What's the longest you've ever left water in you canteen and drank it?

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 01:55:04 -0500

I'm prepping my kit for the Phase 2 of our Operational Readiness Exercise that starts tonight, and I started thinking about all the times I'd left water in my canteen between exercises.

Since I use different water sources than my canteen most of the time, and only use my canteen when in MOPP gear, it can stay in there for quite some time. I think 3-4 months is the longest I've gone, and you can imagine what that tasted like coming through my gas mask drinking tube!

So what's the longest you've left water in your canteen and drank it?

Response by SFC James Baber made Jan 27 at 2014 12:34 AM

SFC James Baber — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 00:34:31 -0500

This going to sound a little far-fetched, but during Desert Shield/Desert Storm I had lost or at least thought I had lost my canteen, but near the end of our 11 1/2 months in country from Sep '90 - Aug '91, I found it buried in the bottom of my packed duffle that pretty much stayed in our conex for the tour, and I was having to clean everything to be inspected before we could be cleared to leave country, I actually thought I would give it a taste to see if those tablets we had dropped in almost a year ago had actually worked for the purification of the water, the canteen was lighter than when I packed it, I assumed evaporation from time and heat. I took a drink and thought my throat was going to burst open from the disgusting solution I had just put into it, it tasted as if I had drank a combination or burnt motor oil and fermented wine, and through in some salt on top of it.

Lets just say I had a good dose of diarrhea for about a week after that little sig and swallow, never again or since did I ever consider doing anything like that in the rest of my career or since.

Liquid death is the best way I describe the taste after all these years.