Camping 101: Making a Basic Water Trap

There are a handful of things that a human needs for survival, but those things are vital. Food, warmth, and above all else, water, are among the necessities that are basic to our fragile existence.

The need to consume adequate amounts of water in situations involving survival cannot be over stressed. Without adequate rations of water a relatively healthy individual will succumb to the effects of dehydration within a matter of days.

It is not hard to imagine a few tragic scenarios that could leave a camper, or hiker in a dire survival struggle, so knowing how to procure fresh water is a must. This article will cover a basic technique for making a water trap that can provide a modicum of fresh water for someone caught in a survival situation.

A water trap is nothing more than a collector of the dew that forms in the early morning hours of dawn, just prior to the time that the sun comes up. An effective survival water trap can be made by spreading out a plastic bag or tarp in such a way that it allows the dew that forms to run into a collection area or cistern of some kind. It might be a cup, or a pot, or quite simply, the survival water trap you fashion might be made by digging a hole in the ground and lining the hole with the afore mentioned plastic bag, or water tight tarp material.

Forming your survival water trap under the bows of a three with low hanging branches so that your trap is able to catch the fresh water that drips from the leaves, and/or needles will yield even more of what might become your most precious survival commodity.

The need to learn how to procure fresh water for survival becomes even more paramount when you take into account it is estimated that as much as 98% of the fresh water that can be found in rivers, creeks, streams, and lakes in North America are contaminated with Giardia Lamblia, which is a flagellated protozoan parasite that grows and multiplies in the small intestine, causing giardiasis. Giardia, also known as Beaver Fever, comes essentially from animal feces deposited by an infected host into fresh water sources.

We will take a look at Giardia in an article to follow, but suffice it to say that the effects of this parasite are so devastating that without an alternate source of fresh water other than natural streams, lakes, and reservoirs, and without a method of filtration, or purification can seriously call a camper's survival odds into doubt.