Mesh Pouch For Katadyn BeFree Hydrapak Bottles

[DayTrip]

B The Hiker's post about a cell phone pouch reminded me of an issue I've been trying to solve for awhile now. I've been using the 0.6L and 1.0L Katadyn BeFree filter/soft pouch water bottles this past season and absolutely love them. Extremely light, convenient and easy to use. However, finding a convenient way to store them for easy access is proving be be far more difficult than I imagined it would have been. The issue is a combination of the oval shaped bottom and, more importantly, the lack of rigidity, especially after some or all of the water is gone.

The 0.6L version has dimensions that are fairly close to the ubiquitous 20oz Smartwater bottle, with a bottom width of about 3 in x 2 in. The 1.0L version is kind of its own animal, without a bottom about 4 in x 3 in and a somewhat tapered shape. The filtered section at the top is the sameon both (except the threads, which I found our after the fact are NOT the same size and are not compatible).

I've been using a cheap Molle style carrier so far but it is quite heavy and overcomplicated for what it does. It is a cheap Amazon model and the Molle snaps have rusted together so it is borderline useless now. So I'm trying to find a mesh, hip belt pocket for carrying. (For a visual imagine an Outdoor Research insulated bottle coozy like you would use for Winter only it's mesh). There are tons of shoulder strap pockets out there but they all seem to be made specifically for the 20oz Smartwater bottle so they won't work. I've been on quite a few websites now with no luck.

Anyone using this type of bottle? Any suggestions on a mesh (or lightweight), vertically oriented pouch to attach to a hip belt? (The shoulder straps on my new backpack already have stretch mesh pockets and they are to small. I also don't really like stuff in my face the way shoulder strap pockets tend to do). Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[JoshandBaron]

https://seekoutside.com/bottle-holster/

 

[DayTrip]

I actually saw this model but was concerned about how it attached. It looked like it was made specifically for their packs. I know you like this brand of pack. Do you own one of these? How does the pocket actually attach? It almost looked like it velcroed to the hip belt area as opposed to straps. I don't see anything wrapping around the entire hip belt. If it had straps long enough this would probably work. Although it is a little narrower than the wide oval base of the 1L Katadyn BeFree I'd think there is enough "play" in the mesh to flex around it.

 

[JoshandBaron]

I actually saw this model but was concerned about how it attached. It looked like it was made specifically for their packs. I know you like this brand of pack. Do you own one of these? How does the pocket actually attach? It almost looked like it velcroed to the hip belt area as opposed to straps. I don't see anything wrapping around the entire hip belt. If it had straps long enough this would probably work. Although it is a little narrower than the wide oval base of the 1L Katadyn BeFree I'd think there is enough "play" in the mesh to flex around it.

It's molle/pals. Your mention of molle in your original post made me think of it. I don't have this pouch but have like 4 other pouches that attach to the belt and I've been happy.

 

[Rhody Seth]

I've used them with success in mesh pockets and bottle holders. Because they're soft they conform pretty well to different spaces. It helps if they aren't totally full.

Generally though I'm just using it as a filter or drinking on the go (and then crumpling it up afterwards).