In one of my EDC photos last week, I showed that I carry a 40oz Klean Kanteen. I think the water tastes better from the stainless steel bottle than from a plastic Nalgene, and prefer carrying 40 ounces over just 32.

The main complaint many people express concerning a single-walled stainless steel bottle is that you can’t carry hot liquids in it. That’s not much of a detraction for me, since I have a different bottle for that. What does annoy me is that, in the cold, when the bottle is filled with cold water, the stainless steel can become too cold to touch without gloves. To address this, I took an old wool sock and cut it off at about the neck of the bottle. Instant insulation.

The only disadvantage is that the sock is just a little too thick for the bottle to nest inside my mug. Depending on how you carry the bottle, you might want to cut off a few inches from the bottom of the sock as well as the top.

Last month, vavrek and I began researching gravity powered water filtration systems. The British Berkefeld and Berkey filter systems dominate this market (British Berkefeld refers to systems using the Doulton Super Sterasyl filter elements, Berkey refers to filter systems using the Black Berkey filter elements). I had been set on purchasing a Berkey filter until vavrek discovered AquaRain Natural Water Filtration Systems, a lesser known (and cheaper) alternative.

The AquaRain systems are all built in the USA from stainless steel. The filter elements are from Marathon Filters, the same used by MSR in their portable filters. They’re ceramic with carbon which, as illustrated in this table, filters organic and microbiological organisms, but not heavy metals, radioactivity, or inorganics. (More information on different filter types is available here.) These filters have been shown to filter down to the .2-.3 micron range, where British Berkefeld units claim an absolute rating of .5 microns.

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BBC: Lots of water ‘is little benefit’

UK experts say research which finds drinking lots of water does little to improve health should not discourage people from topping up regularly.

A scientific review by the University of Pennsylvania said some people, such as athletes, may need to drink a lot.

But they found little evidence that flushing out toxins through drinking copious amounts improved health.

…

They wrote: “There is no clear evidence of benefit from drinking increased amounts of water.

“Although we wish we could demolish all of the urban myths found on the Internet regarding the benefits of supplemental water ingestion, we concede there is also no clear evidence of lack of benefit.

“In fact, there is simply a lack of evidence in general.”

Looking at other scientific papers revealed that while drinking more water did effect the rate at which various substances were cleared by the kidney, there was no suggestion that this led to any actual health benefits.

I’ve kept on my water diet, with no further news of note to report on it. As the article states, there’s no evidence of benefit or lack of benefit, but, as far as I can tell, it’s not hurting anything.

For the past month, I’ve been observing a sort of water diet.

An Iranian fellow, by the name of Dr. Batmanghelidj (or, as most refer to him, Dr. Batman), was of the belief that a deficiency of water in the body can be cited as the cause to near all illnesses and afflictions. A search of his name turns up numerous criticisms of the method, but I thought I’d try it. It’s clear that dehydration can contribute to, if not cause, many ailments, and it’s no leap of faith to call our society chronically dehydrated, what with all the shit we shovel down our throats.

I’ve yet to read Dr. Batman’s book, but built my schedule from the ZehChill blog, which claims the regiment consists of drinking half one’s body weight in ounces per day, along with 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt per 32 ounces water, and avoiding alcohol and caffeine. Now, as I mentioned above, Dr. Batman was Iranian. He was also trained in Scotland and practiced in England. So, it would follow that if he tells us to measure our drink based on body weight, he would be referring to body weight in kilograms, no? Well, the aforementioned blog uses pounds, and, as an American, it’s expected of me to be stubborn and not recognize that the French invented a superior system. So, I’m sticking with pounds.

Luckily, I’m a small guy, so the required amount of water is not difficult to consume. I already avoid alcohol, and the only caffeine I take is the occasional bit from green tea, which I don’t drink terribly often. Pretty much anything I cook involves obscene amounts of sea salt, making hyponatremia not much of a concern, though I’ve upped the amount, regardless.

My regiment has been to drink 16oz of water with 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt second thing upon waking (first thing is a piss), doing the same in the evening (including the pissing), and fill the rest in during the day (I piss a lot here, too). Actually, I usually end up going a bit over half my body weight (though I probably piss twice that amount out).

The most noticeable result of all this, in case you haven’t gathered, is that I have to piss like a man just cut for the stone every few hours — and it’s always clear, or bordering on it. Which is actually quite satisfying (both the pissing and seeing how clear it is). But, there have been a few results beyond that.

I first started this thing on a Saturday. The Thursday previous I had come down with what could have been an exceptionally bad cold, but felt to me like influenza (I don’t get vaccinated). By Monday, I was fine. Whether it was a cold or the flu, I’m impressed.

I feel I have more energy throughout the day since starting. I also began playing with my diet (solids) at about the same time, though, so I can’t contribute the energy solely to water.

My skin, particularly my hands, have the habit of becoming extremely dry and cracked (occasionally painful) during the winter. This ceased a couple weeks into the water diet. My knuckles are still a little cracked (driving my barehanded fists into focus mits probably isn’t helping in that regard), but nothing near like what they usually are.

All in all, I see no reason not to continue. It is quite clearly not producing any negative effects, and possibly producing positive ones. I’d be curious to hear any other experiences.