Instead, use the plant roots which you dig, pull and section off. For cactus, cut off the head and avoid the milk.
In the Arizona desert there is a cactus in a bottle shape which contains near 7 quarts of water but only in Arizona. With a good knife it will take nearly 40 minutes of hard work to cut the very tough and prickly skin.
The water is in the plant, not in the soil. The only danger comes from milky sap as seen from cactus in African desert. The Barrel Cactus is the milky exception.
One may not find Barrel Cactus if in the wrong region of the desert. If you find one, to get the juice, cut off sections of that Cactus and be wary of spines. Mash them in a container.
You can drink any resulting fluid on the spot or pour it into a second container as often as needed. If you have no utensils, you can mash segments of the cactus one by one and suck the pulp.
DESERT WATER PART 2
1) Where you see damp soil, dig in surface.
2) One can find water just under the surface of a dry river. The water goes down at the lowest point of the river bed, in the exterior part of the elbow of its bed. Digging under the concave bank of the exterior side of the river curve is the place to find water, whereas the convex side is nil. Help the water to flow by digging small holes.
3) Look behind rocks, in trenches and small ditches, on the flank of canyon or under the sharp edge of cliff and maybe you will find natural reservoirs. Often in those places, the soil is made of solid rock or very hard soil well packed that collects water. If you can't find those clues, search for water where the animals leave their traces.
4) In desert, REMEMBER to observe the flight of birds particularly at dawn and dusk.
The birds glide and hover around these marshes. Go there every day, parrots and pigeons are rarely very far from it.
5) In the GOBI desert, don't count on plants to quench your thirst. In the SAHARA, the Wild Gourd or Pumpkin can quench thirst. The pulp of the Barrel Cactus in USA is safe and will give 1 litre of milky fluid. (This is the exception to the milky rule) but it is tough to get to it, with a good knife you cut the upper part. Use this cactus as last resort.
6) The roots of certain desert plants are found very near the surface soil. The Australian http://www.endtimesreport.com/waterarticle.html (10 of 39) [03/16/2003 9:42:26 AM]
WATER
Water Tree, the Desert Oak and the Blood Wood are examples.
Remove these roots and cut them or better break them in length of 60-100cm. Remove the skin and suck the water contained in it.
7) The Madagascar Traveling Tree of Western Africa and the Australian and African Baobab are among the plants capable of supplying water.
Don't attach too much importance about stories of contaminated wells. The acid taste of certain salty or alkaline waters rich in magnesium are the cause.
Desert waters by the nature of their surge are generally better filtered and clearer than your city water. Yet, better boil that water or add Iodine or Halazone pills especially in native villages or near inhabited places.
DESERT SURVIVAL - WALKING
In the Desert, adapt yourself to it, rather than try fighting it.
Desert natives refuse to do any violent effort during the hottest hours of the day and as the animals do; they drink and drink as soon as possible.
It has been registered desert walking of 140 to 350 miles between 10 to 20 days; while walking only at night and with only a little water from plane crashed survivors.
Here is another illustration to prove the point. An American called Rodger Jones, in August 1953 was stranded on a road in the Great Salt Lake Desert, when an axle of his car broke down.
As a former marine he had taken a short survival course and he did the right think, he lay down in the shadow of his car (outside) and slept through the hottest part of the day.
Around 6pm when the sun had lost its full impact, though the temperature was still around 95; he set off along the road. He knew there were steel water tanks for tourist at regular intervals.
Twice that evening he came to one of those tanks painted bright red and drank as much as he could, also filling up his water bottle. Wherever he found any shade he stopped for a rest.
Every so often he collected large stones and laid them out on the road to spell the word http://www.endtimesreport.com/waterarticle.html (11 of 39) [03/16/2003 9:42:26 AM]
WATER
HELP with an arrow showing the direction he was walking in.
The next day a car driver saw one of those signs, at once followed the arrow and caught up with Jones after a 4 hours drive.
He was resting in the shade of a rock and his condition was excellent despite a midday heat of 110 F.
Another family who also got stranded did survive by laying close to the car shadow, applying lipstick to the blisters and swollen lips of the husband and children and covering everyone cheeks and arms with rouge.
Discovering that the ground was cooler a few inches below the surface, she and her husband buried the children up to the neck in sand and applied sand to the children's faces, then they did the same for themselves.
In most deserts the temperature a foot below the surface is less than 72 F and on hot summer day; it may be 18 degree cooler than at the surface directly above.
Using urine collected earlier during the day, they dipped some bit of clothing in the can and press them on children's face, the smell was unpleasant, but the moisture was refreshing cool.