Don’t Drink Your Pee-Top Survival Products So You Don’t Have To

Who Would Drink Their Own Pee Anyway?

We have heard and seen reports of people in severe emergency survival situations that has attributed their survival to drinking urine when they had no access to water.

In 2008 the Wall Street Journal reported on the Chinese man who was trapped by rubble after a massive earthquake and survived, in part, by drinking his own urine.

But Bear Grylls did it on TV, right? Yes he did and it was pretty funny. If you are properly prepared with survival products before heading out into the wild you won’t need to be “that guy” (or gal) that drinks their own pee.

More recently, an attorney in Southern California survived for 5 days in the desert by drinking urine and eating cactus to hydrate. Let’s be honest, cactus is full of water and is a great way to hydrate if needed. Drinking pee? Not so much.

Look:

I’m not saying you couldn’t survive a couple of extra days by drinking pee. I just don’t suggest it. There are MUCH better ways to stay hydrated. And if you have the survival products to be prepared before heading out it simply won’t be necessary to do so.

So What if You Use a Filter To Drink Your Pee?

Recently several Youtubers have decided to try out drinking urine through a Lifestraw Filter (and embarrassing themselves in the process). The theory is that this should filter out the contaminants and leave pure water. Good idea right? Uh…..no.

Let me be perfectly clear. Lifestraw makes some great survival products and we recommend several of their filters. But the intended use does not include urine filtration. This is just a really, really, bad idea.

Here is the problem:

Urine is comprised of only 91%-96% water. The remainder is mostly salts and other organic compounds, and proteins, hormones, etc. Water filters are not designed to work in salt water. So what you are left with is warm water that still tastes like pee and is full of salt and proteins.

Hydration Bladders

A hydration bladder is an essential part of any bug out bag or backpack. If you are heading out into the wilderness, or urban environments you will want to have one with you.

They come in sizes from 1.5 liters to 3 liters and you can easily fill it up with fresh drinking water and head out. We recommend the Platypus Big Zip because it is easy to fill and drink from, is BPA free, and comes with a quick disconnect hose and shut-off valve making it easy to drink from.

A couple of others we suggest are the Camelbak Crux and Freemove 2 liter bladder.

Pump Filters

While pump filters can be a bit of work to use they are a far better option than drinking pee for survival. Believe me.

Many of the pump type water filters on the market are actually really easy to use and you can typically fill a 3 liter hydration bladder fairly quickly. One of our favorite choices in this category is the Survivor Filter PRO water filter.

This thing has tested down to 0.01 microns which is small enough to get rid of any nasties that may be in the water including bacteria, viruses, and a host of other contaminants. In fact, they claim that it rivals most home water filtration systems in its ability to remove lead.

A couple other fantastic choices are the Katadyn Vario, and the Diercon Tactical water filter.

Water Purification Tablets

Yet another option for you is to carry water purification tablets. These tablets are placed into collected water to kill common bacteria and viruses to render it safe for consumption.

While purification tablets would not be my first option they are a very affordable and lightweight choice to carry along with you as a backup to the backup. Still…a much better option than drinking urine.

We suggest having some of these on hand in addition to one of the gravity filters, or pump filters listed above. I wouldn’t rely on these as your only water treatment equipment, but is a good option if reducing the bulk of your pack is a concern.

Our choice for water purification tablets are these Potable Aqua Purification Tablets. They are a cheap option and very cold water can sometimes break water filters without you knowing it so these are just another level of protection.

Another great option are these Aquatabs water purification tablets.

Equipment to Boil Water

It is no secret that boiling water is a tried and true technique to make water potable for drinking. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit which kills off any bacteria or biological contaminants in the water.

The biggest downside to boiling water is that you need a metal container to boil the water in and a heat source to bring it to a boil. These items can take up quite a bit of space in your pack and also adds significant weight, though you should carry these items anyway for preparing food as well.

A great option for both cooking food and boiling small amounts of water is the Stanley Camp Cook Set. It is ultra-lightweight and is an absolute rock star in the backpacking community. It is constructed of stainless steel and is the perfect size for a bug out bag.

Of course you also need a heat source to boil your water. Luckily there are some great quality lightweight backpacking stoves on the market. We suggest this one from Canway Camping.

Knowledge of Basic Survival Skills

Finally, if everything goes to hell and you find yourself in a survival scenario that you did not expect, knowledge of basic survival skills will give you a chance.

You should do what reading and research you can to improve your survival skill set before you find yourself in a situation where you need to use them. That is what being prepared is all about!

We recommend getting a good all around survival book to learn all of the basic techniques of finding and purifying water in the wild. We suggest Outdoor Survival Skills by Larry Dean Olsen. It is one of the most complete guides on the subject of wilderness survival. Of course, how to source water is only one small section of the book. There are many more tips in this book and will increase your chances of survival.

Conclusion

Here is the bottom line…

Don’t drink your pee to survive unless there is absolutely no other option. Preparation is the key to surviving in any outdoor environment. There are so many survival products on the market today that there is really no excuse not to be prepared.

If you are heading out on any back country expedition, backpacking trip, or emergency bug out scenario make sure you have the right survival products with you. This will ensure you survive, thrive, and don’t have to drink pee to do it.

What are Your Thoughts?

Let us know in the comments below.