[Philmont]: Polar Pure in the Cold

The company has an instructional website:

        http://www.polarequipment.com/page3.html

and a temperature use chart:

        http://www.polarequipment.com/dosage.html

Some comments: The temperature use chart just recommends additional
capfuls of Polar Pure; it does not recommend longer waiting periods.
This is likely because the amount of iodine dissolved in the solution
(in the bottle) decreases as the water gets colder, so they want you to
use more of it. Personally, if I was faced with using very cold water,
I would wait longer before drinking it, or more likely I would heat the
water to lukewarm (at which temperature the Polar Pure would work
perfectly well).

One thing not mentioned in the website vis-a-vis cold temperatures is
that it takes considerably longer for the Polar Pure to regenerate
itself. A standard trick I use when the weather is really cold is to
put the bottle in an inside pocket where it will warm up. One or two
hours of sloshing around at "skin temperature" will regenerate the
solution nicely. If I'm in a rush at a campsite, I'll put the bottle(s)
in a pot of warm water, and swirl them around every once in awhile.
Remember, Polar Pure looks like weak tea when it's at full strength, so
it's easy enough to tell if it's too weak yet. Everyone should
recognize the proper color of full strength Polar Pure.

- Dr. Bob

Calvin H. Gray wrote:
>>Is there a temperature below which Polar Pure will not work? I know
>>that you use more of the solution and wait longer if the water is
>>colder. I think the Philmont recommended procedure is to use 2 capfuls
>>per liter and wait 1 hour before drinking. Does this work regardless
>>of the temperature?
>>
>
>
> Kanik is Philmont's winter camping program that runs from late December
> through March. According to Kanik staff members, Polar Pure doesn't work
> at cold temperatures so each Kanik crew takes water from CHQ (in 3 gallon
> jugs) and is resupplied when additional water is needed. During Kanik in
> 2002 when several crews were based at the Hunting Lodge, a water buffalo
> was present to supply campers with water.
>
> YiS,

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Received on Wed Sep 8 23:40:26 2004