What did they drink? How did they bathe? How did they cook?

[Manti]

Apologies if this has already been discussed, I have some general questions about the trip:

• What did the Dyatlov group drink? Did they melt snow in a cup with a lighter? Or did they drink from streams?
• Did they have means to take a bath/shower? Or did they intend not to bathe during the trip?
• I have read that a "loin" was found in the tent. I can only assume they planned to prepare it somehow that evening. Was the stove suitable for cooking food?

[Teddy]

1. What did the Dyatlov group drink? Did they melt snow in a cup with a lighter? Or did they drink from streams?
Both

2. Did they have means to take a bath/shower? Or did they intend not to bathe during the trip?
No, neither has anyone that goes to Northern Urals in winter today.
You just rub snow on your face or splash water from the stream. You really don't need much.
You can hide and wash your butt in the stream if you want. I do it all the time. Make sure you do it below the place where they take water for drinking and cooking.
You can wash your clothes too, only if you put them wet on the stones they will freeze and you have to dig them up with an ice axe.

3. I have read that a "loin" was found in the tent. I can only assume they planned to prepare it somehow that evening. Was the stove suitable for cooking food?
Smoked pork loin that doesn't need to be cooked. The stove Dyatlov designed is to warm the interior of the tent. They cooked with wood outside making a fire pit for the purpose.

[Nigel Evans]

Apologies if this has already been discussed, I have some general questions about the trip:

• What did the Dyatlov group drink? Did they melt snow in a cup with a lighter? Or did they drink from streams?
• Did they have means to take a bath/shower? Or did they intend not to bathe during the trip?
• I have read that a "loin" was found in the tent. I can only assume they planned to prepare it somehow that evening. Was the stove suitable for cooking food?

1. must have been snow melted over the previous nights campfire. A frozen flask of cocoa was found by the rescuers.
2. how are they going to bathe or shower?
3. the stove was used to dry clothes (hung over it) so could possibly also warm food but it wasn't the plan to use the stove that night. So a cold meal.

[Manti]

@Teddy

Thank you, this makes sense.
I was wondering whether they carried large water containers with them. But there is no reason to.
I was just thinking maybe if they did, one has spilled in the tent and wet the blankets and coats. But there is no mention of water containers (jerry cans) anywhere so that's not the case.

2. how are they going to bathe or shower?

Well I don't know, but they'd need water containers. We have done things like pouring water on one another and even using an inflatable pool (you have to be careful the water is not too hot and doesn't melt it)... but I guess neither would work in freezing temperatures.

3. the stove was used to dry clothes (hung over it) so could possibly also warm food but it wasn't the plan to use the stove that night. So a cold meal.

That also almost makes sense. But still, wouldn't the loin be frozen at -15C or whatever it was at the time they set up the tent?
Somehow you'd need to defrost it otherwise your tongue just freezes to it if you try to eat it...

I have also read that pieces of firewood were found in the tent, to they could have made a fire next to it to defrost the food, but now reading more of the testimonies, pieces of loin were found so it was already defrosted somehow... this is a bit of a mystery to me.

[Nigel Evans]

Good to hear i'm almost making sense. I'd expect some proximity to the body would be a solution.
The stove contained unused firewood. The tent had two modes, high and low, high in the forest with no wind and the stove keeping the tent warm, low in exposed places but no hot stove as there wasn't enough room underneath it.

[Manti]

Proximity to the body, could work but in that case it would wet the person's clothes, as it would give off some water as the meat warms up, and also would collect condensation while still cold.

But probably the loin has no relevance.

The "no stove tonigh" scenario still seems unbelievable to me.
Indeed there's no room for it in the low mode of the tent.

From what I can find, the temperatures that night are not survivable until the morning motionless (asleep). Whether they knew this or not is another question.

But do we know somehow that they didn't intend to use the stove?

[Nigel Evans]

Agreed no need to overcook the loin issue. 


Igor said it (last entry of the group diary) - "We are having dinner right in the tent. It's warm. It is hard to imagine such a comfort somewhere on the ridge, with a piercing howl of the wind, hundreds kilometers away from human settlements."
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[Manti]

Igor said it (last entry of the group diary) - "We are having dinner right in the tent. It's warm. It is hard to imagine such a comfort somewhere on the ridge, with a piercing howl of the wind, hundreds kilometers away from human settlements."
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But that is from a different day. And right before that he wrote "We started fire with logs, too tired to dig a fire pit. We are having dinner right in the tent."

I can't decipher what he meant... but this doesn't say anything about the night of the incident or not using the stove.

[Nigel Evans]

Igor said it (last entry of the group diary) - "We are having dinner right in the tent. It's warm. It is hard to imagine such a comfort somewhere on the ridge, with a piercing howl of the wind, hundreds kilometers away from human settlements."

But that is from a different day. And right before that he wrote "We started fire with logs, too tired to dig a fire pit. We are having dinner right in the tent."

I can't decipher what he meant... but this doesn't say anything about the night of the incident or not using the stove.

Yes it's from the evening before - Jan 31st. They had been unable to get through the pass (probably because they were poorly equipped to be above the treeline) and fell back tired to setup camp and lighten their backpacks with the labaz. Igor seems to be indicating that the plan has changed, instead of camping in the forest they're going to the ridge (and it wont be warm.....).

My theory is that they set off late @ 3pm because they had a lie in because they didn't expect to get a lot of sleep up there and then break camp at first light.

[Manti]

Yes it's from the evening before - Jan 31st. They had been unable to get through the pass (probably because they were poorly equipped to be above the treeline) and fell back tired to setup camp and lighten their backpacks with the labaz. Igor seems to be indicating that the plan has changed, instead of camping in the forest they're going to the ridge (and it wont be warm.....).

My theory is that they set off late @ 3pm because they had a lie in because they didn't expect to get a lot of sleep up there and then break camp at first light.

But the forest was within walking distance. Although maybe it was getting too dark to continue, or visibility was non-existent because of a blizzard.

"Somewhere on the ridge" could be interpreted to mean the Urals as a whole.

[Nigel Evans]

"Somewhere on the ridge" could be interpreted to mean the Urals as a whole.

I don't think so. I think it means exactly as it reads.