WHERE TO FIND WATER?:

One is ALWAYS learning from nature. Several principles serve to aid one; water flows downhill. So we are not surprised to find water near the tops of mountains indicated by a lush area or a thread of verdant green coming down a slope.

Water is also prone to lie near the base of hills where it can often be recognize by the intensity of vegetation. When country is flat and open, long meandering tangles of such brush and shrubs as alder and willow will tell us their tale.

FINDING WATER

There are no handy kitchen faucets in the wilds---except in the larger campgrounds with their trailers & recreation vehicles bumper to bumper, & six-man tents guy line to guy line.

If you're not in one of these, and don't happen to be hiking along the course of a river or canoeing over chains of lakes, where do you find water?

Your map will help if it's detailed enough. Almost any water source of any size, including annual spring freshet, will be marked on a geodesic map. Even so, it's a good idea to be aware of where water is most likely to be found, just in case you left the map at the last log rest stop. Besides, knowing nature, being familiar with its habits, gives you a real sense of understanding & accomplishment that is very much a part of the joy of camping.

In mountainous and forest regions such as Eastern and Western Canada, the United States, and most of Northern Europe, water rarely presents a problem. Almost any downhill country, be it a long slow valley or a deep gorge, will lead to it. These natural formations developed through water erosion, and the sculpture tells the tale. As you walk, keep your eyes open for a change not only in terrain but in vegetarian as well.

If you see a crooked line of Willows or Willow like trees in the distance, IT'S ALMOST A SURE BET YOU'LL FIND A STREAM WHEN YOU GET THERE.

The mountain ahead is bare, with no water or greenery in sight. One side comes down steeply to a heavy rock formation; the other side slopes gently down to a valley and gently up to another mountain. Head for the sloping side rather than the steep escarpment. It has a much slower run off larger surface area, and thus a greater likelihood of retained water. At least there should be enough ground moisture so that if you really need water you can dig down a foot or so and find seepage.

REMEMBER THOUGH THAT USUALLY IT DOES NOT PAY TO DIG FOR WATER.
With the amount of energy used, the moisture lost in sweat usually far exceeds that gained from the hole you have dug.

ANY LUSH VEGETATION IN ARID TERRAIN INDICATES WATER IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER.

BIRDS, such as Doves or Blackbirds, in flock on the ground, quail in any quantity, are other signs of a water source nearby.

You will need 2 quarts a day under average conditions but in the desert or during periods of heavy activity this rises to 4 quarts or more per person per day.

IF WATER BY THE BARREL

If water is plentiful as well as woods then MAKE SURE YOU ALWAYS HAVE SOME HOT WATER boiling or close to the flame to keep hot and REMEMBER that to sterilise water it takes boiling for 10 minutes long no matter what some may say, be safe.

Drink when thirsty often and in small amounts. DON'T ATTEMPT TO RATION LIMITED QUANTITY OF WATER, LIFE WILL NOT BE PROLONGED.

DON'T gulp water, swish first mouthful around mouth, swallow slowly, otherwise you will be sick and vomit this precious water.

Avoid unnecessary activities that cause perspiration. Seek shade. Less you perspire the longer you'll live without water.

WHEN TO FOLLOW GAME TRAIL

Those trails often indicate water presence and a usually reliable indication being a marked increase and a progressively deepening and widening thereof. So follow these. If travelling in the North you will come to recognise that such trails commonly mean a muskeg lies ahead and that the easiest procedure will be the following of the animal thoroughfare around it.

Water seeks the lowest level available:
If you see hills, head toward them, for the likeliest place to find water is at their base.

Perhaps you have come across the thin shallow bed of a stream. Even though it is dry, water may lie beneath the surface. Hunt for a low place in the cut and dig. The same procedure applies in the case of a dry lake bottoms. The presence of any water will soon be indicated by damp sand.

Game trails in desert country usually lead to water. Follow them downhill if the land so slopes that you can do this with certainty. Otherwise scout around till you can MAKE SURE in which direction the paths have become more frequented and this will be the way to go. If you happen upon a palm, you can depend on water being at hand generally within several feet of the base of the tree. Reed grass is also a sound sign that moisture is near.

DEW
Which settles after cold nights in many stretches of deserts has also been a life saver. Survivors have mopped it up from the metal of their wrecked plane or collected in tarpaulins. DEW MUST BE COLLECTED BEFORE THE SUNRISE, FOR IT EVAPORATES FAST.

An abundant dew can give a little more than 1 litre of water/hour. Thirsty Bedouins sometimes dig up cool stones just before sunrise and wait till dew settles on them, then lick it up. In many desert regions according to Israeli scientist Shmuel Duvdevani dew falls in a quantity which would amount to 25 inches in a year.

During the war one of the strangest source of water were the wreck of burned out or shot up jeeps and tanks and trucks. Airmen after crash walked 20 miles a day filling up their water bottles regularly from the radiator of such vehicles.

BEDOUIN WATER EXPERTS

Survival experts have taken great interest in the methods of the Bedouins with their amazing sixth sense which again and again leads them to sources of water. Morning and evenings for instance they listen to the twittering of birds to locate where the birds get their drink. They also find water holes by watching the direction in which the birds are flying or by following animals trails.

If the water is contaminated one should dig a hole near by (9 FEET) and let the water seep through thus safer in some ways. 9 FEET would also get rid of water contaminated by radiation.

WHERE TO FIND WATER IN ROCKY SOILS

Water easily disintegrates lime stone and digs caverns which you will find springs and water sweating.

LAVA ETC.
Because of its porosity LAVA retains much water, so you will find springs along valleys which crosses old lava flow. When a dry canyon cut across a sandstone or gritstone layer there is water which sweats on its walls. In region rich in granite, dig a hole in the green grass and you will discover water coming up.

IN SOFT SOILS

Water is ordinarily more abundant and easier to discover there than in rocky soils. The phreatic sheets often come to surface in valleys and slopes. The springs and sweating are found in the high level line of the river waters after those have retracted away.

BEFORE DIGGING TO FIND WATER, TRY TO DISCOVER THE SIGNS WHICH INDICATES ITS PRESENCE.

The bottom of a valley, at the foot of a sharp slope, a corner of vegetation which has sheltered a spring during rainy season, a low forest, sea shores are among many places where the hydrostatic level lays under the surface.

There is no need to dig deeply in order to find water. Above the level of the phreatic sheet there are small streams and ponds however those waters are contaminated and dangerous even when far away from any civilization. Ex. Springs below towns.

ON MOUNTAINS

Dig in dry spring beds, for water often hides itself under the gravel. Mountain slopes usually hide springs at their feet.

OTHER SOURCES OF SUPPLY

Creosote plants*, Willows, Elder Berry, Salted Herbs grow only where water is near surface.
By a starry night one can with a handkerchief mop up and gather up to 1 quart of water per hour from damp soils where you see flies.

INSECTS INDICATORS OF WATER

Bees in an area are a certain sign of water. Rarely will you find a hive of wild bee more than 3 or 4 miles from fresh water. A bee flies a mile in 12 minutes. So you can be sure if you see bees that you are not far from fresh water, but you will probably have to look for further indications before you find the water supply.

ANTS: Many ants need water, so if you see a steady column of small black ants climbing a tree trunk and disappearing into a hole in a crotch it is highly probable that you fill find a hidden reservoir of fresh water stored away there. This can be proved by dipping a long straw or thin stick down the hole into which the ants are going.

If wet, then water is there. To get the water, do not on ANY account chop into the tree. If the hole is very small enlarge it with your knife-point at the top. Make a mop by tying grass or a rag to a stick. Dip the mop into the water and squeeze into a container.

Another method is to take a long hollow straw and suck the water you need from the reservoir. These natural tree reservoirs are VERY COMMON in Dry areas, and are often kept full by the dew which condensing on the upper branches of the tree, trickles down into the crotch and so into the reservoir inside the tree.

BIRD INDICATORS - FINCHES
All the finches are grain-eaters and water drinkers. In the dry belts you may see a colony of finches and you can be certain that you are near water, probably a hidden spring or permanent soak.

WILD PIGEONS:
They are a reliable indicator of water. Being grain and seed eaters they spend the day out on the plains feeding and then with the approach of dusk, make for a water hole, drink their fill and fly slowly back to their nest. Their manner of flying will tell you the direction of their water supply. If they are flying low and swift they are flying to water but if their flight is from tree to tree and slow, they are returning from drinking saloon. Being heavy with water they are vulnerable to birds of prey.

GRAIN EATERS
All the grain eaters and most of the ground feeders require water, so that if you see their tracks on the ground you can be fairly certain that there is water within a few miles of your location. An exception are parrots and cockatoos which are not seen as reliable indicators of water.

CARNIVOROUS BIRDS
Being flesh eaters they get most of the moisture they need from the flesh of their prey thus not reliable water-drinkers. So don't regard flesh eating birds as indicator for water. Nor should you regard the water living birds as indicators of fresh or drinkable water.

MAMMALS
Nearly all mammals need water at regular intervals to keep alive. Even the flesh eaters MUST drink, but animals can travel long distances between drinks and therefore unless there is a regular trail you can not be sure of finding water where you see animals' trails. This is a general rule.

However, certain animals NEVER travel far from water. Ex. A fresh track of wild pigs is one sign that there is water near by. Also fresh tracks of rooster and most of the grazing animals, whose habit is to drink regularly at dawn or dusk. In general water is found by following these trails downhill.

FROGS ETC.
Frogs, salamanders, newts, etc. ALWAYS look for a damp place to rest and usually if we dig under them you will find water points even springs.

REPTILES
Most of the land-living reptiles are independent to a very large extent on water. They get what they need from dew and the flesh of their prey thus not indicator or water stool.

WATER FROM VEGETABLE SOURCES

The roots and branches of many trees contain sufficient free-flowing fluid to relieve thirst and this can be collected by breaking into 3 feet lengths the roots or branches and standing these in a trough of bark** into which the collected fluid will drain to the container. In some plants the amount of stored water is truly unbelievable. The water gushing out litreally when the plant is cut.

WARNING!: THESE VEGETABLE "DRINKING-WATERS" CAN NOT BE KEPT FOR MORE THAN 24 HOURS. The fluid starts to ferment or go bad if stored and might be dangerous to drink if in this condition.

The nature of the plant if judged by the properties of its foliage is no guide for the drinkability of the fluid which are its sap.

For example; The Eucalyptus whose leaves are heavily impregnated with oils of Eucalyptus and in many cases poisonous to human beings, contain a drinkable fluid, easily collected from the branches or the roots. The fluid is entirely free from the essential oils & with no taint of the Eucalyptus. Its roots measure from 12 to 25 metres, crawling under low depth. Pull them off, remove the bark, and the sap will sweat at both ends which you have put containers.

There are certain precautions and a few danger signs with regard to vegetable fluids. If the fluid is milky or red or coloured in any way it MUST be regarded as DANGEROUS, not only to drink but also to the skin. Many of the milky saps except those of the ficus family which contain latex or a natural rubber are EXTREMELY POISONOUS. The milky sap of many weeds can poison the skin and form bad sores and if allowed to get into the eyes cause blindness.

With ALL vegetable sources of fluid even though the water itself is clear, taste it first & if quite or almost tasteless or flavourless, it is safe to drink.

For vegetable sources of water in arid areas, the best volume is generally obtained by scratching up the surface roots. They are discovered close to the ground and if cut close to the tree, may be lifted and pulled, each root yielding of from 10 to 20 feet. These MUST be cut in 3-4 feet lengths for draining.

Many persons who have tried to obtain drinking water from vegetable sources failed to get the precious liquid to flow just because they did not break or cut the stalk or root into lengths. UNLESS THESE BREAKS ARE MADE, THE FLUID CAN NOT FLOW and the conclusion is that the root, branch or vine is without moisture.

In general water is more plentiful from plants in gullies than on ridges. And the flow is wasted if the roots are broken into sections & NOT CUT. Cutting tends to bruise and seal the capillary channels.

DEW COLLECTION
In barren areas where there are no trees, it may be possible to collect sufficient moisture from the grass in the form of dew to preserve life. One of the easiest way is to tie rags or tufts of fine grass round the ankles and walk through the herbage before the sun has risen, squeezing the moisture collected by the rags into a container.

WATER ON SEA COAST
FRESH WATER CAN ALWAYS BE FOUND ALONG THE SEA COAST BY DIGGING BEHIND THE WIND BLOWN SAND HILLS WHICH BACK MOST OCEAN BEACHES!

SAND WELLS
These sand hills trap rain water and it floats on top of the heavier salt water which filters in from the ocean. Sand hill wells MUST be only deep enough to uncover the top inch or 2 or water. If dug deeper salt water will be encountered and the water from the well will be undrinkable. It will be noticed too that the water in those wells rises and falls slightly with the tides.

THESE SAND WELLS ARE COMPLETELY RELIABLE SOURCE OF WATER ALL OVER THE WORLD

When digging it is necessary to rivet the sides of the well with brushwood, otherwise the sand will fall into the well. On coastal areas where cliffs fall into a sea careful search along the lower edges of the cliff will generally disclose soaks or small springs

These in general follow a fault in the rock formation and frequently are evident by a lush growth of ferns & mosses. I also Personally found that near the cliff at the bottom of them where you find fallen rocks meeting the sand beach, if you dig there yet not to close to those rocks, you will find water within about 1 foot down. And as much as you want even for 20 persons and it keeps filling up every day, from time to time you scoop up the sand which fills the well.

MAKE SURE you rivet the side also and just cover the hole with some planks or drift board and mark it well so that it keeps animals away, for sand will cover it fast after a while from the nearby sand hill.

(I know about them I survived on them for 5 months on a deserted island. Brion Island. QC.)

SEA! MOISTURE FROM FISH FLESH
Another source of liquid sufficient to sustain life at SEA, when no fresh water is available any more comes from flesh of the fish. The fish are diced and the small portions of flesh are placed in a piece of cotton cloth and the moisture wrung out. This moisture is not excessively salty and can sustain life for a long period.

CONDENSING SALT WATER
It is possible to condense sea water without equipment and obtain sufficient fresh water.

A coolamon is made or alternatively a hole is scraped in the ground and lined and the salt water is put into this hole. A fire is build and stones are put into it to heat up. These when hot are put into the salted water which soon boils and then water vapour is soaked up by a towel or thick mat of cloth.

In time this will become litreally saturated and may be wrung out, yielding a fair quantity of fresh drinkable water. Once the cloth is cool the collection of water vapour is fairly rapid.

MOISTURE CONDENSATION IN ARID AREA

This still produces about 1/2 more water between 8pm.. & 8 am. than during the day. But it still works day and night for you. Yet don't wait to drink this water immediately for it takes 24 hours before collecting 1 quart of water sometime 1 litre.

A simple still for water condensation in arid areas can be made from a piece of light plastic sheeting about 4 foot's square. A clean garbage bag which has been fully cut & open will do. A hole is dug in the ground in a sunny position. The hole should be about 3 feet across and 15 inches to 18" deep or deeper if possible.

The site should be preferably in a moist ground, a depression in a creek bed is ideal if one can be found. If green material such as shrubs or succulent herbage is near by, the hole should be lined with this and the materials pack down.

It may be necessary to weigh down the material with a few flat stones. In the centre of the hole and in the deepest part a container is placed to catch the moisture from condensation. Lay the sheet of plastic and use some of the earth scooped from the hole to seal the edges lightly.

Place a stone in the centre of the upper side of the plastic sheet above the approximate centre of the water container to weigh it down to just over the container below. Moisture in the soil and in the greenery placed in the hole will be drawn off by the heat of the sun and condense on the underside of the plastic. The condensed moisture will collect into droplets, coalesce and trickle down the underside to the lowest point where it drops off into the container.

If the underside of the plastic sheet is slightly roughened with fine sandpaper or similar fine abrasive such as a piece of finely grained stone, the droplets will coalesce & run off more cleanly than if the underside is absolutely smooth. Body waste such as urine, waste food, moist tea leaves etc. can be put into the hole. The pure moisture only is condensed. From one to 4 pints of water a day can be collected by this method.

If the stay in the area is likely to be of some duration the top few inches of the hole can be removed and fresh green material replaced and the still will continue to work when this is done.

FRESH STILL SITES MAY BE NECESSARY EVERY 2ND OR 3RD DAY.
This still can also bring you food! Since water under the plastic will attract snakes and small games which will crawl under the still cone but can not go out. This effective method was first evolved by the Water Conservation Laboratory in Arizona.

It is not necessary but very useful if you have a flexible plastic tube of about 1.5m long which will permit you to drink from the bottom bucket without having to remove it and stopping the recuperation.

OTHER WAYS TO FIND WATER

EXPERIENCE WITH A OIL LAMP

At night dig a hole 2 feet deep, cover the bottom with very dry wood and place an oil lamp which has very little oil, just that the wick is imbibed, light it up and place it on the wood floor. Cover up the hole with branches and wait till the morning to see if you oil lamp is still burning? If so, then there is water at a certain depth, dig and you shall find it. Why is that?

Because the dampness of the under water sheet increases the air condensation furnishing more oxygen thus makes the oil last longer thus keeping the flame to your oil lamp. If however it has died, then its of lack of dampness, the oil alone has not suffice for the night duration having burn faster than the air which was too dry.

WATER FROM A LANTERN

If all other means of getting water have been exhausted, any metal container and lighted lantern may be used to obtain water. Remove one end of the container and submerge the close end in a foot or more of salt water.

Place the lighted lantern inside the container on the bottom. Cover the open top, allowing only enough air to enter to keep the lantern burning. The heat will cause moisture to form on the inside container. This can be soaked up with a rag and squeezed into a cup.

EXPERIENCE WITH A WOOL BALL!

Do as for the oil lamp but replace it by a wool ball, put a very dry wool ball on the dry wood and cover the hole. The following morning look at your ball and press it strongly, the quantity of water will tell you if its worth digging and have a water ball?

RAIN WATER
ALWAYS SAFE TO DRINK and easy to collect with any tarp but unfortunately there are 3 exceptions, a chemical or atomic or bacteriological warfare would render this water unsafe unless filtered and boiled. Man has created its own worst problems.

WATER IN COLD CLIMATE:

Snow: Clean snow can be eaten any time one is thirsty. The only precaution it to treat it like ice cream and not to put down too much at once when overheated or chilled. Rather let it melt down in your mouth.

One of the most pleasant wilderness desserts is ice cream made with snow. You just pour milk into a container, add a sugar and some flavour such as chocolate and stir in preferably fresh light snow till taste and texture are satisfactory.

Snow drawback is that it a considerable amount is needed to equal a glass of water. Packed snow gives more water of course, ice even more. So particular care has to be taken when melting snow to burn the pot, so melt the snow until the bottom of the pot is safely covered with several inched of water before adding more snow.

Use any tool to pack the snow as it melts to avoid the bottom of your pot to dry up and burn thus giving your water a taste of burn. This nuisance is compensated for by the fact that snowfall makes water readily available throughout wilderness. One needs a lot more water in cold weather than one expects, because the kidneys have to take over much of the process of elimination otherwise done by the sweat glands.

It is better not to eat snow when extremely cold, for it has the tendency to dehydrate the body and provoke chill. Let it melt slowly into your mouth in small quantity.

ICE & FRESH WATER
This is the water supply of many an Arctic establishment but the tasks of cutting and melting is sufficiently inconvenient that when it is feasible most prefer to chop or chisel holes in lake or stream to get water. Such holes MUST be covered to discourage their freezing. Also preferable method since you waste no fuel.

To obtain water you need twice the amount of fuel to melt snow than if you melt ice for the same quantity of water. To break ice it is better to use a pointed tool. You first hit a few light strokes to create a split then a hard blow to break an ice piece the length desired. On a great lake or long river, cut toward an already existing split to avoid making only small bits.

If one wants to dig a hole in a lake or river to obtain water, one MUST be carefully do it to avoid splashing: First start to axe all around your hole but make very sure not to puncture the ice all the way to the water, until all your hole is deep and wide enough for your bucket. Then and only then once you are near water on all sides you give 4 sharp blow to break the ice totally. If you don't do this, the water will seep into your hole and you will get dangerously wet while trying to enlarge your hole.

However, as far as purity is concerned, ice and the water obtained from melting ice differ in no respect from the water originally frozen.

HEAT KILLS GERMS, COLD DOES NOT. SO BEWARE & BOIL IT.

WITH THE DANGER OF GERM WARFARE

This not becoming less in this civilization. We have to tell:
1) Thousands died from an especially virulent contagion of influenza that followed WW1.
2) Recently bacteriologists wanting to study the flu organisms journeyed to the Arctic to disinter Eskimos who had died during that epidemic.
3) The scientists thought that they might be able to secure live cultures from the cadavers which had been buried in the cold regions for more than half a century.
4) They were successful. (End of this sad story!)

SALT WATER ICE BECOMES FRESH

The soundest reasoning leads to the wrongest conclusions when the premises are false. We are certain that the ocean is salt, so it is logical than that the ice of salt water MUST also be salted...... Wrong! It so happens as Dr.V.Stefansson notes, the sea ice becomes fresh during the period intervening between its formation and the end of the first summer thereafter.

If during freezing weather you are ever in a position where you have no other source of water but salted water as a matter of fact, you'll want to catch small amounts of the available brine and allow ice to form in it. The slush and any remaining liquid should then be removed. The ice you'll find fresh enough to use in the emergency. Ocean ice looses its salt so rapidly that ice over 1 year old is nearly fresh.

And ice formed 2 or more years old can not be distinguished as far as taste goes from river ice unless waves have been breaking over it recently or spray has been dousing it.

Melted hollow otherwise will usually be found to contain ample fresh water. Salted ice is grey and opaque whereas unsalted ice is bluish and of crystal colour.

FINDING DRINKING WATER AT SEA

Rain water will often furnish drinking water at sea, when it starts to fall, the precaution is immediately taken to let it wash any accumulated salt from everything that is to be used for catching it and storing it.

Dew is heavy enough is some areas to merit being caught in a sail or tarpaulin stretched with sufficient sag to allow any condensation to collect. One may be out of sight of land and yet so near the mouth of some great river that even far at sea the water will still be fresh.

OBTAINING WATER FROM FISH
The proportion of water in fish is so particularly high that at sea, except when large enough emergency water supplies can be secured from ice or rain, fish are the most dependable source. They can be caught in many different ways and in some waters many a fish will even leap freely aboard at night especially if a light is shown to attract them. Most sea life can be used although crabs and sharks are excessively salty.

Sea snakes which unlike eels have no scales are edible but have poisonous fangs & 10 times worst than the land ones.

Unless the fish you catch has ordinary scales and looks like most fish you are used to seeing, a good rule especially in warm waters is to leave it alone. EX; Jelly fish should neither be handled nor used.

WATER FROM FISH

WATER CAN BE OBTAINED FROM FRESHLY CAUGHT FISH IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYS.

THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL METHOD IS:
To divide the fish into small portions and to chew each of these thoroughly spitting all solid matter before going to the next morsel. The fish can also be sectioned and twisted within a cloth, the thus freed juice is either sucked or caught.

One primitive way of dealing with a large fish is to hack holes in its side & allow moisture from the lymphatic vessels to ooze into these. If you like the juice of raw clams or oysters you are apt to find all this surprisingly pleasant. At any rate you'll be able to satisfy thirst as long as you can catch sufficient fish for your need.

REMEMBER that it will take you several hours to obtain 1/2 litre of this liquid, so be patient while squeezing the fish.

SURVIVAL TIME CHART NO WATER
Here are some ex. Of expected survival times:

At 50°F. temperature without water, with minimum exertion- life expectancy is 14 days, with 1 gallon = 16 days.

At 120°F. Under same conditions = 3 days, with 1 gallon = 4 days.

Those are rough estimate for adults, children & sick = 1/3 lower. As you see water is more important then food.

Limit food & salt intake when water is limited, especially protein foods * which absorb much more water from your body.

FINDING WATER & PURIFYING
Under hot, dry conditions where little possibility of finding water exists, searching of water will cause greater fluid loss than amount of water (if any) is found. Best to stay in shade, move as little as possible, wait for help.

BASIC ELEMENTS OF LIFESAVING:
The core of water lifesaving is the slogan adopted by RLSSC!

REACH - THROW - ROW - GO - TOW.
This means that the rescuer should begin with the safest methods and proceed to higher risk action only if necessary:

REACH: Stay in a position of safety if possible, on shore or in a boat. Extend to the victim a pole, paddle, life jacket, towel or article of clothing.

THROW: Toss a buoyant object to the victim to allow him to stay afloat while he is pulled or kicks himself to safety.

ROW: Help the victim from the safety of a boat.

GO: Enter the water and go to the victim with a buoyant object. With it, he maybe be able to kick to safety.

TOW: If the victim cannot swim, he MUST be towed or carried - dangerous procedures because they involve direct contact with someone who may panic.

FLOATING NOTE:
A human being who will have the presence of mind to clasp the hands behind the back and turn face toward the zenith, may float with ease, and in perfect safety, in tolerably still water -- aye and sleep there, no matter how long. (From the Old Farmer's Almanac.)

Note from the compiler: It does not work for me nor would it work for everybody since one's own buoyancy is different from another, but it works for some people, one has to try to find out for himself.