Ear Wax to test drinking water

[Duggie Bravo]

Hi all,

I hope someone on here can help.

We've just been talking about things we did as kids and I was telling them about seeing a chap on telly test drinking water with ear wax.
No one believed me until Google came to my rescue and we have found out the chaps name was Eddie McGee and the programme was on ITV, but we can't find out whether the ear wax glistening meant the water was safe to drink or not.
I think glistening meant safe and not glistening meant unsafe, but I'm hoping someone can help either by remembering or checking one of his books.

Thanks

Shaun

 

[Chiseller]

Morning duggie ,

I had the benefit of being taught by Eddie's son Perry , when I was a kid.
I remember being shown this guide.
If the wax will sink , it's safe to drink .
If the wax floats and you can see colour on the surface like when petrol or oil is mixed with water , then leave it alone.

It is only a guide though , for when you've no means of purifying it (you always have means of filtering)

The idea is that your doing it in your hand.....so it's just for a quick ermegency drink.

Ive always found it hard to get some earwax out of my lug oyle though .

eggs shouldn't dance with stones.....

 

[Duggie Bravo]

Fantastic thank you, it's a wonder I was never seriously ill as a kid having got it completely wrong! Actually thinking about the river I used to drink water from, it's a miracle!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

 

[Clouston98]

That is a strange method! I would try it but I don't have surplus earwax, or any at all for that matter!

 

[woodstock]

Its in Eddie McGee's book No Need to die

 

[ozzy1977]

Anyone tried it?

I guess you could always mix the ear wax with a bit of belly button fluff and a makeshift fire starter.

 

[Bluffer]

I reckon it was some kind of rudimentary test for salinity, which would fit in with Eddie's background - learning bush skills from the indigenous population in his operational areas.

Therefore, the test would show if a water source was fresh or saline, not necessarily 'safe' to drink but if fresh (and not saline or brackish) then it would be suitable for further treatment.

I've used water-holes in desert environments and the water has been so high in minerals that it would have probably failed this test (not that I've ever tried it ...!)

On a wider note, Eddies book contains a lot of basic stuff which is still relevant today and one of my regular reads.

 

[Ivan...]

That certainly sounds odd! I am too in the non available, so i would have to give that one a miss.

A further thought on the combination of ear wax and navel fluff theory,

Maybe a q tip, first in the ear then a quick dip in the belly button, then slightly separated could work, i might try that!

But my mum says the smallest thing you should put in your ear is your elbow, try it!

Ivan...

 

[Gill]

Where do you get earwax in an emergency?

 

[ozzy1977]

From an ear, maybe have a whipround and combine waxes

 

[Gill]

From an ear, maybe have a whipround and combine waxes

Haha whipround it would have to be mine are meticulously clean ![h=1][/h]

 

[ozzy1977]

I wonder do veggies and vegans have different earwax to the more natural omnivore ? seeing that you are what you eat

 

[Gill]

yeh i would imagine eating loads of dairy would produce copious amounts haha.

 

[presterjohn]

You also have to throw into the mix that people are split into the wet ear wax brigade and the dry ear wax brigade. I think the ratio is 3:1 (the majority are waxy). I tiny percentage of people move between the two. This water test would be pretty useless to most Japanese people for instance.

 

[rancid badger]

Where do you get earwax in an emergency?

I remember lying in Hexham General Hospital orthopedic ward, back in the early 90's. (doorin the war etc......)

Anyway, I'd been in a couple of weeks when they brought in a lad from Haltwhistle or somewhere. He'd slipped on ice and snapped his femur and after sorting him out in theatre, they brought him back up onto the ward, where after a few hours, he was wide awake and chatting away. We were of similar age both in our late 20's and he was twisting on about how he couldn't hear a thing through his head phones.

I asked him; "which headphones?, the ones that are plumbed into the wall, at the back of the bed don't work" "Aye" he replied, " I can hear something but it's all muffled"

He proceeded to dismantle the "headphones" to find that they were, in fact just tubes, a bit like a stethoscope, complete with little grommet things on the end to fit into your ears. He found that both of the tubes that formed the "headphones" were stuffed with little pellets of--you guessed it! ear wax! He didn't realise what is was at first, then was mortified

I said to him " Never mind! you can always chuck them in your water jug to check if the waters safe to drink!"

Presumably, every time someone used the headphones, a little bit more wax was pushed into the tiny earpiece and on into the tubes. Sometimes more than others!

 

[Chiseller]

And in other news today ....I'm sure I once heard or read....ear wax is one of THE most toxic substances that our body produces?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[Firebow Swagger]

there was an episode of Mythbusters , where they tried to make a candle from ear wax , OOOOOOOHHHWWWWW they got volunteers off the street and got a heap of the stuff. (luckily, for you cats I couldn't find it on youtube )

There was a thing the older kids at school told me ,that if you rub a banana on your ear your ear wax tastes of bananas, I tried and tried but alas it never worked for me