Moisture Wicking Shirts & The Desert?

Cotton is generally a bad material to wear in a survival situation. It's cheap, it breaths well and it feels great. But when you get sweat in the cold, it'll absorb that moisture and you'll pay for it when the temperature drops. 

But what about in the heat? 

When I go camping in the desert I usually wear a moisture wicking undershirt, as well as a synthetic shell shirt during the day, and then switch to thermal underwear at night. This of course depends on the temperature. The key here is that both shirts (the hot weather shirt and the thermal shirt) are constructed out of moisture wicking materials. 

Should you Drink your own Urine in a Survival Situation?

Courtesy of flickr user Yaniv Ben-Arie

The short answer is no. The longer answer, is also no.

I was recently watching an episode of Man, Woman, Wild, my first and last. I'd never seen the show and decided to give it a try. I was severely disappointed.

The two were stranded in the middle of the desert in Mexico and the husband, who is supposedly a former US Army Special Forces Survival "Expert" suggested that the two drink their own urine. Netflix lists this episode as the first episode of the first season, but it was actually aired as the fifth episode, in case you wish to watch it.

I was shocked that a man supposedly trained by the US army would suggest such a thing. The Army's own Field Manual (FM 21-76 p. 176) clearly states not to drink urine. In this article I'll explain exactly why that is.