Have you ever tried to drink boiled snow IRL ?


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I think we all know the basic of boiling water to make it drinkable but no one talk about the taste, everything can go so bad when doing it on a crappy camp fire like damaging your pot because you filled it too much on one go, having ashes going into it and all the clumsiness around the camp fire.

I've made some and it tasted awful like the smell of the smoke, because some ashes made it in the pot but it's definitely drinkable.

So guys, if you have some experience could you share it and give some tips ?

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yes, sure, I need to hydrate ;)
I use a cover on the pot. It reduce the cooking time and avoid having dust, and ashes, in your drink/meal. That and not having the pot directly on the flames makes the taste quite normal (still got a little 'snow taste', but I'm not sure if it is not just in my mind)

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  • 2 months later...

Sure did. Tastes pretty bad, its really just water with the taste of smoke and ashes in it. Putting a lid on would have been the smart idea :D 

Anyways, I dont really ever drink it as pure water. Whats the point if I can very easily make it tea with the trees that grow just about everywhere? Unless it is rare form of some toxic evergreen, then evergreen needles can be boiled in to make this "rustic" looking tea, which is mostly bitter, but very refreshing, and packed with Vitamin C. Fir needle tea tastes the best in my opinion, the bitterness in it has sort of a sweet flavour to it, too. The bitterness of this tea will also surely overthrow any taste of the ash in the water. That is what Id drink instead of just simple water :)

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Guest kristaok
1 hour ago, Bruh-Ness said:

you can't eat snow b/c beleave it it or not that will make you more thirsty

Really? I did not know that.

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5 hours ago, Bruh-Ness said:

you can't eat snow b/c beleave it it or not that will make you more thirsty

Id very much like to know where you heard THAT :D 

4 hours ago, kristaok said:

Really? I did not know that.

Because its complete nonsense.

The reason you don't eat snow, EVER, is because snow is basically ice in small particles, a solid-form of water. The law of thermodynamics tells us that if you increase the temperature of ice, first that energy is used to thaw the ice into the liquid water, and only after that the water can increase in temperature. For that reason, if you keep water on 0 degree Celsius and add ice on 0 degree Celsius, it will stay in both the liquid form, and the solid form of ice, it would not thaw.

If you stuff yourself with snow, you are putting little ice particles directly into your body. Because snow is also made of air (about 60-70% of actual mass of snow would be just air), in order to fill up on water this way, you need to eat a lot of it to get hydrated. But, because you are thawing the ice within your body, you are basically "cooling" down your inner organs in the process.

To sum it up, eating snow will very quickly lower your core temperature. You can very easily develop full-blown hypothermia this way, without even realizing it, because by the time you start feeling the symptoms, you would have already eaten so much that it can be even life-threatening. Eating snow in cold weather is therefore very, very dangerous. You should never eat snow. (unless you only munch on a little bit of it.)

There is, however, something you can do. Put the snow into a plastic bottle and hide it under your coat. As you move around, walk, trekk or do other activities, you lose body heat. This body heat will be lost no matter what you do - so you can use it to thaw the snow in the bottle for you.

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Guest kristaok
34 minutes ago, Mroz4k said:

Id very much like to know where you heard THAT :D 

Because its complete nonsense.

The reason you don't eat snow, EVER, is because snow is basically ice in small particles, a solid-form of water. The law of thermodynamics tells us that if you increase the temperature of ice, first that energy is used to thaw the ice into the liquid water, and only after that the water can increase in temperature. For that reason, if you keep water on 0 degree Celsius and add ice on 0 degree Celsius, it will stay in both the liquid form, and the solid form of ice, it would not thaw.

If you stuff yourself with snow, you are putting little ice particles directly into your body. Because snow is also made of air (about 60-70% of actual mass of snow would be just air), in order to fill up on water this way, you need to eat a lot of it to get hydrated. But, because you are thawing the ice within your body, you are basically "cooling" down your inner organs in the process.

To sum it up, eating snow will very quickly lower your core temperature. You can very easily develop full-blown hypothermia this way, without even realizing it, because by the time you start feeling the symptoms, you would have already eaten so much that it can be even life-threatening. Eating snow in cold weather is therefore very, very dangerous. You should never eat snow. (unless you only munch on a little bit of it.)

There is, however, something you can do. Put the snow into a plastic bottle and hide it under your coat. As you move around, walk, trekk or do other activities, you lose body heat. This body heat will be lost no matter what you do - so you can use it to thaw the snow in the bottle for you.

Oh ok that makes sense. Thanks. :)

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Reading my post back, it sounds so arrogant. Sorry for that, everyone. Wasnt meant to be.

I just take this very seriously, as it falls under the things Id teach as a ski instructor, and as someone who collects survival knowledge as a hobby.

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12 hours ago, Mroz4k said:

about 60-70% of actual mass of snow would be just air

Come'on, air is not that heavy. Sorry for my physicist 2 cents, I couldn't resist! I agree drinking snow is stupid unwise from a warmth POV, but basically you end up there because of dehydration, and that solves the dehydration problem. Creating a bigger one, granted, but still.

As a ski instructor (been there myself), when pupils 'eat snow', it's still a bit funny, right? :D

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On 4/17/2019 at 11:54 PM, BareSkin said:

As a ski instructor (been there myself), when pupils 'eat snow', it's still a bit funny, right? :D

Well, whether they like it or not, they will have a face full of it sooner or later :D One does not learn how to ski without falling many, many times. :D 

And apologies for a reply after so long, that comment trully winded me. :D 

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I've had boiled snow, although it was in a pot with a lid over an alcohol stove, vs. an actual campfire.  The water had a kind of musty mineral flavor to it, which I chalk up to dust particles in the atmosphere that the crystals formed around.  Boiled snow may be a preventive measure against microorganisms, but it does nothing for atmospheric pollutants.  Ideally, melt the snow, charcoal filter it, then boil it.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 4/19/2019 at 4:24 AM, Mroz4k said:

Well, whether they like it or not, they will have a face full of it sooner or later :D One does not learn how to ski without falling many, many times. :D 

And apologies for a reply after so long, that comment trully winded me. :D 

One time I caught a tip and a pitched over onto an ice packed mogul, landing directly on my solar plexus. I sat there gasping for, oh, two or three minutes. Fun times.

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Lessons about melting snow to make potable water, learned the hard way...

1) Never take snow from near an animal path or obvious grazing area. The yellow stuff can be easily covered by new snow. 
2) Take cloth to filter out the bits of dirt, tree bark and other organic matter that is on, in, and under it. Unless you really like chunky water, with a high fiber content.
3) The melted snow will taste like the area it comes from. In other words, if you are close to a livestock farming area... expect some funkiness to filter through. Near an industrial area? Expect some chemical flavors. Near a roadway? Expect the taste of rock salt used on the roads, and a greasy sheen from automotive fluids to get in. Out in the middle of nowhere, expect it to taste "earthy", with flavors from the trees and other plants growing nearby and under it, and see #1) above, lol.

Cheesecloth for filtering particulate matter, and a charcoal filter can improve the taste, sometimes. Sometimes, you just have to grit your teeth and deal with the odd flavor it may have, if you are desperate for water. 

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  • 3 years later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 11 months later...

  Over a year ago, inspired by TLD, I went out camping, in snowy (although barely above freezing) weather.  With only a blanket, matches, tools and food.  And... An empty can.  This was my first experience camping alone, btw.

  I started up the fire after harvesting wood for over an hour, then settled down by it, filling my can with the remaining snow drifts nearby and used two forked sticks to place it in the middle of the fire.  I spilled all over, nearly putting it out.  Eventually, the fire fed and warm, I tried again.  Warming... Steaming... Boiling... Finally!  I used my crude forked sticks to pull it out and... spilled it.

  This time it also nearly put it out, and I tried again.  This time with added pine needles, waiting, carefully extracting (it worked, Third times the charm!), waiting for it to cool off...

  overall review: Meh.  Tasted like pine, dirt, charcoal and generally like really bad weak tea made from dirty water over a campfire (hm, I wonder why...)

At about three A.M. I called it quits because I had been shivering for actual hours and could not get warm no matter how big I made the fire.  Thankfully I wasn't even a mile from home.  Next time I brought a sleeping bag, flashlight and...

Always a pot (with a lid).

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