Translations:AY Honors/Winter Camping/Answer Key/51/en

Though snow is a form of water, it is foolish to eat it while it is still frozen, especially when spending an extended period of time in the cold. Eating snow can lower the body temperature, leading to chills at best, hypothermia and death at worst. That said, snow is still a great source of drinking water, so long as it is melted first. Pack snow into a pot and put it on the camp stove. Add 250 ml of liquid water to the pot of snow before heating it. If the only water you have in the pot is snow or ice, there will be air pockets. If there is nothing there to conduct the heat away from an aluminum pot, a stove can easily burn a hole in it, or scorch the inside (which will impart a bad taste to the water). The easiest way to get water for this purpose is to keep it in a bottle carried in an inside pocket near your skin. Your body heat will prevent it from freezing.