Rowdius

Hey,

First post, though I have been lurking for quite awhile. I've been rethinking how I carry my water, since it has not changed in quite a while, and there are so many new products out there.

How do you carry your water? How much do you carry on average? I live north of Abilene, and generally I carry a gallon a day, unless it is a day trip of some sort. I have considered going to a camelbak kinda system, but was not sure how well that would work with my existing backpack. I dunno.

Anyway, how do _you_ do it?

Thanks,

Rowdy

Neville

I carry two platypus 1L bottles on the outside and one or more 4L platypus 'water tanks' inside. I plan on one gallon per day and usually limit my trips to three days unless I can resupply somewhere. I wrap each of those water tanks in a garbage bag in case they spring a leak.

Edit to add: MSR dromlites work pretty good and are a bit more flexible than the platypus bottles but my water always developed a taste. No taste problems with the platypus.

toejam

I usually get by from one campsite to another on 3 litres/quarts. This summer I used a 70 oz. Camelback and a 1 qt. Nalgene wide-mouth bottle. My Camelback came with a neoprene cover that protects the bag and can be lashed to the outside or top of a pack or just thrown in.

I'm not a fan of the bladder. I'd really rather drink from, carry, and clean the wide-mouth bottles. Having the hose handy while hiking is not a big deal to me, and the bite valve ends up in the dirt every time I take my pack off. I filter water into the wide-mouth bottle and use it to fill the bladder. There's a way to filter directly into the bladder, but I haven't bought the kit.

I got the Camelback cause it is the toughest of the bladders, as far as I know. I've had a couple of Platypus's and they leak after a while (Good luck holding water in a garbage bag, Neville. You'd be better off putting the gear you want to keep dry in a garbage bag.)

So 3 quarts between camps on warm days with lots of hiking, usually another 2 qts. at camp. I don't do much backpacking where there isn't water available, but when I do I'll try all kinds of desparate things. I've carried 3 gallon jugs in my pack in Big Bend. I had a 1 gal. Platy I wore out, but usually it's just mik jug-style with a screw-on top. It's pretty miserable carrying more than 3 qts.

aggiehiker92

I use a 100 oz. Camelback (strapped to the top of my pack) and two wide-mouth Nalgenes for water normally. If I plan on needing more, I'll get a couple of empty 2-liter soda bottles and fill them up, and place inside my pack (if dry camping).

If near a water source (lake, river, etc) I have a Katadyn Hiker water filter that is rigged to refill my Camelback directly through the drinking tube. The filter works well even in squiggly water, but be sure to wrap a coffee filter or bandanna around the intake tube. It WILL clog up on you if you don't.

Yeah, the 100 oz. Camelback may be extreme, but I drink a lot of water. I'd rather carry the weight personally than drop out due to heat exhaustion.

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Neville

I should have qualified my remarks. I use the garbage bag to actually to keep from loosing the water in case of a leak as opposed to keeping things dry. It's dry enough in the Guadalupes that my gear would dry out in a short time anyway.

On a serious note, I had an experience where one of my water containers developed a leak and the garbage bag retained the water. I was glad to have the setup otherwise I would have lost about a liter or more.

JHancock

Depends on if I'm primitive hiking or not. If I am, I usually take a 70 oz camel back and two 48 oz Nalgene bottles. Sounds like a lot, but some of that is used for cooking also.

If I'm just out for a day hike in unfamiliar territory, I'll usually just take the 70 oz camelback and one of the Nalgene bottles.