[pct-l] I went to the woods...

[Chris Bailey <hikertrash@earthlink.net>]

[Skip this post if you think water filters are for whimps!!!!!]

Original message:

>Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 17:44:21 -0800
>From: Owen Kittredge <owenk@quiknet.com>
>Subject: [pct-l] Water Filters

> have been reading all  the comments on filters and how they plug-up
but no one has mention  the use of a pre filters.  I have been using a
First Need since 1991 and only on my 3rd replacement cartridge.  The
first cartridge failed on the first trip because it plugged with
sediment the second day. My fault for not reading directions.  I went
home and purchased a plastic 2" diameter funnel, and 4 feet of tubing.
In the funnel I placed fish aquarium filter element and  covered the
large end of the funnel with panty hose (not mine)  and attached 3 feet
of the tubing to the small end of the funnel and than attached it to the
pump inlet. This made the second filter last 6 of the last 7 years which
was about 75 camping days being used by myself 4 to 5 Boy Scouts each
camping day.  The long tubing allowed me to sit comfortably by the
source and pump.  The pre-filter is field cleanable because the panty
hose are attached with a rubber band.  The 3 cartridge has about 25
camping day on it in the same conditions. The only change was in
December when I left for the Grand Canyon I replaced the aquarium filter
element with an element out of a HEPA filter.  A HEPA filter is used in
a respirator to filter out ". . . certain dusts, fumes, mists, radio
nuclides, and asbestos containing dusts and mists".  I found this work
much better with finer particles and was still field cleanable. During
the GC trip I noticed that it out performed the MSR pre filters because
in the MSR pre-filter allowed the fines to pass through to the
cartridge.<

List:  Here's another approach that worked well for us:  We each carried two 2.5 quart platypus water carriers (for a total of about 5-6 ozs. each, including the (shortened) drinking tube and bite valve).  One was "dirty" and one was "clean."  We always filled the "dirty" ones out of the source and then returned to a less sensitive spot than creek-side/spring-side to pump into the "clean" ones.  We didn't use an actual pre-filter (the Pioneer comes with a weird little piece of open-cell foam around the intake), but this method seemed to allow sediment to settle out a little and seemed to prolong the Pioneer's filter life.  This even worked in those really sandy Southern California flows.  (Of course, if the the water's really gross, you wouldn't want to pump the "dirty" platypus completely dry.  If we needed more than 2.5 quarts apiece, we would simply carry unfiltered water and filter it if and when we needed it.  You probably won't filter any more water than you need for drinking this way, since you'll often have unfiltered water for cooking and bathing, assuming you're dry-camping somewhere.

If you use the regular platypus carriers for this system, you'll want to have a filter with a small pick-up, like the Pioneer.  The Hiker acorn won't fit.  Except for their bulk, soda bottles work just fine, too.  I would recommend this method to extend filter life and limit clogging and cleaning whatever filter you use.

But then again, filters are for whimps!!! (like us).

Chris and Jenelle

YOU IODINE HARD-CORES CAN START READING AGAIN

Original message:

>Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 19:54:36 -0600
>From: Kevin Odenwald <odie@enid.com>
>Subject: [pct-l] Whad you do??

>I saw this question posted on another list and I found myself in the
same boat.
>" What did you do about your job when you were faced with the reality
that you had made up your mind that you were going to hike the trail?"

>I am in that boat now. I like my job, pay is good steady work but there
is absolutely no possibility of a 5 or 6 month leave of absence. 
>The trail is important enough to me to quit and worry about work 6
months down the road. Sad to say my wife doesnt share my views :(

>Was the experience of the trail one that changed you life's plan??
>What did any of you do, or have you had similar situations??
>Any input is helpful.
> Thanx in advance,
>  -Ballcap

>>Not to appear to blunt or callus but one can always get a new job.
>>However, once you're dead you can't get a new life.

>>Fallingwater

>>>I've done it before, and I'll do it again.  No regrets.  

>>>Did it change my lifes' plan?  Most definitely.    =)

>>>- -=# s #=-

Ballcap:  I imagine lots of thru-hikers experienced the same trepidation about leaving "real" jobs.  I know I did in '95.  But I would never go back to that rat-race on anything like the terms I was on.  After my two hikes, I'm not the same person and don't think I could survive it.  Luckily, the employment climate anymore doesn't really seem to penalize people who want to work for six months or a year at a time and then go play.  Many fields routinely use people like that.  So I say no big deal -- quit and go.  Ron hit the nail on the head.  Jobs are a dime a dozen -- your life's dream is priceless.  

One caveat:  if you spend your whole hike worrying about a job afterward or whether your wife's going to be there, you may not have much fun.  I'd try to have a game plan that allows you time to worry about work AFTER you get off the trail (like maybe save up a little extra money so you can comfortably be unemployed for a couple of months, if necessary).  As for your wife...well I'm afraid I flunked that test, so I'm in no position to comment.  Good luck.  Chris.

	"Business!  I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, philosophy, ay, to life itself, than this incessant business.

	There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of his life getting his living."

	- Henry David Thoreau
	(Life Without Principle, 1863)
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