grayland said:
2 kg is a substantial percentage of the total weight that it is advised for most people to carry...let alone up the mountain on the first day.
The advice to target 10% is a pack base weight target, ie without food and water. Water carried is not a percentage of the 'total weight' but an add on to the base weight, along with any food that is added to the pack.
There is the issue that as this is the first day, individuals have not had time to re-assess what is really essential in their pack, and will still be carrying things that they will remove over the next few days and leave behind, send on to Santiago or just send home. Adding to this is always problematic.
grayland said:
but drinking a liter before you leave SJPdP and another at Orisson might be a better idea.
Other than the weight of the container if the water was carried externally rather than internally, what difference will this make? Drinking a litre of water at one time is a physical challenge, and could be quite uncomfortable even on an empty stomach. I don't think it would be possible for the average person to do that on top of breakfast.
I note that the CSJ site planning page recommends carrying at least one litre of water. Given that there is some reliance on this site as the source for the 10% pack weight target, picking and choosing which bits of their advice to follow or not appears remarkably inconsistent. (See
http://www.csj.org.uk/planning.htm#take.)
To get back to the point that started this, ie
whariwharangi said:
Bring enough water ... I'd suggest two liters ... for if it is a hot day and you run short of water it becomes "brutal, harsh and at times death would seem a better option".
I stand by my own support for this advice, and suggest that any advice to carry less than a litre is not sound general advice in the face of the recommendations on acceptable water intake.
It may be that individuals have walked with less, and not suffered in the longer term. Knowing this might allow new pilgrims to cut down on the amount of water that start out with, but they also need to know that this might increase their risk if they are closer to the normal in terms of their body's water demands.
Regards