This is known as hypernatremia. 

http://tinyurl.com/hz5fomu

Replacing water lost through sweating is fairly easy: drink until you have to urinate, and keep drinking water until your urine is light yellow in color.See the chart to the right for examples.

Fruits and vegetables are also a good way to replace water and electrolytes, since most of them are 75%+ water by weight, and the fructose (fruit sugar) helps by giving a little energy boost along with the water content. Watermelon is a favorite around here, but plums and apples work well; citrus fruits are more common further south and provide a Vitamin C boost as well. Canned vegetable juices like V8 are a also good choice, if you like the taste.

Replacing lost salt is almost as easy. Salt is a (too-)common preservative used in preparing food, and the normal American diet contains plenty. There are various sport drinks like Gatorade that will provide the electrolytes you need in a variety of forms. I buy mine when they go on sale, and keep a few cases (usually quart bottles) in the basement for use through the summer, but the powder form is handy for storage and comes in sizes from individual packets for mixing up a pint to industrial-sized bags that will make gallons. Working in a group, in the heat, I prefer a 3-gallon cooler full of iced Gatorade with a supply of paper cups.

For those of you who like to DIY, there are lots of recipes out there:

• The military used to suggest a mix of ¼ teaspoon salt + ¼ teaspoon baking soda added to a quart of water, but has switched to prepackaged drink mixes. 
• WebMD and several international websites suggests ½ teaspoon of table salt + 6 teaspoons sugar in a quart (or liter) of water for ages 12 and up, but don't have a specific recipe for children. Children need a more dilute mixture because their bodies are still developing the mechanisms for dealing with heat. Oneof the sites recommended adding ¼ teaspoon of salt substitute (potassium chloride) as a source of potassium, which makes sense.

Prevention is Part of Preparation

This summer seems to be start a bit early around here and I've seen some record high temperatures in other parts of the country as well. Stay hydrated and keep your salts in balance; you're not going to be doing anything useful if you are lying on the ground with cramps and nausea, or are being transported to the hospital. 

* This is acute (short-term) salt intake, not the commonly derided high sodium diet common in America that has ties to high blood pressure and heart disease.