Re:Just an advertising ploy (shock sometimes works
on
Just Add, Umm, Water
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· Score: 1
Sorry, but your post is wrong on several points.
First, just to restate the logic: if you are so low on water to have to use urine (which will further dehydrate you) then you are better off not eating for a while. Drink your water. A well-hydrated but hungry soldier is much more useful than one who is dehydrated but well-fed. I did not say the you could not use urine; I said in essence that it would not be a bright idea. Even the header article stated that it should only be done in emergencies.
Second, the product discussed in the header article is not the same as the one you cite in your link. The New Scientist article describes an MRE (a meal) with an integrated filter; the product in your link is a water bag for filtering drinking water only. You cannot use it for cooking , rehydrating an MRE, or for processing urine. Read what you post.
Third, neither the integrated filter/MRE in the header article nor the water filter bag you cite filters salt (sea) or brackish water. Your article mentions that Natick is working on a filter that can process sea water, but neither of these two products can.
Finally, the cost. The filter bag cited in your article (which is only good for drinking water) cost $40-$50 each, and can only process about 30 liters. My backpack filter (a Guardian Sweetwater) cost about $90, will process at least 90 gallons, and will produce clean water good enough for cooking and drinking. For another $10, you can add a silt filter, good enough for very dirty water. Do the math. This is just another example of a "$500 hammer."
Centrifuge
Just an advertising ploy (shock sometimes works)
on
Just Add, Umm, Water
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· Score: 4, Insightful
This is just an attention (advertising) ploy. Sure, you could use urine, but it would be stupid to do so, since the salt and urea in urine would increase dehydration.
If you were that short of water, the last thing you would want to do is eat; especially if it would make you even more dehydrated. A soldier could go days (weeks even) without food, but only 2-3 days without water.
Using mucky water, however, makes more sense. It sounds like the new MRE package has a filter similar to the portable water filter I carry in my backack on hiking trips. It was not cheap, though, so I am guessing that most of the research is to look into how to make the filter as inexpensive as possible, so an MRE supplied with one would not go for $100 or more.
Centrifuge
Slashdot Mirror
Sorry, but your post is wrong on several points.
First, just to restate the logic: if you are so low on water to have to use urine (which will further dehydrate you) then you are better off not eating for a while. Drink your water. A well-hydrated but hungry soldier is much more useful than one who is dehydrated but well-fed. I did not say the you could not use urine; I said in essence that it would not be a bright idea. Even the header article stated that it should only be done in emergencies.
Second, the product discussed in the header article is not the same as the one you cite in your link. The New Scientist article describes an MRE (a meal) with an integrated filter; the product in your link is a water bag for filtering drinking water only. You cannot use it for cooking , rehydrating an MRE, or for processing urine. Read what you post.
Third, neither the integrated filter/MRE in the header article nor the water filter bag you cite filters salt (sea) or brackish water. Your article mentions that Natick is working on a filter that can process sea water, but neither of these two products can.
Finally, the cost. The filter bag cited in your article (which is only good for drinking water) cost $40-$50 each, and can only process about 30 liters. My backpack filter (a Guardian Sweetwater) cost about $90, will process at least 90 gallons, and will produce clean water good enough for cooking and drinking. For another $10, you can add a silt filter, good enough for very dirty water. Do the math. This is just another example of a "$500 hammer."
Centrifuge
This is just an attention (advertising) ploy. Sure, you could use urine, but it would be stupid to do so, since the salt and urea in urine would increase dehydration. If you were that short of water, the last thing you would want to do is eat; especially if it would make you even more dehydrated. A soldier could go days (weeks even) without food, but only 2-3 days without water. Using mucky water, however, makes more sense. It sounds like the new MRE package has a filter similar to the portable water filter I carry in my backack on hiking trips. It was not cheap, though, so I am guessing that most of the research is to look into how to make the filter as inexpensive as possible, so an MRE supplied with one would not go for $100 or more. Centrifuge