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perhaps the base layer of snow will be dirty from having contact with the ground, but any snow on top of that will be safe to drink so long as the pH is close t
by 867-5309 4y ago
perhaps the base layer of snow will be dirty from having contact with the ground, but any snow on top of that will be safe to drink so long as the pH is close to neutral
- watwut 4y agoAfaik, snow is NOT safe to drink in the long term, because it does not contain minerals. It will demineralize you which is why mountain climbers don't drink snow.
- 867-5309 4y agothe difference being that mountain dwellers would find alternative sources of minerals, and climbers would take supplements with them if you're dehydrated you're not going to pass on snow in search of ice
- watwut 4y agoIn that particular situation, when you are dehydrated on hike with snow around, eating snow will dehydrate you further. Not just because of minerals thing, but because of temperature thing - your body looses more water due to the need to warm it and melt it as you eat. Those the ice will have similar problem. In that situation, either younfind warm fairly quick or die. Which makes it different situation then long term survival for years.
- steine65 4y agoMost people in that situation would be carrying a backpacking stove and pot. I have known plenty to melt snow in dry areas.
- heelix 4y agoFrom my winter camping - it takes a lot more work to melt snow than ice, when one is boiling water.
- 867-5309 4y agoI'd imagine it depends on the type of snow and the type of ice, but if we're talking about (almost) pure water types then snow would obviously melt more readily than ice
- heelix 4y agoThat was sort of the point I was going after. You end up taking longer to melt enough snow for coffee than ice - so you burn through more fuel to get the equivalent amount of hot water when scooping in the snow vs chunks of ice. It was counter intuitive.