Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: hillbilly on June 04, 2016
-
Folks I'm curious. I was on an extended hike in the mournes last Thursday a very warm day. I took 6 litres of water with me a considerable weight. I walked from the ott car park on Slievenaman road to Donard. I then climbed Donard, Commedagh Slievenaglogh and Bernagh on the return journey. At this point I was done with the challenge and stayed on a low trajectory by passing meelmore meelbeg and Slieve loughshannagh to get back to the carpark. On my way down Commedagh I noted a pipe with running water pouring out of it. Does anyone know if this a trustworthy water source. Posing the possibility of carrying less water and cutting down on weight. Also anybody able to put an accurate mileage on this trip.
-
That sounds like a real tough walk. I'm not surprised that you feel you wanted a lot of water. I have used that pipe many times, it is certainly the norm for a lot of walkers and wild campers alike.
-
Thankyou WhoRya. It's good to know it is safe to use this will enable me to lighten my load considerably . However it looks so out of place. I wonder what it was set up for. What water source it is plumbed in to. It really is weird looking. Anyway Thankyou.
-
Here is a link (http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2301.0) to a previous thread about this. A couple of extra interesting contributions in there, particularly this one from Chuck:
Just to add: I was told by the Mourne Heritage Trust ranger that it's a natural spring. Think: a thin deep crack in the mountain with water being forced up it by water pressure from below. Then someone drilled a pipe into the spring to make it easier to flow out. It's quite rare at high levels, he mentioned that there was another spring found recently, but I didn't catch it's location.
-
Thanks I'll hokey about to find the rest of this thread.
-
WhoRyou you have some memory. This thread dates 2012. Perfect and thanks. I feel a lot more comfortable about relying on, and using it as a water stop. Much appreciated.
-
I've drank from it a few times with no fuss at all. I think it's really awesome how no-one really knows who put the pipe there.
-
WhoRyou you have some memory. This thread dates 2012. Perfect and thanks. I feel a lot more comfortable about relying on, and using it as a water stop. Much appreciated.
Ha, no credit due to my memory. All credit goes to the search facility where I typed in "water pipe"!
-
Lol. You should have taken the credit.
-
Ive drank out it too..seems ok
-
I've passed it by hundreds of times. It's just when I was under pressure for weight that I viewed it as a resource rather than a feature.
-
Six kilos is a lot of water. When I'm bivvying my total pack weight is sometimes not a lot more than six kilos (around 7 or 8 sometimes)
Lots of people drink from that pipe unfiltered, but if you're worried at all, get a Sawyer water filter, slap it onto the tube of your hydration bladder, and fill up as you pass the pipe, knowing that the water will be filtered as you drink.
The filter's weight is negligible. It'll filter more water than you'll drink in your lifetime if you take care and backflush it occasionally, and it isn't particularly expensive.
http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/sawyer-mini-filter-e2612044
That way you only need to have enough in your water bladder to see you to the next water source at any given time :-)
Attached an image of it so you can see how little it gets in the way
-
Ed the Sawyer is £19 on Amazon I already have one and just ordered a back up for WW3 (LOL)
Torp
-
Thanks folks I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I've looked at these filters but thought they were a gimmick. That will be my next purchase.
-
Another endorsement of the filter from me. I've chosen mucky still water rather than flowing water deliberately just to test it. Good results so far.
-
Mmmm does this test mean your insides didn't run outside. Lol.😂. Thanks for reply. Amazon next stop. Sawyer water filter. WhoRya I take it you gave the Sawyer a test. I see it has a 100,000 liter life span pretty impressive.
-
@Hillbilly I have used mine several times using water taken from lakes and using a gravity feed system to filter the water through the sawyer and never had a problem with my insides being on the outside and all farts where dry ones lol ;D ;)
-
Torp that is quite a recommendation Lol.😂. Tested and reviewed with honesty. 😇. Thanks for taking time to to reply. I'm never one for gadgets but this looks like a must have especially for the longer all day hikes.
-
your welcome Hillbilly'
that's wot the group is all about, helping others and your always learning mate and I dare say even those with many years experience would tell you the same thing. Its also good that you can ask questions and somebody will give or get you the answer. ;D :o
Torp