When I was a backpacker. We didn’t even have cell phones. And I wore all the wrong clothes. Had the wrong tent. And had the wrong food. And yet here I am today still alive at 71 years old.

Calibrating amount of water you carry based on how much you drink and distance to next source is fine. But extra still nice. Sometimes sources turn out to be dry or just unpleasant. Also, when you come across others struggling it's nice to be able to offer water. Finally, you never know if you or someone in your party is going to be injured or otherwise stuck in place for an extended period of time. It's nice to have water on you while providing first aid because that's one less thing you need to worry about.

I’m East Tennessee born and raised so I’ve hiked a lot in my life. A lot, a lot. I never thought about windy days when I was younger. I don’t mean high wind warning days, just days of like 20-30mph winds which are common 3 seasons out of 4 here. Then one day I was hiking on an above breezy day and a giantass tree fell about 10ft in front of me. The only reason the branches didn’t get me was because there were no branches near the bottom…it was a pine. It shook the ground and didn’t fall slowly like in the movies…it just slapped the ground in about a second. If I had been less than 10 steps ahead I wouldn’t be typing this comment. Never again. A nice breeze is great, above that and, nope.

You should try drying your own food. This really changed our menu while hiking. Basically you can dry anything and then cook what you would back home. But the easy way out is minced meat and basic vegies. Those combined with macaroni, dried potato, rice etc and different spices gives you tons of variety.

For finding the perfect amount of food to bring with you there are 2 ways of thinking. You can be super scientific with it or you can look at how much you normally eat on a 2 or 3 night backpacking trip and plan around that. What I personally like to do is to bring enough food to where I know I can safely survive then see what I can bring on top of that. We won’t die if we go a few days without food but you don’t want to starve yourself. I also find that the dehydrated food gets old so I do a lot of food prep at home. There are some good books to read on the topic my favorite is “the well-fed backpacker” by June Fleming. Hope this helps!

For people who pack too much food I recommend finding a hiking partner who is broke and has a big appetite to unload your extra food on as your go. It’s a win-win.

My first night of my first through hike I DID look up to check for widow makers. The 3 pines surrounding my tent all looked healthy and very much alive. In the middle of the night there were gale force winds, rain and hail. One of the pines, 10 feet from my tent, toppled, fortunately away from my tent. As it fell, one of its branches sheared off and hit my toes. SO, it doesn’t have to be a dead tree to become a widow maker. I was just lucky.

One thing I always wonder about when I watch survival videos is that two must have things are so seldom mentioned. This is the super lowtech time tested items: 1: The emergency whistle. These whistles can be over 120db and that is loub. So loud in fact that ear protection should be worn when using it. This sound level can be maintained without breaking the vocal cords. 2: A small extra compass. I have these two thing hanging from zippers on my Ski clothes. My Mountain bike clothes etc. Don't stick them in the backpack because that might be lost when you need them.

I have to say that i wasn't interested in hiking by any way until i found this channel, first i was like "this Kyle dude seems cool" then got me hooked and thinking a hike of my own, there is some beautiful trails here in Finland so i planned a hike some before the summer ends... Thanks Kyle keep on the awesome work !

You carry extra food and water for the same reason you carry an SOS device.

Food tastes so much better when you sit in a camp chair while eating.

I’m such a geek that when I get back from a backpacking trip, I count up how many calories I ate each day (from wrappers). Then I put in how many hours of hiking I did, and how many non-hiking hours (for first and last day). I actually came up with a formula to calculate how many calories I need each day. Probably a PITA to try doing this while shopping on a thru hike. But for shorter trips where I pack all my food ahead of time I’ve finished with only 1 extra bar left after 3 days.

Your mom told me when you were a baby all you would eat was Knorr made with mother's milk😶‍🌫

Not a backpacker here, but I do long tours with my motorbike every summer all across Europe. I can totally relate to the "buying/bringing too much food" thing... same here 😅 I like the idea about the SOS device, maybe I should consider getting one of these, too. Never thought about it thus far, so thanks for the inspiration!

For anyone that owns a Garmin device, I recommend getting Garmin's Search and Rescue (SAR) insurance. It's only $35 / year and covers any expenses incurred for a rescue / extraction. A helicopter rescue can run $50 k or more!

The term “widow maker” in the lumber industry actually means dead branches up high in a dead or living tree. It doesn’t exactly mean a dead tree next to you. Ive learned sooo much about backpacking ever since I became subbed to your channel! I’m actually on my way to go camping right now! Thank you for everything

I learned the widowmaker issue early on. Being an assistant scout master and one of the main camping guys, looking after the safety of the kids really raised my awareness. On my own, I could maybe get a little complacent, but with scouts in tow, it's all about bringing them all back safe. You never want to face a parent and explain what went wrong. So I learned to scan for dodgy trees. Dead, too much tilt, asymmetrical branch loading or questionable root structure. And most commonly, bad branches. But a lot of the camping has been in Idaho's Palouse area and southern Arizona. So widowmakers are just the first step. Flash flooding paths, pooling areas and lightning risk (relative high ground, tallest trees) are the big ones. Depending on location, dangerous animals can be an issue. Idaho had re-introduced Canadian gray wolves besides the usual bears and cougars. Arizona has lots of venomous nasties, black bears, cougars and jaguars. The jaguars give the border patrol agents nightmares. I've actually had two trees blown up by lightning within 50 yards of my tent during one storm at summer camp. Big trees with 2-3 foot diameter trunks. Lightning is no joke in Arizona, especially in the mountains. On one backpacking trip near the Palouse river, which is just a 200 foot deep sudden slit in the ground, we had one scout that was a sleepwalker. The river was about 50 yards away. No moon. Precautions were taken. Minor risks are too close to water, low/cold air pooling and insect hives/nests. Each campout was training time for how to pick an ideal camp site. Since I was always doing safety training, it was pretty easy to focus on all the real risks and not skip any. To be honest, safety monitoring and training are the only mandatory tasks for a scout leader when on an outing. The boys should be doing the rest. Let them screw up and learn. Just don't let it get dangerous.

I hike in the southern Utah/northern Arizona desert. You need to bring all of your water with you. You will die if you think a spring or creek is going to be reliable. But yes judge the mileage of the hike and the temperature of the day and bring accordingly. No less then tree to four Liters.

If you have extra almonds, crush ‘em and add ‘em to something else. Oatmeal, noodles, whatever. You get a little crunch, and they don’t go to waste.

I’m not a thru hiker but would definitely be an over packer of food and water

I took a month-long NOLS course prior to my PCT experience. We used mostly whole foods, and were actually cooking actual meals out of a cookbook on our vintage whisperlites (they weren’t vintage back in ‘91), so when I hit the PCT in ’93 (way before gps or KZfaq 😬) I followed suit, carrying tortillas, dehydrated refried beans from the bulk section, an entire spice kit (my backpack reeked of garlic powder), and freaking blocks of cheddar cheese that got all soft, oily & nasty in the hot weather (the NOLS course had been in Alaska, so that hadn’t been an issue. Plus there were enough people that nothing went to waste)… I’m surprised I never attracted any critters! Not only did I carry way too much food, I also got bored with it. And there’s something about solo hiking that makes repetitive meals kinda depressing. I had a spicy variety of freeze dried meals… but I concur with your diarrhetic assessment. I have no thru-hiking aspirations these days, but I still go out on 2-3 night excursions. I’ve been digging the Tasty Bite meal packets, along with a ready to eat rice pouch. My favorite is the Bombay potatoes! Makes for a great breakfast if there’s leftovers. Anyhow, that’s my share. Great channel & good luck on that goal! You’ll get it. Oh - I also carried the largest Swiss Army knife they make while on the PCT. The “Swiss Champ.” Look it up. Hilarious. 🤦‍♂️

Very accurate and good list of hiking tips !! Thanks for posting !!

Kyle your comments section and advice has been incredibly helpful thank you

You could inventory the water and food you overpack, enter it all in a spreadsheet, and boom. You have data that tells you how you should pack consumables. I guess I could do that too. I got stuff to do. I'm just gonna overpack.

that footage of Flossy filtering muddy water through his Sawyer BEFORE the bandana will never ever absolutely EVER get old. Luke is on nonstop troll patrol with that shit. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🔥🔥🔥🔥

I’ve never died while hiking.

Good info! I'll keep this in mind as I get more into hiking! Thanks, man!

I’m designing a camp chair with a built in SOS button. I’ll send you one.

Bring almonds on your hike, bring nuts and seeds. They are not going to make a mess. You can add them to your soup. You can put seasoning on them to change the flavor. They are full of all the good stuff that you need when you are doing these kind of activities.

Try trading food on the trail. Almonds get old fast for you, but maybe someone else is sick of thier food and wants to trade.... think back to elementary school lunch box trades!

I've started dehydrating some of my own meals. There's definitely a learning curve to it but it's a fun little challenge I've enjoyed. I think I've got eggs down pretty well.

🤔 I've had my inreach for 2 years and I never realized I could pause my subscription🤦‍♀️. Thanks for the information! I'll definitely be doing that in the winter, to save money. Since I live in Washington, there is to much snow for me to go very far in the winter, my butt dosen't handle the cold well at all.

Sure you can customize the messages - you just have to set it up on the website, not on the device. That was one of the first things I did when I got mine…

THANKS, especially 4 your honesty. very helpful.

Dude I've been thinking about getting an SOS device a lot lately after a hiker was lost for 2 days in an area I regularly go to and I know there is limited reception and I do a lot of solo stuff. This just reinforces that I should have one despite the cost. I'm looking at the Zoleo over the InReach mainly because it's a couple of hundred dollars cheaper but still has the functionality that I need. Great video and I'm the same with water and taking more food than I need and never use.

I always bring too much water. As for the almonds I usually put them in a ovenproof dish with a lot of soy sauce and bake them. They get really salty and maybe a bit sticky, depending on how long you bake them, but they taste so much better than almonds out of the bag... I guess you can do it with other liquids too but I haven't tried. Edit: Don't cover the almonds with the sauce, just stir them from time to time until the soy sauce has evaporated.

I learned that thru-hiking is to backpacking what boxing is to true combat. It's a stylized form that's mostly useful for doing that one thing. UL gear is mostly made for trails. And even then, you may end up making a video called "Our backpacks keep breaking" while following one while using it. It's not wilderness gear.

Picture old codger.....Back when I was your age we carried heavy crap that was all that was available and we liked it that way!..said no one ever. I started backpacking in the the late 1980's and I LOVE the lightweight/ultralight stuff available now! Started with a steel Peak1 white gas stove -now tiny canister stove. From steel cookware to titanium pot, cup and spoon. Started using FD meals early on and still do. Great choices out there now. Used map and compass (what the hell is a GPS?) even to navigate on canoe trips in Algonquin and Killarney parks in Ontario. Would have loved GPS then! Anyway, you're spot on with mistakes newbies make. Luckily there is good advice out there to help them make wise choices. Love your channel.

I brought the perfect amount of food on a six day thru hike once. However, any time a person brings “the perfect amount of food”, it was probably a bit too little as every crumb was consumed. On one trip I brought what I thought was an extra day’s worth of food on a not so long trip. I ate the entire extra day’s food plus that days compliment, had bonked from low blood sugar (I’m not diabetic), and that trip scared me a bit because not enough can have bigger consequences than just being hungry.

What most people dont have the time to realize as far as carrying weight is a great supported frame and pack can go a long way with helping carry weight and still feel light and fast. It's just that most never try to find the answer for more weight. It seems most are going for as light as possible. On top of this, the strength factor of getting used to weight can be a great habit for human structure health. I like ultralight too, but dont mistake comfort for ultralight. There are nuances that allow for heavier weights and comfortability. Goodblessings out there

Flossmeister pre filtering water after he puts it through the filter. Classic 😂

Great video. I always understood widowmakers to be dead branches on a tree, whether or not the tree was alive. And whereas people want to naturally seek the shelter of a tree, they don't necessarily look up to make sure it is safe directly above them. It makes sense that a dead tree itself could also be considered a Widowmaker.

Subbed. Good info here and glad you stated you're not a pro. We newbies need as much help as we can get. Looking forward to your other vids. Happy trails from Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada.

i’ve only backpacked the MSG in NH as well as thru hiked the AT sobo last year and i too can never get my food “dialed in”. i think once on my thru hike sometime in maine, within my first three weeks on trail i had one resupply where i had just enough food and it kinda stressed me out. sometimes i always end up with what could end up being a days worth of extra food between resupplies. i guess it’s a good backup just in case i find a cool place on trail that i couldn’t pass up, thus taking longer than planned to get to the next resupply point

Because I hate freeze dried food, I make my own trekking lunches: 1. Take a carbohydrate source which doesn't need cooking that long like: asian noodles or my favorite instant polenta 2. Take a vegan dried protein source (i am not vegan, but their shelf life is much longer) 3. Take freeze dried veggies and/or dry your own veggies 4. Take some nuts 5. Take a packet soup, packet sauce or dry your own sauce. That's important, take something which is really tasty for you 6. Put everything in reusable zip lock packs The weight is a little bit higher, the cooking time is a little bit longer, but it is totally worth it, and you can get really creative.

At this point dehydrated meals are such a hit or miss for me. I pack dehydrated LUNCHES because most of my backpacking trips are for work and we have a base camp. Therefore our backcountry work is done from hiking to and from a base camp and I really only find myself packing lunches and eating dinner and breakfast at a base camp. Those meals I usually prep beforehand. (also, halfway through a hike is probably when im hungriest so i could eat anything edible at that point). Food planning is different for everyone depending on the kind of backpacking youre doing, so plan accordingly!!! As for weight, I think the Knorr instants are such a good substitute (consider the water you have to pack to rehydrate your meals too) Such a good video full of tips for even experienced backpackers!!!

I'm an experienced hiker, working my way up to start backpacking. I always carry my backpack which holds up to 18L of water for any hike, I've gotten to the point if I am familiar with the trail I fill up the water bladder with how much water I believe I will need and will even pack a water bottle or two extra just in case. I always make sure to leave a case of water in my vehicle as well for when I return. I carry electrolyte tablets and powder with me especially if it's a hotter day. I never thought about looking out for dead trees as I also have a hammock that I lay out in to rest up sometimes, so I will need to keep that in mind for future reference! It does suck that the SOS Satellite Devices are always pricier, I'm currently saving up for one since I hike alone most days and you never know if you'll run into trouble or get hurt.

I couldn't imagine how English and European explorers used to get on back when exploring and charting new lands after they landed in the Americas and Australia 500 to 240 years ago and formed towns after trudging over ranges, rivers not really knowing what to expect, no 3 seasoned tents, Matts & bags just sleeping outside around a campfire in the same gear they wore back in the old country. and if it rained.....tough!! There was no dehydrated camping packs, they had to live off the land......their GPS was a rough map, compass and probably a sexton to navigate by the stars....Many new towns were established in new frontiers by men who done the hard yards. We are living in great times.......we just need good jobs to buy all the good gear lol.

By the way, if you live in Hurricane Country (south Louisiana here) then having a variety of rehydratable meals in your go bag is an excellent idea. You might get stuck car camping for a while, or stuck at home without power (we had no power for ten days after Ida.) You can try a dehydrated meal out now and then, rate it, keep track until you're ready to get your go bag ready for the next storm season, and stock up. There is only so much canned tuna, peanut butter, and jerky one can eat before some rehydrated Pad Thai or Lasagna sounds goooooood.

I calculate my daily calories so I don’t carry too much: 2500 calories covers BMR and camp chores (morning and evening) then add 125 calories per mile on average. A low elevation change day (around 5% might end up being closer to 110, and a 10% day might end up being around 150). I maintain weight on all my hikes, so it works for me. I’m about 175 lbs with a total pack weight of around 20lbs, plus or minus a few.

I always bring extra water, hydrolytes, and food.... but as an Aussie, it's almost always hot when I've gone hiking or done field work so it's important to ensure you have plenty to hand

The almonds at the end got me! I've been backpacking for over 15 years and I still bring cliff bars every single time even though I think I ate maybe 5 in total in those 15 years.

Unfortunately i broke my ankle recently so i havent been able to hike so i got bored and started dehydrating meals myself and its actually pretty fun and i can def make better food than you can buy, id recommend more folks getting into making hiking meals at home

Well Kyle, your spot on about water, I often packed water in and stash it for the return out. When it comes to food thoughts I used to plan the food for my partner as well. I liked raisins and candied walnuts in my oatmeal. Often times I would bring milk, just for coffee and oatmeal. Also I would make bagels and they would last 2-3 days depending on temps. Also aus jus roast beef and a sourdough mini bread is good. Good luck!

Just keep dialing down, takes time!! I went from bringing enough for a buffet to having an extra days worth.......getting better😊🎉

I always look for dead trees when setting up camp, but mainly because they are the best firewood.

Blue Diamond has wasabi almonds that are the shit

Yay! VA! Keep up the great work! 👏🏼

Some great tips here. Have you seen the gear skeptic's nutrition videos? His videos were a huge help for packing food. Takes more prep, but keeps the weight down.

Great video! I just went to Yosemite with my son and forgot my Garmin. I totally regretted it. We didn't need it, but it's nice to have the peace of mind.

Good list - and it shows the changes in improving what is around. I will state though that I still wear a woolen jumper instead of a fleece. A good Aran pattern - thick , wickable, flexible and breathable. Not purchased but one that I have made myself.

I normally bring pre-cooked pork, rice, and some vegetables that I prepared. It would normally lasts me a day when I set camp. I also bring noodles and eggs. Snacks would be peanuts, dates and dark chocolates. I like cooking outdoors. This August I am planning to cook spaghetti on my way to Lake Holon with my buddy.

It's good practice to always look around your campsite or the place you took your pack off for a break to make sure you don't leave anything behind.

I don’t hike anymore,but gps devices were not available. We didn’t go on any long hikes, only two or three nights at a time. We hiked the Enchantment basin out of Leavenworth before permits were required, and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area and quite often were the only people around. All in the PNW of course

Thanks Kyle. Good luck hitting your next KZfaq viewership goal.

Mountain House Chili Mac provides a comfort that can really lift your spirits when out in the woods on a cold, damp, Autumn night after walking 15 miles but then again so can warm gravy.

Sup kyle!? Dude their are sooo man more "missing hiker" stories that i would to see you cover! I need them like a drug lol

Dehydrate your own meals. Use a vacuum sealer to make your own portion-sized meals. Saves money and you get the food / menu you really like, in the portion size you want

Thank you for the helpful advice and tips. I’m trying to get into backpacking unfortunately I don’t have any experienced friends who go backpacking. Hopefully I could make some new friends on the it trail!

2 things. #1, going it alone. Just like the SOS button device, a lot of hiking deaths and near-deaths are directly attributable to being solo. #2, activities that are high risk under the circumstances, namely climbing of any kind, and almost all being in water above the waste scenarios. By far and away, hiking injuries and fatalities are almost always caused by falls, or water. A solo hiker doing any climbing or high risk water scenarios multiplies their probability of injury or death exponentially! That`s my 2 cents................

9:48 about food, sometime too much but sometime not enough - my opinion is a little too much is acceptable. i camped with friends and when we leave , we miss a farry at noon and need to wait 4 hours at pier! we cooked the last instant noodle and a can of corn for afternoon tea, very grateful we bring those noodle😅

The widowmaker thing is scary. Lots of dead trees along the Appalachian mtn range.

You are knocking the good content out

GPS w/SOS, hope you have battery power and a signal. Map and compass, with common sense works well if you know how to use all three. A good diet plan will have the needed electrolytes in the food. We had guys eat an MRE when they ‘over drank water’ and that often did the trick. For folks that were getting dehydrated, did have powdered Gatorade to add to their canteen. If they couldn’t drink it, they got the IV normal saline or lactated ringers.

No matter where you hike, be certain to check the WATER REPORT for your locality. Even if you’ve hiked there before; conditions change. I have definitely been caught short on H2O because of two of three known water sources were dry. I was lucky enough to be able to get a little water from a stranger on trail. Thankfully, this was a well-traveled trail in Yosemite, otherwise it could have been disastrous.💦🌿

I used to like canned kippered herring when I camped. The smoked flavor and a cup of Earl Grey would get me hike-motivated in the AM. In retrospect: Not such a great idea in Bear Country. But my companions were impressed that it contained about 3/4 of my daily protein requirement :D

Mix those almonds with chocolate. If you want to keep it healthy (and you're worried about the chocolate melting) go with a quality dark chocolate (Ritter, Ghirardelli, Lindt). Obviously you're just a few ingredients away from trail mix, but just breaking up a chocolate bar into your almonds makes them much more palatable.

Can you give more advice with what food to bring on hikes? I feel like every time I pack something things go wrong.

I set camp on the AT one night in Pennsylvania, and a fellow thru hiker set his hammock up on a dead tree. It came crashing down when he got in and was *this close* to crushing him AND the surrounding tents. Luckily, everyone was okay, but he passed away 2 days later due to an unrelated incident. Yall be careful in them woods! Widowmakers are everywhere! Hope yall dig the edit! Peace :)

If you have a newer iPhone, I think 14+, there is an SOS feature built in. Last weekend I was up in the Colorado Mountains at 9,200ft and my truck got stuck. My phone said, SOS, where the 5G usually is. What I've learned since then is that when you don't have cell or WiFi service your iPhone uses a satellite network for communication. Not saying it's a good replacement for a dedicated SOS radio but it's a good backup or better than nothing.

I'm finally gonna try the LMNT Kyle sample pack

I used to dehydrate my own food for backpacking. It was cheaper than freeze dried, and I knew what was in it. Also, generally, if it’s good before you dehydrate the dish, it’s good when you eat it.

I have not gotten my GPS device yet but I got the IPhone 14 which has SOS and I have not yet gone on any LONG hikes. I will likely add the device before hiking season this fall

How good does a cheeseburger taste after hiking for several days! Omg. Also, if you’re looking for a good bladder for mainly a cooking water source. Drink you a box wine and use that bladder. It lasts for several days and seems to be very strong. I’m not a avid hiker but was trained for 6 months. I learned a lot. Especially window makers lmao😅

Backpacker meals cost so much i could almost eat at a restaurant for that price. Happy i got myself a good dehydrator so i can make my own backpacker meals. I almost never go on anything longer than an overnighter, and then i dont mind carrying some fresh meat, but having access to precut dehydrated vegetables is very convenient for making dinner that taste like proper home made meals. Gonna try with meat soon, and start preparing bigger batches of different types of backpacker meals. I almost never go on anything longer than an overnighter though, so for me its totally reasonable to bring fresh meat. For 1 or 2 days longer, id be ok eating vegetarian foods, and just bring some whey proteins mixed with carbs to make sure i get enough proteins for fast recovery. I almost always have protein shake with half a serving of carbs (helps with protein uptake) for breakfast when im at home, and take a few key quality supplements. Mainly zink, vitamin B, and magnesium. Zink and L-Tyrosine (amino acid - which i get from the protein shake) is used for making dopamine (anti depressant basically), which is in turn used to produce my favorite neurotransmitter; noradrenaline (mental focus) 🤘

Planning too thru hike the great divide trail in canada next year. Longest so far for us was 5 day section hikes. Water wont be hard too find but food for the end is going too be tricky

I love LMNT. Grapefruit is awesome and I love the mango chili. Been drinking it for a couple years now.

Been subscribed to you for a while, I’m wondering what kinda meat you brought with you hiking for those wraps and how long it would stay good for

Good advice,the new iPhone 14 series has SOS satellite built in and I’d imagine every generation will from now on…. I’d forgot about this feature, but checked after you reminded me and it’s there. Nice I spend lots of time in the bush.

Have you really considered just taking a bag of trail mix? A mixed variety of nuts, seeds, even dark chocolate and raisins for sweetness. They're a great way to get calories and have healthy fats, and it tastes great, not just almonds. You can mix your own to whatever you like. I like the textures and flavors :P

Wow Kyle has the best advice!! I have a big crush

You need to up your almond game. Try trader joe's salted and roasted Marcona Almonds with either truffle or rosemary. So good!!!

Good one man 🤙🏽

Dialing in the amount of water and food to carry is tough and going to be dependent on your individual needs and the terrain.

You should check out for widowmakers when taking rest breaks, too. And then be extra vigilant when hiking in burn zones.

Thank you for sharing

I have eaten so many different MREs from different countries, and whilst some of them have been absolutely horrendeous, the Mountain House chicken-something, and mac'n'cheese were so God damn awfull that they still give me the chills - NEVER again I'm going to put that allmost-like-food resembling mass in my mouth.

i was on a trail the other day and heard some hikers say...Don't be a Kyle

I hike the desert, it’s been in the hundreds here in Tucson, I basically just use water eat a little something before I go and if I do any overnights or whatever I usually just cook up something a lot of this is common sense people should know already 😮

Skimp on food if you like - running out is unpleasant but not fatal. But always carry some spare water. There's so much that can go wrong - injury, illness, dry water sources... In a desert lack of water can kill you within a couple of days, and even a few hours can be damn unpleasant (don't ask me how I know...).