Hydration Packs vs. Water Bottles

[Remix]

Patrick I think you hit the nail on the head--the bad part about the camel back is the lack of status on water supply.

Maybe DougPaul should invent a gauge


But I really like sipping small amounts more often than stopping an opening a bottle when Im already thirsty. I suppose I could get a belt mounted water bottle holder-- the mesh bottle pockets in my pack are hard to work with--, but its so much easy to take a sip and not break stride.

If I am doing something like Tongue Mountain Range, I definetly fill all the way up at the top of the clay meadows trail and keep track of the amount of water I have.

 

[cavewine]

Hydration

Bottles.

Bladders seems like extra weight, extra expense and extra complications.

Well, I think my 2-litre Platypus weighs a bit less than 2 1-Litre Nalgenes...

It's lasted about 5 years so far, several hundred miles of use.

Much easier to drink on the go. No having to slow down and/or stop to get a drink, and you can have a tiny squirt to moisten the mouth, or a drink lots to keep you going. I think it's the best.

I also keep mine in the freezer when not in use, to keep it from gunking up.

David

 

[dms]

Much easier to drink on the go. No having to slow down and/or stop

David

I like to stop and slow down, I am old and need to rest every once in awhile, and maybe even talk to the folks I am hiking with. For that reason I like bottles.

 

[charlos]

i prefer the nalgene as well though i do keep a two litre platypus with a screw cap in my pack for refills on long trips/ backpacking.

i have seen many leaky camelpacks accompanied by grumpy backpackers with wet gear.

i really like the gatoraid powder mix especially when i bring extra and break it out and share on the tail end of trips.

 

[Lawn Sale]

I keep the Nalgene in my Wet Rib and refill it from the 4L Dromedary bag I keep in the pack. Depending on how far it is to the next water source depends on how much I fill the Drom bag. Sometimes I keep it empty, and sometimes I fill it, which is easy as it screws onto the bottom of my WW filter. I also disinfect right in the bag, which make it nice as well.

I have a few hydration packs, but haven't used them in some time as this method seems to work for me. Now when I'm on the bike I bring one, but that's different.

 

[sierra]

Tried camelback and hated it pure and simple. The 2 main reason's are as follows, its leaked onto my pack contents and I monitor my fluid intake very closely espechally at altitude, near impossible with a camelback.
On another note, I noticed alot of previous posters who love camelbacks also carry water bottles, that I dont get.

 

[Orsonab]

Still On the Fence (ouch)

I was a bottle man but then somebody had left a new camelback in a returned backpack I bought from a certain Legume-ish outlet store and so I tried it out this summer. It is convenient and the lack of gauging supply doesn't bother me as I never drink more than 3 litres on a day-hike (should I?). HOWEVER, cleaning the damn thing is bit of a pain (I use a bent wire hanger to keep the thing open while it dries upside-down) and I'm afraid of using the recommended bleach solution to clean it as I know I'll taste chlorine for ever after. So I just use soap and water - perhaps I'll keel over from some infection soon but I'll take my chances. And I'll definitely stick with bottles in winter 'cos I know I'll forget to use the "blowback" technique and end up with a frozen line.

 

[Bob Kittredge]

Happy birthday, dms.

I see you just turned 60 the other day. Welcome to the club.

 

[dms]

Thank you Bob!

 

[Davehiker]

I keep a 1/2 litre bottle (Poland Springs or such) in my front pocket, and make sure I empty it at least every hour. When I stop (every hour) I re-fill it from a bottle on the outside (inside in winter) of my pack. This way I know how fast I'm drinking, and it's convenient for me. I sometimes vary the drink with Kool-aid, Gatorade,and/or water, sometimes mixing them. The hourly stop ensures I get a snack, too (usually something salty.) I'm happy with this system.

 

[Raymond]

I don't see how one of those packs festooned with straps and whatnot could possibly weigh less than a simple bottle, but I haven't actually compared them, so maybe you proponents are correct.

My son used to bug me a lot to get him one, but I always ended up carrying his little rucksack anyway (usually hooked on my walking stick), so I wasn't about to get stuck with something else to haul around.

I do see a lot of people sucking on those hoses though, including an Appalachian Trail through-hiker just last week. If he's made it this far, he hasn't poisoned himself yet, but I'd be afraid of not keeping the thing clean. As others have said, it is important to drink something other than just water. You don't want to end up like that lady marathoner a couple years ago. Wouldn't a juice drink be that much harder to get out of all the nooks and crannies of the thing?

Plus, I really don't understand how they work. Do you carry your gear inside them? Do they fit inside your pack somehow? Eh, don't bother answering those questions. I'll be sticking with the bottles anyway. I wouldn't trust myself to not use up all the liquid right off the bat if I had a tube in my mouth all the time.

The bottles are cheap enough to replace when they wear out, and they do break eventually. At least, my old translucent Nalgenes did. One lasted 17 years, the other 20. If it slips out of your hand or jumps out of its pocket on your pack and dashes itself against the ground, a hole can get punched in its side. Maybe the newer Nalgene is better? We'll see. Anyway, I can still buy a lot of bottles for the price of one Camelback.

 

[Neil]

Vastly superior indeed! I'm quite surprised to see that the majority here use bottles. I'd never a thunk it! I'm a serious sweater and I need to drink copiously and continously, hence the water bladder plug. Just the other day during a 12 hour Redfield hike in the heat I consumed about 6 quarts and only peed once. In my case, being able to imbibe water ad libidum as I hike is pure bliss. There is a definite problem with the platypus. The hose enters the bag through a hard plastic plug. Between the plug and the bag the plastic is subject to repetitive folding and crinkling and eventually wears out. Before switching to the "vastly superior" MSR I had two platys spring leaks.

I always just "know" how much water I have left and when I'm about to start sucking air.

As soon as I get home I put my empty bladder and hose in the freezer.

In winter I'm a bottle baby because I've had too much trouble with the bladders despite the blow-back method and using hose insulators. Maybe a battery powered heating coil....

Hey, I wonder if bladder proponents are ex-smokers.

 

[DougPaul]

I keep a 1/2 litre bottle (Poland Springs or such) in my front pocket, and make sure I empty it at least every hour. When I stop (every hour) I re-fill it from a bottle on the outside (inside in winter) of my pack. This way I know how fast I'm drinking, and it's convenient for me.

I used to use the small bottle in a pocket plus a big stock bottle in the pack approach, but I found I wasted too much time refilling the small bottle. So I dropped the stock bottle and started carrying a bunch of small bottles in the pack.

Either system works--the multiple bottle system is faster.

Doug

 

[charlos]

nalgene cooler and spirits

in addition to my last post i wanted to mention that i find the use of a nalgene cooler/cozy an excellent addition to my hydration system.
the velcro strap adheres around my packs waist strap giving me easy access to cold water while i walk so i dont have to stop to drink, and it stays put and out of the way.
on my day pack i hook it onto the shoulder strap where it attatches to the bottom of my pack.

as far as spirits are concerned i have considered the platypus little nipper or something similar though due to money, cleaning and leakage concerns i generally go with a 16 ounce poland spring bottle.
my favorites thus far are jameson and sambuca.

 

[spaddock]

On another note, I noticed alot of previous posters who love camelbacks also carry water bottles, that I dont get.

Simple. Gatorade in the bottle, water in the bladder.

I have never found keeping my bladder clean with just water in it to be a problem. I just rinse it out with hot water.


-Shayne

 

[keepin' on]

Hey, I wonder if bladder proponents are ex-smokers.

bladder user and ex-smoker! Perhaps there is a trend here...

As far as cleaning concerns by bottle users. I have found it is just as easy to swish some dish soap in a bladder as it is in a bottle. Rinse a few times to get that "Dawn" taste out of the bladder. Hang upside down with a facecloth in the bottom. After a day take the cloth out and chuck the bladder in the freezer till the next hike.

I have both a CamelBak and a Platapus. I much prefer the CamelBak....it's more heavyduty.

 

[darren]

Camelbak in the warm months, bottles in the winter.

I used to always carry water bottles when hiking. I discovered the benefits of a Camelbak through mountain biking and now in the warm months, I would never go back to bottles.

Weight: A 100oz bladder is lighter than 2 nalgene bottles, nevermind the 3 bottles (32oz) that you would need to carry the same amount of water. You have to carry a pack anyway, so there is no added weight there. Most new packs are hydration blatter compatible.

Convenience: I find it a lot easier to drink on the go than to have to stop, get my water bottle out, open it, drink, close it, put it back. With the Camelbak I don't have to stop to drink so I drink more and keep myself better hydrated.

As for cleaning it, I have a simple rule: do not ever put anything other than water in the bladder. Putting in Gatoraid or fruit juice will just turn the bladder and the hose into a mold factory. Since I only put water in it, I just run some hot water through it. If the hose looks like it is getting really dirty then I just huck it and get a new hose. They are really cheap.

If you are worried about how much water you have left, just take off your pack and stick your arm down inside and feel how much is left. If you are used to it, you can just stick your arm up between your back and your pack and squish the pack. You should be able to tell how much water is in there.

My warm weather "backpack" is a Camelbak Blowfish. The pack has a 100oz bladder, and stores almost 800ci, which is plenty of room for a gore-tex shell, fleece shirt, hat, polypro glove liners, power bars, some gorp, map, compass, etc. Super lightweight and everything you need for a 10-15 mile dayhike (probably more than you need for some of the real speed deamons on here).

To carry 3 nalgene bottles to get the same 100 oz of water, you would need a "real" pack that has 2 mesh bottle holders on the sides and then clip on the 3rd or put it inside. Most packs that I have seen that have bottle holders on the side are bigger packs, like 2-3000 ci. Just the empty pack probably weighs as much as my camelbak pack, jacket, fleece shirt, hat and gloves, and maybe even some gorp. If you go with a smaller day pack and put the 3 bottles inside, I can just about guarantee that the hard bottles sticking into you back will not be as comfy as the soft squishy bladder on your back with a camelbak.

I do not like the cheap playpus design, so I have only used Camelbak bladders. I have never had any problems with the bladders leaking.

- darren

 

[sapblatt]

cleaning

I have 2+ liters in a Platypus Hoser Bag and 1-3 liters in Nalgene wide mouths depending on the trip length, heat and humidity and availabilty of H20.
For cleaning I saok my bag and hose in a solution of baking soda and warm water for a day and then drain it and let it dry...have not had any issues.

 

[Doc McPeak]

I keep the Nalgene in my Wet Rib...

This is my method as well. Though for hot dayhikes in the summer i bring extra nalgenes in coolies filled with frosty ice water (or cold gatorade). Much more satisfying gulping down water out of nalgene than sucking it through a tube.

However in winter, I switch back to a flat 2L bladder. This fits perfectly in the huge inside pockets of my Ice Floe which keeps the tube and mouthpiece from freezing up. The 2L usually gets me up to the first (or second) summit, then I pull out a coolie (or warmie) and a replacement bottle. I slide the warmie around the strap on my wet rib and am good to go for the remaining five hours of slogging...

If looping back, I usually stash my "out-walk" liquid at a junction. In winter bury it in the snow to keep it insulated. And have a good memory.

 

[Double Bow]

Bladder convert here. I too resisted the idea for a while but am now a believer! I use a 100oz Platypus BigZip hoser bag with water and carry a Nalgene full of Gatorade. I find that having ready access to my water helps me to drink more (I know I used to not drink enough)instead of waiting to drink because I didn't want to stop and waste time getting out a bottle plus, the bladder is lighter. It is also easy to pump right into.

My platypus has never leaked (the materials are better now than they were 5+ years ago) and is very easy to clean since the bottom has a huge heavy duty zip closure. My packs do not have a bladder pocket but, I have no promblem fitting the bladder securely in either my daypack or expedition pack.

Easier access, lighter, easy to clean, durable... what's not to love?