Pure Water To Go - NEW Hydration Options for the Road

CamelBak's All Clear UV Water Purifier

World Water Day is celebrated on March 22nd and brings attention to the importance of clean water and mindful conservation. Many developing countries struggle to provide enough pure drinking water for their inhabitants. Even though we may live in a country with access to clean drinking water, there are times we may be running, cycling or hiking in the outback and come across "iffy" potable water sources. Here are some hydration solutions for those times.

Clean water sources may be hard to find during extended rides or excursions.

Winter Hydration Tips - How Much Water Do You Need?

The Goal: x4 - 24oz Polar Bottles per day

Winter air is notorious for being super dry. Today as I'm writing this, the outdoor humidity is only 20%. When I went snowshoeing the other day after Snowstorm Juno, the snow literally was powder. It was so dry that you couldn't even pack it to make snowballs.
Indoors, conditions can be even worse with heating units, fireplaces, etc. all blazing away. It can take humidity levels down to a very unhealthy level.

So just think what these conditions can do to your lungs, skin and overall winter sports performance. Making matters worse, being even slightly dehydrated puts you at greater risk for hypothermia! Nobody needs that. Here are some  simple ways to combat the problem of dehydration during the winter months.

Indoors: Get a Humidifier
Having proper humidity especially in your sleep and workout areas is key. My Nordic Track Ultra Flex is in the master bedroom so that whole area, minus the walk in closet is humidified. Room humidity of between 45-50% will make breathing easier and your skin feel more comfortable.
Traveling? I take along my Air O Swiss Travel Ultrasonic Humidifier. Pop a single serve water bottle on top and it pumps out an adjustable ultra-fine cool mist. Can be used at your desk in the office, hotel room. Anywhere! Get one here: Air-O-Swiss AOS 7146 Travel Ultrasonic Humidifier - Cool Mist



Internal Hydration-How Much Water Do You Need?
All the experts say "Drink plenty of water" but they never quite say exactly how much. A lot is going to depend on your size and overall activity. Obviously working out in the cold dry air will likewise put extra stress on your hydration efforts. I'm going to give you the 3 Liter Hydration Challenge as it is a good place to start.

THE PLAN: Drink x4 - 24 oz water bottles per day
You can use any BPA Free water bottle. I also like the thermal, stainless steel bottles as they keep the water nice and chilly for hours.

Pure Inventions Drops to Zoop Up Your Water

1.) First thing in the morning before you even get out of bed, down a 24 oz bottle of ice water. This will boost your metabolism and start things moving along for you. Water on an empty stomach cleanses the internal organs and bloodstream of impurities. You can even add Pure Inventions LLC - Green Tea Extract - Original Flavor, 2 fl oz liquid for flavor if pure water is just too plain for your tastes. So now you are a quarter way through your water quota for the day! 

24 oz Insulated Thermal Water Bottle

2.) Increase Your Intake of Raw Fruit, Vegetables, Smoothies and Soups
My breakfast is usually a smoothie with protein powder added in. I have the Vitamix 5200 Series Blender Super Package.  I toss in frozen berries, carrots, celery, apples, spring greens...whatever. This all goes towards your water totals for the day and the extra fiber + protein will keep you satisfied longer. It all helps the morning cleansing cycle to work at optimum level. Same thing for lunch. Start with some vegetable or lentil soup while you're getting the meal ready. Keep in mind that thirst often masquerades as hunger. Focus on high moisture content complex carbohydrates and you can count this as one half of one of the four - 24 oz servings of water for the day.

Raw fruits and vegetables in my VitaMix

3.) Take it With You
If you are trekking outdoors, just because it's winter doesn't mean you should leave your hydration pack at home. Your body heat will most likely keep the water in your reservoir from freezing (I've not had a problem during cold weather hikes).

Another thing you can do is pack some of that hot soup to help you warm up. Winter hikes are no place for a cold salad! I like to fill my wide mouth Klean Kanteens with soups and stews for the crew. A great way to hydrate and keep toasty while you're out in the outback. Check out all the colors of Klean Kanteen Wide Mouth Insulated Water Bottles with Loop Caps

Hot Homemade Cream of Broccoli Soup

4.) Sterilize Water on the Fly
Another thing you can do is invest in a filtering/sterilizing water bottle. That way you can use water available at the parks and recreational areas without carrying in so much of your own. I like the Camelbak All Clear as it can even be used with water from a running stream. The UV light in the All Clear is 99.9% effective on bacteria, viruses and protozoa. Pick one up here:
Camelbak All Clear Bottle Pre-Filter

Camelbak All Clear uses UV light to kill viruses, bacteria and protozoa

Include Fruits and Vegetables with Each Meal + 24 ozs of Water
I really enjoy my grilled salmon! I make it on my panini press and serve it on a bed of spring greens with sauteed mushrooms and peppers. I also like oven baked sweet potato fries as they are loaded with beta carotene. You can mix it up and use oranges and apples to garnish your greens as well. Meal time is also time for another 24 oz bottle of water. Three meals per day plus the 24 ozs you had before arising and you're DONE. See? It's not so hard and your fitness as well as over all performance with soar this winter. Just remember to space out your water consumption throughout the day as I've recommended here.

Panini Grilled Salmon, spring greens, raw mushrooms and sweet potato fries.

This Year's TOP Outdoor - Fitness Gifts

Top rated gifts and gear for your favorite fitness freak (including yourself)!

Back to School: Healthy Snacks & Fitness for Kids

Going Back to School means kids (and YOU) eating and drinking fresh! Fresh fruit, water and Rainbow Light Gummy Power Sours Multivitamins help support proper nutrition.

Now until September 15th, the Kids Back to School Campaign is promoting healthy lunch and snack choices. Really we all should be making them but our young people are being left at the gate, so to speak. Keep in mind that another problem is that an estimated 65% of Americans are chronically dehydrated! Adding fresh, juicy fruits and vegetables to our diet will add to our daily water intake.

NatureBox
This is a monthly subscription that delivers delicious, theme based snacks to your door. This Back to School Box for August includes a nice sampling of very fresh dried fruits, nuts and crunchy noshes. If your favorite student is off to college, you can arrange to have their NatureBox delivered to their dorm or college post office. I can remember getting "C.A.R.E. packages" on campus, but they were never like this and most certainly not every month.

PHOTO: NatureBox Back to School assortment. Need some ideas for those lunches and snacks? NatureBox gives you five each month.

NatureBox has something for everyone's tastes. I especially like the Santa Fe Corn Stix with their bold tomato, green pepper and onion flavors. The Cherry-Berry Bonanza and Sweet Blueberry Almonds were also extremely good. NatureBox includes approximately 20 servings of five individual, nutritionist-approved snacks and...

• Snacks are carefully sourced by local growers/independent food producers
• The NatureBox snacks can be incorporated in recipes and other ideas for healthy eats. Their blog has a ton of ideas: NatureBox Blog
• Starting at just $19.95 per month purchase a box for as many months as you like and can pause or cancel anytime.
• Gluten-free and vegan-friendly snacks available too
• Use the Coupon Code "SHARE 10" to get a sweet discount on your first order!

Bike to School
Now's the time to check to see if your child's campus has a "Bike to School" incentive or even bicycle racks in place. Estimates show 2 out of 3 boys get the recommended amount of exercise each day but only 1 in 3 girls do! There is a very easy way to make sure your child gets a regular amount of exercise during the school week. Simply stop driving them everywhere and let them walk or use their bicycles to get around. 

Check to see if your child's school has a Bike to School Program.

The Nutrition and Exercise Connection
I think we all know that when we eat right, we have the energy to WANT to be active. The same is true for children. While it is great to improve their nutritional status, they also need to be more active. When they are more active, their appetites are going to increase to the point that hunger may make them want to try new, healthier meal options. 
This is your chance to positively impact your child's future success in nearly every aspect of their lives. Start by having them take a part in preparing their school lunches the night before. Store it in a insulated tote and it's ready to grab in the AM. Put the lunch tote on their bicycle and you have a winning combination going, (literally)!
 

Reusable lunch-ware and insulated drink container all fit easily in this thermal lunch tote and on a bicycle. 
Below is a Back to School Special going on now from DontGetHit.com on reflectivewear & bicycle lights  for the kids!

Hydration Solutions for Ultralight Hikes

Trending Now: Hike with less water but carry a portable filtration system

The summer heat is no time to skimp on water.  I really like my hydration packs such as CamelBak's Antidote Reservoir but even with its lightweight Mule carrier, it's just overkill for most hikes.  You'll find this to be the case more so with front country backpacking where you store much of your food and water at base camp or in your car parked in the lot.

Hauling Too Much Water?

Traveling super-light has its place and carrying 100 ozs of water is definitely going to blow out your back especially if you have other essential gear packed in.  I've found the best solution to be this:

Aurora 2SA Carbide Firestarter by Solo Scientific

1.) Find out where you will be hiking and if that area has a clean water source.

  

2.) Take what you need but pack a water filtration system in case of an emergency.

3.) Bring Stainless Steel cups that allow you to boil your water for extra disinfection.

4.) Bring a water proof firestarter to boil water. I use this Aurora 2SA Carbide Firestarter by Solo Scientific.

All of these items are relatively light, compact and easy to carry and will save you several pounds in your pack weight.  Remember 1 gallon of water weighs a whopping 8.35 lbs!  Now if you're climbing in the heat, you will be drinking a lot of that but let's face it.  Most of that water is just going to be dead weight for most of the trip.

Stainless Steel Klean Kanteen Pints & Carabiner

Stainless Steel Pint Cups by Klean Kanteen

The beauty of bringing along these cups is that they are lightweight, weighing only 3.5 ozs and virtually indestructible.  Clip them on your backpack with colorful bands that attach to their own S carabiners.  Clip them off to retrieve water from a nearby stream or lake. 

You can also place these 16 oz, 18/8 gauge stainless steel cups right over a fire and sterilize the contents by boiling water in the cup.  Use them to make soup, ramen noodles, oatmeal or any other camp side gorp requiring hot, boiling water.

These are excellent, easy to pack solutions for sterilizing water that you know is relatively pure to begin with.  Boiling will not, however, remove heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, lead and other such contaminates from your water. In fact boiling only concentrates them.  If you are uncertain about your water source it's best to go to Plan B, a comprehensive but portable water filtration system.

Purificup Portable Water Filtration System

Purificup is hailed as the world's first portable water filtration system that removes 99.9% of contaminants such as bacteria, parasites and pathogens via a high tech nano-silver filter.  The unit is self contained with no tubing or extra parts required. 
Purificup is quite different from the CamelBak All Clear which uses batteries for UV disinfection.  While I really like the idea, UV light water purification does not strain out parasites, organic/inorganic contaminants and undissolved solids from the water. To underscore this, the CamelBak website recommends that if you are using the All Clear when camping in Upstate New York, that you:

Travel Water Facts:

When filling from a stream or other natural water source, you’ll want to ensure that you’ve also strained out any particulates prior to purifying your water to avoid bacteria or protozoan cysts like cryptosporidium parvum.

Therefore you may want to have the Purificup as your primary water filtration system to work with "iffy" potable water supplies.
 
Purificup for Natural Water

Our water source, Koi Central

Purificup makes portable filtration systems for both tap and natural water.  The unit comes in a capsule that allows all of the parts to nest neatly inside but weighs only 13.25 ozs.  That's with the filter soaked and charged.

No Water Boiling Needed
The nano-silver medium is an effective sterilizing agent so there is no need to boil the water for additional disinfection after it has been filtered. It is even effective in removing parasites such as giardia, also called Giardia lamblia, a type of single celled, flagellated protozoa.  This parasite may be found in streams, ponds, rivers, and lakes that have been contaminated with feces or sewage, (Eww!). Giardia infection causes a disease called giardiasis and is marked by abdominal cramps and diarrhea.
Silver naturally has both antibacterial AND anti-fungal properties so it takes care of fungi as well.  One filter will purify up to 11 gallons of water.  That's saving you close to 92 lbs of water weight you DON'T have to carry!

Purificup filtering water from our Koi Pond

Purificup Filter Features:

Exclusive 3 Stage Filter Technology

1. Ion exchange resin: Turn hard water into soft water by removing heavy metals (lead, copper, cadmium, mercury, etc) and calcareous (meganesium, calcium icons). In addition, it stably produces wear basic water during its life span.
2. Activated carbon: Remove chlorine and other organic odor including THM, organic solvent, and pesticides.
3. Nano-silver membrane:  The membrane kills 99.99% of the pathogens in natural water sources such as streams, falls, creeks, and rivers.  It is located on the inlet and exit of the filter circulation channel, preventing the filter cartridge from contamination. + Absolute 1 micron filter for additional layer of protection against bacteria.

So How Does the Filtered Water Taste?
Unpacking and setting up the filter was quick and easy.  Simply immerse the water filter in pure water for about 60 secs. to prepare it.  In the lead photo I'm filling the included cup at the waterfall of our Koi Pond which is stocked with numerous fish.  Yes, the water smells fishy. We also have waterfowl, turtles, frogs and other critters using the pond.  Can you say e. coli?

I placed the collection container on top of the filtering unit and you can see pure, sparkling water flowing into the cup below.  The resulting water was very clear with no turbidity, cloudiness or fishy smell.  The taste?  Delicious!!!  Now I'm not promoting drinking water out of a fish pond but it just shows how effective Purificup really is.  I didn't feel ill or have any digestive problems from drinking my filtered pond water.  If it works on THAT water, it will clean up anything.  No backpacking / survival kit is complete without a comprehensive water filtration/purification system.  This is one of the best I've seen to date and what I will be packing from now on.

The Wrap
The choice is yours.  Continue hauling water like a pack mule or lighten up. Most of the time I do not finish all of the water in my hydration pack, even for longer hikes.  I've started carrying less water and have been fine....so far.  Just to be safe, I plan to keep a water filtration system on board in case of an emergency.  That way I have the best of both worlds.  Traveling light but traveling RIGHT.

Traveling light with less water.  Mountainsmith's Dart TLS Lumbar Pack with Water Bottle