A quick note about this particular clip from our film, Survival Skills. While it's true that you can make a filter like this, you need to be careful in doing so. We would recommend only using this method if you absolutely were not able to boil or properly filter your water. Regular charcoal is ok to absorb odors and improve taste, but may not filter out actual bacteria. It's Activated Charcoal that really purifies water, and you need to add calcium chloride and water and cook that mixture, to truly make Activated charcoal. Moral of the story, boil everything, or use a Sawyer, Lifestraw, or Grayl filter. In a life or death situation, if you filter it well enough, you'd probably be fine, but don't risk it if you don't have to.
Extra tip: you can skip filling your “clean” bottle with charcoal/brackish water by just filtering onto the ground until it runs clear, then attach to the clean bottle.
Advantage of using charcoal is that can absorb some chemicals, poisonous for humans... Not only removing impurities, as sand or ground, but can "take in" until is saturated (need to be replaced occasionally) some chemical toxins, that even with boiling couldn't be removed...than, boiling water, should kill viruses, bacteria, parasites, so water should be better than any tap water... ;) Regards from Serbia
@@ivicamilosavljevic4706 that's only ACTIVATED charcoal, regular charcoal only catches impurities like dirt and sediment and improves the taste, regular charcoal does not remove viruses or bacteria, not even activated charcoal will remove it unless you get a brick of compact pure activated charcoal
This may be the most important thing to know for preppers. Buy some activated charcoal and know what ground up plant material you can use and find it and have it ready. Also so it helps to add some sand and small gravel to get out the bigger particles. Using much larger containers for more permanent emergencies is a good idea, as well as knowing the best construction of barrels and their piping. Then you have a water filter for many hundreds if not thousands of gallons for pennies on the dollar compared to commercial tabletop filters, which you have to constantly replace expensive filters with. I would always boil the water over a wood fire after filtering.
Thank you. I’ve heard of people making homemade Berkeley type filter but having this knowledge if stuck away from home I’d a must!! Learned s new skill today!
Excellent video. Thanks. Question: Instead of collecting charcoal from old camp fires, can I use charcoal briquettes from a store-bought bag (as long as they are not treated to light with a match)?
Possible, but if you have access to charcoal briquettes, you can make a fire and just boil the water instead. This primitive technique is really only for an absolute drop dead emergency if you have no water purifying filters, no stainless steel containers to boil in, no purification tablets, etc. This technique is not guaranteed to remove bacteria from water if it's present. It's definitely a great technique if you're trying to take odors and silt out of brackish water before boiling as it will greatly improve the taste.
I have a question. I've always seen filters like this done with sand. Is the sand just for catching particulates like dirt clumps? Or does it serve any other purpose that might make it worth adding to the top of the filter? And if using activated charcoal, would that completely remove the need to boil water? Or would I still want to boil the water after running it through the purifier? Also great video! Very helpful in answering my other questions I had that led me here. 😎👍
Activated charcoal is best if you know how to make it. Charcoal you pull from your campsite will work for taste, but not for anything more. Anything you buy at the grocery store likely has chemicals, and you can’t use those; like fire starting charcoal. Don’t use that.
I'm here to learn how to survive because one day the world may fall apart, at least i am loaded with this survival knowledge and doing it for the boiss to survive🔥🔥💪🏻💪🏻
I get it cleaned the pollutants like lead or metals, but do you still have to worry about the bacteria? If so, would it be wiser to have several of these going at once, then boil them together to kill any disease?
We would recommend using this method only as a last resort, or simply to have better tasting, more clear water, that you should still boil 100% of the time.
Always boil, unless you’re not able to. This technique works if you do it right, but we’d recommend doing this more for taste & clarity, and still boiling.
Really interesting, but how long can I use this filter? So I mean how long can I filter out my water in there until it's time to throw it away or change charcoal, even though it looks pretty wild and should be used as a last resort?
Not trying to be a smart ass, genuinely trying to guide for knowledge. Do some research on how many gallons can be filtered by however many ounces of charcoal. This way you can calculate how much water you intake and then how much you need to filter. This will give you an idea of how much you can filter through however big of a filter you use. Sorry if that’s confusing
I missed a key point, knowing how much water you need to filter, as well as the volume you can filter, gives a ratio of how often you need to change out
A Question To Anyone Who Knows: Here in the UK I don't think we have pine trees and if we do I've never seen one. What other green earthy material can I use instead of pine needles?
Personally, I wouldn't use pine needles some can be toxic. As you don't seem to have pine trees where you live no worries. You could use something like an old tee shirt cut up to filter the charcoal dust from passing through. That's my method at least. I'm certain there are others like rough sand or fine gravel. Which is actually another method of filtration. fine gravel, sand charcoal and something to keep the filtration system from passing through and clogging up the final drip system. Food for thought mate.
Can you take a big piece of activated charcoal bought from a health store, boil it for 10 mins, let it cool and put it in a glass container of tap water, and let it sit overnight? Will that then be filtered water in the morning??
Our instructors have been all over the world, and pollution is everywhere. But If you can’t find a bottle, then that probably means you’re in a remote area without supplies, and that’s on you. We don’t leave the house with a pack, and we definitely don’t go into the woods, or anywhere away from civilization, without gear.
You can still get cryptosporidiosis or giardiasis from a creek or stream. Unless it's a Mountain Spring, we'd still recommend boiling or filtering all water. It's not worth the risk. Even some mountain springs can be polluted by rainwater from nearby cities, so we boil absolutely everything, or use a Grayl Geopress, or Sawyer Mini, to filter. Mountain Springs that are higher elevations are generally safe.
@@TheSurvivalSummit Agreed. You never know about dead animals decaying in the water up stream. So Filtering and boiling will help. Maybe get a small bottle of either Chlorine bleach or Tincture of iodine for a chemical approach to killing microbes in an emergency...
A quick note about this particular clip from our film, Survival Skills. While it's true that you can make a filter like this, you need to be careful in doing so. We would recommend only using this method if you absolutely were not able to boil or properly filter your water. Regular charcoal is ok to absorb odors and improve taste, but may not filter out actual bacteria. It's Activated Charcoal that really purifies water, and you need to add calcium chloride and water and cook that mixture, to truly make Activated charcoal. Moral of the story, boil everything, or use a Sawyer, Lifestraw, or Grayl filter. In a life or death situation, if you filter it well enough, you'd probably be fine, but don't risk it if you don't have to.
Does this work on PFA/Forever chemicals?
If not, please do a video on what does?
So would you say that if you first boil and kill all the bacteria and then run it through a charcoal filter this elminates the threat?
@@KaiserRuiz run it thru the filter to clear it up first, then boil it
can you use calcium carbonate (lime) instead of calcium chloride? But I suppose that's just an alkali, and an acid like lemon juice can do the same...
Should i use only activated charcoal
That’s the prettiest charcoal filter I have seen. Nice tip on the pine needles I have not seen that before. Thank you!
Extra tip: you can skip filling your “clean” bottle with charcoal/brackish water by just filtering onto the ground until it runs clear, then attach to the clean bottle.
Yep, then all you need to do is boil it. It's a SUPER old middle eastern process I used in the field.
Advantage of using charcoal is that can absorb some chemicals, poisonous for humans... Not only removing impurities, as sand or ground, but can "take in" until is saturated (need to be replaced occasionally) some chemical toxins, that even with boiling couldn't be removed...than, boiling water, should kill viruses, bacteria, parasites, so water should be better than any tap water... ;) Regards from Serbia
@@ivicamilosavljevic4706 that's only ACTIVATED charcoal, regular charcoal only catches impurities like dirt and sediment and improves the taste, regular charcoal does not remove viruses or bacteria, not even activated charcoal will remove it unless you get a brick of compact pure activated charcoal
@@ivicamilosavljevic4706 yup, unless you're distilling when you boil you're still going to have the heavy metal in the water.
This is the type of video that makes surfing RUclips so beneficial. Thank You.
If you have a bandana or some other piece of fabric you can also put your charcoal inside that the keep it from getting into the water as well.
This may be the most important thing to know for preppers. Buy some activated charcoal and know what ground up plant material you can use and find it and have it ready. Also so it helps to add some sand and small gravel to get out the bigger particles. Using much larger containers for more permanent emergencies is a good idea, as well as knowing the best construction of barrels and their piping. Then you have a water filter for many hundreds if not thousands of gallons for pennies on the dollar compared to commercial tabletop filters, which you have to constantly replace expensive filters with. I would always boil the water over a wood fire after filtering.
Thank you. I’ve heard of people making homemade Berkeley type filter but having this knowledge if stuck away from home I’d a must!! Learned s new skill today!
Thank you for explaining this useful filtering system! It has probably already saved lives!
By the sound of it, this procedure is very strenuous?
You'd have to ask him. LOL I've never met him, this film was made before I became owner of Survival Summit.
Not at all. His cardio is awful. Fitness is also necessary for survival. The amount that gets overlooked is startling. But the knowledge is there.
😅😅😅😅
Excellent video. Thanks.
Question: Instead of collecting charcoal from old camp fires, can I use charcoal briquettes from a store-bought bag (as long as they are not treated to light with a match)?
Possible, but if you have access to charcoal briquettes, you can make a fire and just boil the water instead. This primitive technique is really only for an absolute drop dead emergency if you have no water purifying filters, no stainless steel containers to boil in, no purification tablets, etc. This technique is not guaranteed to remove bacteria from water if it's present. It's definitely a great technique if you're trying to take odors and silt out of brackish water before boiling as it will greatly improve the taste.
@@TheSurvivalSummit Thanks. Very good point.
The correct answer is no absolutely not. Just get yourself some natural lump charchoal. Briquettes are manufactured from consumer waste.
I have a question.
I've always seen filters like this done with sand. Is the sand just for catching particulates like dirt clumps? Or does it serve any other purpose that might make it worth adding to the top of the filter?
And if using activated charcoal, would that completely remove the need to boil water? Or would I still want to boil the water after running it through the purifier?
Also great video! Very helpful in answering my other questions I had that led me here. 😎👍
You can stuff half a cattail head into the neck of the bottle and that become your particle filter
I watch these videos just in case something ever happens I’m ready.
Would it be better to boil the clean water after its filtered?
Always boil whenever you’re able
Yes.
Activated charcoal does not remove bacteria so boil and/or add chlorox (4 to 6 drops per gallon)
Would you need to boil before doing this?
We’d highly recommend boiling after
whichever charcoal will do the job? if i go to the supermarket i can find different types of charcoal
Activated charcoal is best if you know how to make it. Charcoal you pull from your campsite will work for taste, but not for anything more. Anything you buy at the grocery store likely has chemicals, and you can’t use those; like fire starting charcoal. Don’t use that.
@@TheSurvivalSummit thank you for your clarification 👍🏻
Any charcoal or a certain kind of
Thank you! Good to know!!
I'm here to learn how to survive because one day the world may fall apart, at least i am loaded with this survival knowledge and doing it for the boiss to survive🔥🔥💪🏻💪🏻
Thank you so much.
I get it cleaned the pollutants like lead or metals, but do you still have to worry about the bacteria?
If so, would it be wiser to have several of these going at once, then boil them together to kill any disease?
We would recommend using this method only as a last resort, or simply to have better tasting, more clear water, that you should still boil 100% of the time.
@@TheSurvivalSummit is it better to boil the water before or after the filtering process?
Can you do this with saltwater too?
No
Extremely important skill every living person should know. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you🙏
Thank you very much for this perfect video♡
Shouldn’t you still boil it tho? For parasites and whatnot?
Always boil, unless you’re not able to. This technique works if you do it right, but we’d recommend doing this more for taste & clarity, and still boiling.
@@TheSurvivalSummit
Thanks for the response!
Would this type of filter work for fluoride? I'm always concerned about volcanoes. Anywhere! And lately, vinyl chloride...excellent video
I doubt this primitive filter would work with flouride. Chems, VOCs, etc., the Grayl Geopress is good for.
there's fluoride in us. tap water, sooo
Really interesting, but how long can I use this filter? So I mean how long can I filter out my water in there until it's time to throw it away or change charcoal, even though it looks pretty wild and should be used as a last resort?
Not trying to be a smart ass, genuinely trying to guide for knowledge. Do some research on how many gallons can be filtered by however many ounces of charcoal. This way you can calculate how much water you intake and then how much you need to filter. This will give you an idea of how much you can filter through however big of a filter you use. Sorry if that’s confusing
I missed a key point, knowing how much water you need to filter, as well as the volume you can filter, gives a ratio of how often you need to change out
Thank you!
How was the charcoal obtained?
🤣🙄
Campfire
That water looked good.
Definitely cleaner & tastes better, but you should still boil it after to be certain.
Great training!!😊
A Question To Anyone Who Knows:
Here in the UK I don't think we have pine trees and if we do I've never seen one. What other green earthy material can I use instead of pine needles?
Personally, I wouldn't use pine needles some can be toxic. As you don't seem to have pine trees where you live no worries. You could use something like an old tee shirt cut up to filter the charcoal dust from passing through. That's my method at least. I'm certain there are others like rough sand or fine gravel. Which is actually another method of filtration. fine gravel, sand charcoal and something to keep the filtration system from passing through and clogging up the final drip system. Food for thought mate.
We definitely have pines in the UK
Grass or cloth
Can you put a pouch of activated charcoal in a gal of water and let it sit overnight, or does it actually have to pass through it?
Needs to pass through
Can you take a big piece of activated charcoal bought from a health store, boil it for 10 mins, let it cool and put it in a glass container of tap water, and let it sit overnight? Will that then be filtered water in the morning??
Thank you.
Filter and boil
bro sounded like he really needed a drink 😂
Good info but don't boil it also?
Read our pinned comment
Id be dead st step
😂😂
Im allergic to pine, its deadly to me...
What kind of charcoal was used ?
Read our pinned comment
dude, safe some air for the rest of us.
just kidding, great video!
I still would drink that without boiling it.
3:43 why can't you just pass it through again?
What if you are stranded somewhere with no water bottles
Our instructors have been all over the world, and pollution is everywhere. But If you can’t find a bottle, then that probably means you’re in a remote area without supplies, and that’s on you. We don’t leave the house with a pack, and we definitely don’t go into the woods, or anywhere away from civilization, without gear.
Watch channels like Primitive content for that info.
👍👍🙌🙏
And its carbon ... go figure!!! Sure glad we have a carbon tax to change the weather ......
I would just drink creek water, no filtration
You can still get cryptosporidiosis or giardiasis from a creek or stream. Unless it's a Mountain Spring, we'd still recommend boiling or filtering all water. It's not worth the risk. Even some mountain springs can be polluted by rainwater from nearby cities, so we boil absolutely everything, or use a Grayl Geopress, or Sawyer Mini, to filter. Mountain Springs that are higher elevations are generally safe.
Awesome
Drink your own urine for best filtration system
@@TheSurvivalSummit Agreed. You never know about dead animals decaying in the water up stream. So Filtering and boiling will help. Maybe get a small bottle of either Chlorine bleach or Tincture of iodine for a chemical approach to killing microbes in an emergency...
Freedom FJB Wolverines
Thank You!