How Long Can You Survive Without Water?

I know the typical answer is 3-5 days as advised by many experts and survival type sites. I ran into one site recently however that gives a different view point and analyzes survival time without water by maximum daily temperatures as shown here:

www.survivaltopics.com...


The chart provided by this site shows survival time without water at only two days at 120 (F) degrees temp or 48.9 (C)

to a survival time without water of up to 10 days at 50 (F) degrees temp or 10.0 (C)

Not that I ever want to find out at any temperature...... but curious as to why this difference is never mentioned?
Any thoughts or comments?

Depends on how much beer I have!

I think the 3 - 5 day timeframe is just a common generalisation. Obviously environmental factors will have an impact. The hotter the weather, the more you sweat, and therefore the more fluid you lose. Your level of activity will also affect your hydration levels.

The generalised timeframe is a better indicator in most scenarios, which will not be affected so much by extreme weather conditions. Once, during my footloose days of roaming the wilderness, I went just half a day on a coastal sub-tropical island without water and I was totally wrecked by the end of it. Another time I was exploring the southern mountains (in highly contrasting alpine climate) and only consumed one and a half litres of water, and never felt thirsty at all, despite my high activity level.

Just as long as people remember that, by the time you feel genuinely thirsty, you're already well on your way to dehydration.

What happens is that you enter into severe dehydration followed by renial and in many cases respiratory failure. Being in 120+F heat cooks the water out of you faster. One of the first things you will notice in such heat is that your eyes start to dry out and blinking becomes painful after about an hour of first exposure to such heat. Especially if you were in a climate controlled room of 68F and entered such a hot room.

After 2 days of just sitting in a typical 68F room with no water, you will have a hard time taking more that just a sip or two of water. I have done it before. I do not recommend that anyone try it. It is not a pleasant experience at all. In fact, I will do anything to avoid dehydration ever again.

I would throw in that cold weather and high altitudes can easily lead to dehydration because one doesn't feel as thirsty under those conditions.
Drinking water on a regular basis is even more important then because your body is lying to you.
Colder air holds less moisture and literally sucks it out of your body with every breath.
Did you know there are 2 kinds of thirst? -
Hypovolemic thirst is due to a decrease in the volume of water in the blood plasma. Sometimes called "Exra-cellular thirst".
Osmotic thirst, due to an increase in osmotic pressure in plasma, leading to dehydration of cells or "Intracellular thirst".
This is a fancy way of saying that sodium and potassium ions in the blood determine whether there is sufficient pressure in the blood to allow cells to uptake water.
Either way, thirst is a neurological stimuli generated in the hypothalmus of the brain telling you to get some water into your body.

If you have no water do not eat. Digestion requires water and will only decrease your bodies' water.
Urine and Seawater can be used to extend your water supply, but will not replace it as they both require additional fresh water to flush the excess nitrates, salts and minerals.

Aside from the physical harm that dehydration can cause it will also lead to mental confusion and muscular weakness, either of which may be the critical factor in determining survival. Poor decision making is a killer in itself.

Thanks for the comments so far, even from member notsofunnyguy, about the beer....

It definitely appears that water will be the most critical & immediate issue in any survival scenario. And with so many people in the general public who are probably unprepared, this factor alone could cause a major thinning of the population numbers....

reply to post by manta78


depends on what you eat too...
dried foods will soak up liquids from your body...
juicy fruits and cacti will replace lost moisture...

it is possible to go much longer that a few days without a drink... but, but, but... you wouldn't want to put that to a test

reply to post by DaddyBare


I agree with you about foods containing moisture. Have tried "prickly pears" from cactus here in Texas. They are not bad actually, taste a little like watermelon.