How much water do you carry ?

[giggy]

moose - I will have to agree with doug, kevin and croo here - this sounds crazy I have always tried to keep a bit over hydrated.

there has been some action lately in the press about drinking way too much and I think urinating all your salt out - but I think that is like gallons and gallons. tho not sure on the medics of that. On a 10 mile day, I would be way over a litre - more near 2 litres.

 

[moose_mckenzie]

The very act of making a pit stop or two is one's body saying that you have consumed too much water. Also, caffeine - a mild diuretic - tends to expel water from one's body. Best to leave caffeine alone prior to an outing.

I used to drink far too much water and couldn't sleep as a result. There's a happy medium, somewhere and it's different for everyone.

Moose

 

[Kevin Rooney]

...I used to drink far too much water and couldn't sleep as a result. There's a happy medium, somewhere and it's different for everyone.

Moose

I agree with you on this point, Moose. Everyone's different, and everyone's responsible for their own body. My previous comments were made on the assumption that you were a relatively new hiker - maybe just starting a year or two ago - because after people have been doing it for a long time they get it figured out. I don't know where you are on the continuum. And, there are always exceptions - I know an exceptionally fit/strong hiker who MIGHT, on a winter's hike drink a Smoothie (2 if it's a 20-miler) as the only liquid.

Water's critical to our survival, and unless it's contradicated, more is better than less in high-effort aerobic activities. Granted, there are cases of serious problems of drinking too much water, but these don't occur when the discussion is within the range of 1 liter versus 2 or 3 on a hike.

The very act of making a pit stop or two is one's body saying that you have consumed too much water.

I don't agree with you on this one. Urination is not a symptom of too much water consumption. It's a primary way of disposing of waste products which are toxic to the body, and we need the water as the medium to transport them.

Kevin

 

[jfb]

Yesterday I hiked about seven miles and drank about a third of a liter. It was a cool day (50 o) and I hiked two miles uphill, two miles down hill (Catskills) and the rest was easy rolling.

I don't hike in extremes (> 90 o / < +10 o), I'm not fast hiker and I'm lean.

Moose

I do lots of hikes on Mt. Greylock while trying to drink as little as possible, just to see how dehydration affects me. I agree that for such an easy hike, you're not very dehydrated and probably won't feel much of an effect.

 

[giggy]

well moose - if that works for you, thats great - I think for most people, drinking more water is much better than not drinking enough. Just don't want someone new to hiking reading this and gettin the wrong impression - (1/3 of a litre is enough for a 7 mile hike) - I don't think that is healthy for the normal person doing activity, but I could be wrong. No disrespect to you or your MD intended here.

 

[Tuco]

I bring 2 or 3 liters to drink on a dayhike, depending on hike distance and weather. More on a LONG dayhike. The third liter is in a platypus and assists me in continually drinking on a long and hot day.

Actually, the first two liters are low concentration Gatorade. I drink these more during a rest and sip off the platypus while moving.

Drinking for me is not always about need, sometimes I was a drink because it tastes good. Helps mentally relax me to gulp down some excess fluid. I tend to overheat quickly so I’d rather have more and have leftover than not enough. I also would rather use urinating as a way of telling me that I am sufficiently hydrated than not going and figuring out where the saturation level is. But as has been stated that’s what works for me, there’s lots of plans.

Without proper food and drink I tend to get a bit, lets say, cranky….. more so than usual anyway....All that liquid apparently goes straight to my gut and I can’t get rid of it…

 

[moose_mckenzie]

well moose - if that works for you, thats great - I think for most people, drinking more water is much better than not drinking enough. Just don't want someone new to hiking reading this and gettin the wrong impression - (1/3 of a litre is enough for a 7 mile hike) - I don't think that is healthy for the normal person doing activity, but I could be wrong. No disrespect to you or your MD intended here.

And no disrepect taken, either. Also, remember -- unless one's lunch is stone hard rock pretzels -- everything has water in it, especially fruit and whatever vegetables one may have.

Granted, if I'm hiking to Haystack in the Dacks, I'm taking at least two liters and a filter. There's a bit more climbing there than the Phoenicia East Branch trail. Yet I'm not going to over-hydrate - maybe a glass or two of orange juice at breakfast both for the liquid and the sugar and that's it. I used to take a 4:1 dilution of water to Gatorade, but, I never saw the significance or benefit of it. Some people claim they 'feel' Gator- or Powerade working.

Moose

 

[skibones]

Just wondering on how much water you carry on average for a day hike ?

Just got back from a hike up Passaconaway. When my friend and I got out of her car, the back floor was filled with water that came out of my backpack. I guess I threw my pack in and didn't look to see where the end of the platypus was and so becasue it was being pressed as if I was drinking from it, all the water was out. Luckily my friend had any extra bottle- so I refilled. A lesson to be learned--don't have a back pack or anything else for that matter on top of the end of the playpus

 

[Tuco]

Just got back from a hike up Passaconaway. When my friend and I got out of her car, the back floor was filled with water that came out of my backpack. I guess I threw my pack in and didn't look to see where the end of the platypus was and so becasue it was being pressed as if I was drinking from it, all the water was out. Luckily my friend had any extra bottle- so I refilled. A lesson to be learned--don't have a back pack or anything else for that matter on top of the end of the playpus

skibones, i did that on my couch the morning of a hike- didn't make me too popular with the Mrs when I got home..

 

[skibones]

skibones, i did that on my couch the morning of a hike- didn't make me too popular with the Mrs when I got home..

Thanks for letting me know that-I feel better knowing someone else made the same mistake.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Thanks for letting me know that-I feel better knowing someone else made the same mistake.

Have done that as well, also. However - you can buy an end that has an on/off 'switch' (if you remember to use it!) which will prevent that from happening. They're a little pricey, but will outlast the platypus and you can use it on a new one.

 

[JasonPatrikz]

Last year I found out unintentionally and then looked back at past hikes that the more Gatorade I drink the more water I drink. When I hiked Both Twins, Gale Head and Garfield as a day hike with out a car spot I drank about 3 liters of water and 1 liter of Gatorade. When I did the Bonds in a day by going over the Twins I didn’t even drink 2 liters of water (Gatorade fell out on the way up N. Twin) may be it was a psychological thing with the Gatorade missing who knows.

 

[Remix]

Who has done the Tongue Mountain Loop on a hot humid day?

How much water did you drink between the Lean-to and the point?

Did you end up putting your filter in a small dirty mosquito infested puddle somewhere?, lol.