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Nath1985
12-07-2009, 05:05 AM
Salt.

salt is essential for human survival. A normal diet includes a daily intake of 10gm (1/2 Oz). The trouble starts when you get rid of it faster than you eat it. The body loses salt in sweat and urine, so the warmer the climate the greater the loss. Physical exertion will increase the loss.

The first sympthoms of salt deficency are muscle cramps, nausia, dissness, and tiredness. the remedy is to take a pinch of salt in a pint of water. Try to add salt tablets to your survival kit, but dont swallow them whole.

you can dilute sea water with plenty of fresh water to increase your salt, a pint of sea water contains about 15gm (3/4 Oz) Of salt. Salt can even be obtained from some plants like in the roots of hickory trees.

If you cant get any of the above, One other way to obtain salt is through animal blood. which is also a good source for minirals.

RangerXanatos
12-07-2009, 09:03 AM
It is my understanding that you will get you just about all the salt you need through your regular diet in the wild.

Rick
12-07-2009, 09:37 AM
Salt is like any other seasoning. Except, it can be used to preserve foods. It's not about what we need. Eating a balanced diet will net you all the vitamins and minerals (including salt) that you need. It just helps make food taste better and does wonders for preservation of food when nothing else is available.

As for drinking blood, you can certainly do that if you want but I have no intention of doing it. The number of cysts and other parasites contained in any blood will keep me well away from it.

preachtheWORD
12-07-2009, 10:23 AM
I like to carry packs of salty peanuts with me when hiking, etc. You get three very essential things - protein, fat, and salt. Not to mention they taste good and are cheap. I love peanuts!

preachtheWORD
12-07-2009, 10:26 AM
In reference to blood, does cooking reduce the salt content? I would not think so. Consuming the cooked blood of an animal seems a lot more managable that drinking raw blood. Most people would have a hard time with that, including me. Bear Grylls does it, but he can also vomit when the camera is off. (I don't take Bear too seriously)

Nath1985
12-08-2009, 01:52 AM
I see no reason not to cook it, kinda like black pudding. Not too sure if cooking it will reduce the salt content thou.

Lovng the packs of peanuts idea. Just make sure you bring plenty of water, you know thats why salted peanuts are sold on planes, and free in some pubs. Any excuse for a pint!

Winnie
12-08-2009, 05:53 AM
In the last Ray Mears programme, he had a meal of blood soup with some folk. He said it was good, and seemed to enjoy it.

canid
12-08-2009, 06:03 AM
Mr. Mears did another series..?

i was not notified...!

Mischief
12-08-2009, 07:21 AM
It's not about what we need. Eating a balanced diet will net you all the vitamins and minerals (including salt) that you need. It just helps make food taste better and does wonders for preservation of food when nothing else is available.

DUH!!!! On a willderness survival thingie

Hello

Mischie

Pict
12-08-2009, 07:50 AM
In the tropics you lose salt at an alarming rate, you literally wash it right out of your system. My record for drinking water here is eight liters in one day, that was an extreme case of hard work in hot/humid conditions. Drinking at that rate means you will be cramped up due to salt loss so you have to replace it.

Not all regular diets are created equal. Here in Brazil most Americans remark how salty the food is. My mom has a fit every time she visits. Their "regular diet" covers the natural salt loss.

I always carry salt here. Mac

Rick
12-08-2009, 07:58 AM
Mac, your point is well taken. What do the indigenous folks do while in the bush? How do they deal with it?

Drinking that much water will certainly create havoc with your electrolytes.

Old GI
12-08-2009, 10:21 AM
Once again, in the forest called Uwharrie, we cooked blood in a canteen cup down to dry flakes. That made a great seasoning. Just another usage and it was salty.

klkak
12-08-2009, 06:55 PM
I'm getting my dose of salt as I type this. Dill pickles and sharp cheddar cheese.

Survival Guy 10
12-08-2009, 07:05 PM
im with klkak

owl_girl
12-08-2009, 07:06 PM
most modern people have too much salt in them so most of you should be able to loos a bit before youd have to worry about it

Batch
12-08-2009, 07:20 PM
Mac, I regularly drink two gallons of water here a day during the summer.

Another option to drinking sea water is to got to the salt marsh and scrape the salt off of the leaves of mangrove trees after the water has evaporated from them.

Rick
12-08-2009, 08:21 PM
Or eat some chips....just sayin'.

Winnie
12-09-2009, 05:36 AM
Mr. Mears did another series..?

i was not notified...!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nqhwl

Here ya go, It's just finished and was a great series.:)

catfish10101
12-09-2009, 05:57 AM
http://firstaid.about.com/od/heatcoldexposur1/qt/07_hyponatremia.htm
Here is a good page on it. This is very important to us Firefighters as we lose fluids quickly in a fire and need to rehydrate CORRECTLY.

wareagle69
12-09-2009, 08:48 AM
tussilago farfara -coltsfoot

rwc1969
12-27-2009, 04:43 PM
If you eat the eyeballs, organs, blood, bones, brains and such of animals you won't have a need for salt or other nutrient supplements, except for possibly vitamin C.

You would starve if all you ate was the meat, especially with rabbit or vegetables. But, if you eat the parts that we normally pitch you can survive quite well. You can survive on rabbit alone if you eat the whole thing, and peoples have for centuries.

Blood and certain plants can be boiled down/ evaporated and the salt will be left in the bottom of the pan. The salt will not evaporate out. It might collect on the sides of the pot or lid from splashback.

In a wilderness survival situation I would not be too concerned with salt. Because by the time my body would need it I would have already resorted to eating pretty much the entire animal, including grinding the bones down and eating them.

In the past people even added rabbit pellets to their stews and such. It provided some kind of nutrient that they couldn't get otherwise, probably veggie based.:)

Rick
12-27-2009, 06:29 PM
Well Yuuuuuuck!!!

rwc1969
12-27-2009, 06:35 PM
this reminds me of Jeramiah Johnson when his wife gave him the "bread?" she cooked on the fire. He didn't seem to like it. I wonder what was in there.

Rick
12-27-2009, 06:37 PM
I don't know but I DON'T want my bread looking back at me.

RangerXanatos
12-27-2009, 10:37 PM
this reminds me of Jeramiah Johnson when his wife gave him the "bread?" she cooked on the fire. He didn't seem to like it. I wonder what was in there.

By the way, Jeremiah Johnson is playing right now on AMC. I just happened to flip to it and I've never seen it.

TucsonMax
01-11-2010, 10:28 PM
I believe that salt is a great barter item - one of the best.

Are you stockpiling extra for barter?

Pict
01-12-2010, 06:46 AM
On my recent six day trip our need for salt was very evident. I got dehydrated on the way in and the way out. The bottom line was that you just couldn't carry enough water, move the distance required, chop and shove your way through, and stay hydrated all at the same time. You could do any one of those things at a time but not all at once and make the objective in any reasonable time frame.

In both cases were were moving towards a water source so it was a matter of getting there in the best condition we could, loading up with water, rehydrating and then hitting it again the next day. Every time we would come back to camp both of us would break out the little tub of salt and down a few pinches with a canteen full of water. If you are low on salt a pinch of it will taste amazingly good on your tongue so don't overdo it.

Mac

old soldier
01-12-2010, 08:38 AM
A good place to buy a few hundred pounds of salt for stocking up is at a store that sells cow feed,less than 10 dollars a 100#, then for iodine that the body also needs, store some over the counter Lugol’s solution in capsule or tablet form. I think the body needs 12.5 mg of iodine daily. http://www.mbschachter.com/iodine.htm

bulrush
01-12-2010, 07:08 PM
Salt.

salt is essential for human survival. A normal diet includes a daily intake of 10gm (1/2 Oz). The trouble starts when you get rid of it faster than you eat it. The body loses salt in sweat and urine, so the warmer the climate the greater the loss. Physical exertion will increase the loss.

10gm is 10,000mg. The US Recommended Daily Allowance is 2000mg. 10,000mg sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen for a normal American doing a typical day's work with electricity. However, perhaps you really do need 10,000mg with daily hard work for 10+ hours per day.

Anyway, if you're eating freeze dried food you will get more than enough sodium from that. If you have only wild game, you might need to eat extra sodium.

It all really depends on your salt intake, and sodium output (sweating via hard work).