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
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.
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.
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.
"Badges?!? We don't need no stinking badges!!"
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.Originally Posted by toejam
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.
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.
I'm bumping this thread up because this is such an important topic.
Personally, I'm not a fan of the bladder/tube delivery system, even though you can comfortably pack a lot of water. I usually carry about a half gallon in Nalgeen bottles in my lumbar pack and in summer, that's just not enough.
I need to get me a water treatment system.
The filters vary in price, but one will last a long time with a little precaution (like using coffee filters on the intake). My Hiker is on the low end, but the filters are easy enough to come by (Academy and REI both carry) and it has taken a great deal of abuse without too much heartache.
Another cheap solution I've seen is using plastic Gatorade bottles instead of Nalgene. The traditional style bottles are made of a thick plastic and are wide-mouthed enough to be easy to drink out of, and filter into. They hold up very well.
"Badges?!? We don't need no stinking badges!!"
aggiehiker92: Is this the basic set-up you have?:
Yep, that's the one. There are fancier models out there, but this gets the job done with little fuss. A good little filter.
Just get in the habit of using a coffee filter with it though, whether or not you think you need it. It's easy enough to take a ziplock sandwich bag with 20 or 30 filters and keep it in the pouch with the water filter. I normally use a twisty tie or rubber band to hold the coffee filter on the intake.
"Badges?!? We don't need no stinking badges!!"
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