Snow and Ice, to drink

[Scythe13]

A really odd one for this time of year, and I don't know why I started to think about it, but I just thought I'd post it up incase I forgot to do it later in the year.

Snow is 90% air and 10% H2O
Ice is 10% air and 90% H2O

In the cold, you're better off putting ice in a water bottle than you are snow, because not only does snow produce less water when melted, but it also means you'll be gathering up more snow more often to get the same amount of water that a single portion of ice would provide.

To defrost it, have it in a bottle and place that bottle between your second and third layers of clothing. This way your body will be insulated against the ice, while providing enough heat to melt it. You might feel a bit of cold, but it shouldn't be enough to do you any harm.

[Highlander]

I drove through snow on the road this morning,.. so not so far off the mark...lol

[Tarrel]

Bear in mind ice may be standing water, and snow will be recently fallen "rainwater", so may be safer to drink. If you're heating it to melt it, this may be a non-issue however. (unless standing water contains agro-chemicals, in which case even boiling won't fix it).

[uks]

Remember never use yellow coloured snow to drink

[Scythe13]

(23 May 2013, 21:15)uks Wrote: Remember never use yellow coloured snow to drink

Why not? It might be lemon flavour! haha

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(23 May 2013, 14:15)Highlander Wrote: I drove through snow on the road this morning,.. so not so far off the mark...lol

That's nuts! Our weather system really is FUBAR!!!

[Timelord]

Would it be feasible to compress snow into more of an ice ball and then use that to put in a container for melting? This way you can be selective of where you get the snow from and you would be removing some of the air mass first. I do not think it will achieve the same density as ice but it might be a practical compromise.

[Scythe13]

(24 May 2013, 00:09)Timelord Wrote: Would it be feasible to compress snow into more of an ice ball and then use that to put in a container for melting? This way you can be selective of where you get the snow from and you would be removing some of the air mass first. I do not think it will achieve the same density as ice but it might be a practical compromise.

Nice idea.

I'm of the group that says, use ice, but also use purifying techniques. Boil it if you can. Bleach it if you can. Water purification tablet it if you can, etc. But it's a hell of a lot easier to grab ice and throw it in than anything else.

As for compressing it, you'd have to do a hell of a lot of compressing. Imagine packing 9 handfuls of snow into 1 handful of space! Damn that'll be hard work. It's a great idea if you don't have any other purification system. But even with snow, you'll pick up airborne particles that could pollute the water. But you're right, it's best to have a little pure water, than a load of infected water. Just means it'll be extra work, time, and cold hands, to get enough to drink. Better that than an infection though!

[uks]

ice will take more fuel as well to turn it into water

[Scythe13]

(24 May 2013, 06:35)uks Wrote: ice will take more fuel as well to turn it into water

Agreed. Which is why you put it in the layers, to passively turn it to water while you move. If you're not moving, it's easy to just set up a fire and start melting whatever's at hand.

[Binnie]

(24 May 2013, 11:01)Scythe13 Wrote:

(24 May 2013, 06:35)uks Wrote: ice will take more fuel as well to turn it into water

Agreed. Which is why you put it in the layers, to passively turn it to water while you move. If you're not moving, it's easy to just set up a fire and start melting whatever's at hand.

disagree,

air is an insulator, if snow is 90% air, its 90% insulation.

i tend to go for ice for water if available