Re: [Paddlewise] Saltwater to Freshwater "Devices"

>From: dmccarty_at_us.ibm.com
>I have a couple of survival books.  I can't remember the names off hand but
>I can dig them up if someone wants it.
>
>With a container, a cup, clear plastic and if you are really lucky a straw
>you can build a solar still.  First dig a hole, put the cup in the hole
>with the straw resting in the cup and place the plastic over the hole.  Try
>to seal the plastic to keep in the heat and humidity.  The plastic should
>droop over the cup so the water falls into the cup after evaporating.  The
>purpose of the straw is so that you can drink the water as it fills the cup
>without breaking the seal.
>
>I've have never done this.  But this is not going to produce lots of water.
>Its enough to keep one going a bit longer.  You can prime the still by
>adding moisture to the still.  This supposedly works in the desert as well.
>But there the only way you can boost  the still is with your body waste.
>Yep, thats what the book said. 8-)

I've read suggestions that you can also strew bits of plant material on the 
floor of the solar still, where the heat evaporates the moisture from them. 
Easy enough at the sea shore; in the desert you'd propably need a matche to 
penetrate cactus. I also wonder if you'd sweat off more moisture hacking 
cactus than you'd get in return. Of course, if you've made such a serious 
navigational error in your kayak that you wind up in the desert, perhaps you 
shouldn't be paddling...


Philip Torrens
N49°16' W123°06'


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