No Gas Shortage

Reading recently that the average human passes gas about 14 times every day caused me some thought. Mostly I asked myself: how did they figure that out?--and I decided I like my current job just fine. The report stated that this gas normally does not smell bad. Ah, at least the researchers have that going for them. Wilderness flatulence is rarely a problem, other than socially, but it has greatly disturbed a few high altitude climbers. At higher elevations, gas expands more quickly, causing, sometimes, a great deal of pain, a problem dubbed High Altitude Flatus Expulsions (HAFE). If gas proves a problem, here are a few tips: eat smaller meals, take it easy on fats, and leave the bubbly drinks behind. (I have seen more than one party on Denali lugging a sled full of Coke and beer.) And when you're packing your food bag, cut down on foods containing beans, eggs, meat, and cauliflower, sources not only of gas but of smelly gas. You might also like to know that exercise helps keep your bowels moving smoothly and with less gas. Consider, finally, packing an anti-gas product such as Beano (www.beanogas.com). Save on gas!

UV Light Disinfection

A busy schedule, much of it keeping me away from computers the past month, has caused a marked decrease in my postings. Hello to all who have checked back in--and thank you for your patience.

With the increasing use of ultraviolet light devices to disinfect water an increasing number of questions about the devices have hit my screen during my absence. If you follow the manufacturer's directions, you're pretty much assured safe drinking water (see www.steripen.com). But what about the water on the outside of the bottle? It's not safe. Only the water inside the bottle is disinfected, and that does not include the water trapped in the threads of a standard water bottle. If you wipe the threads dry with a clean cloth, however, you will remove most--maybe all--of the pathogens trapped there. In other words, a thorough drying of the threads and it is highly unlikely you'll get a waterborne illness. On the other hand, the safest bet of all is to use a container other than your water bottle to scoop up the water you'll be disinfecting. A cup you'll be washing later will work fine.