How do you like to haul water?

Carrying water is something one must always consider on a backcountry trip, in addition to the burden of suitable purification procedures and so forth. In some cases, one doesn't have to carry too much, since it's all around, and purification is the only real issue. But in other situations, water may be scarce, to say the least, and so carrying significant amounts of water long distances turns into a major consideration.

For carrying water, there are all sorts of options; I start with a Nalgene bottle or two, work up to a water bag (like the MSR dromedary or Camelbak or something similar), and so on.

Do you folks have any secrets, tips, or tricks you like to use when hauling water up hill and down, across the valley and past the dry stream bed?

I usually carry a 1L wide-mouth pop bottle. For cooking, dry stretches and dry camping, i carry a 100 fluid oz platypus bladder with a push-pull lid. It's light and super small, and both together can get me through 15 miles of desert if i drink as much as possible before leaving the water hole.

The bladder is also awesome to wash things and lasts a very long time. The weight of both bottles equals 1 nalgene. The big advantage of the soda bottle is that you can crush it while you drink to gulp the water even faster, and change it every week for a clean one.

I do something very similar to Franc, the only diffence is i use a smaller 1L platypus insted of the pop bottle. I tried pop bottles for a while but while I was packing my gear I would have trouble finding one, so I moved to something more dedicated..

I use my old Nagene bottles for drinking water at my desk at work.

I usually carry my 100oz Camelbak and 2 1L wide mouth Nalgenes. I realize that's 5 liters of water but that's what I take.

Hay guys

Mostly I carry my 2.5L hydration bladder and a cheap $3 outdoor products 1 pt water bottle and depending on if I think I may need it I bring Nalgene 3L collapsible canteen.

In the past I had been carrying two water bottles while hiking along with my filter and a collapsable bucket for use around camp. Last summer when a buddie of mine was going to buy a new filter I talked him into getting a Katydyn Base Camp gravity feed filter. Now one of us will also carry an empty 1gl jug (2 jugs if it's a large group) clipped to our pack. We use my bucket to carry water from the lake/stream to camp and keep the jugs filled with clean water continuously. This system works great for us, it's amazing how much easier and nicer it is to stay hydrated with an ample supply of fresh water in camp. The jugs only add a couple oz to our carry wieght.

Gary C.

If I truly have to carry a large amount of water (for example to a dry camp several miles from the last water source and several miles beyond to the next water source), a greater distance than a couple of 1 liter bottles and a 100 ounce hydration bladder can take me (or the overnight dry camp), I use the apple juice and wine box inner liners mentioned by me and a couple others in another thread. The cost of the cardboard box with the juice or wine in it is pretty minimal, and the liner bag is very light (just a couple ounces) and stores very compactly. The cap/valve can easily be removed after you have emptied the contents for washing, then replaced after filling it. I have sometimes carried 2 (or even 3) such bags of water (on a certain trail into a remote part of Grand Canyon that shall remain my secret, since it is very little travelled and requires a special permit - no water from the trailhead reached on a 4WD road until you get to the river, then no water from the river back to the trailhead - and if Gary P makes a guess as to the trail's identity, I will neither confirm nor deny its existence. It shall remain a special secret).

Bill--

Yours is the kind of tip/discussion I was looking for. Carrying water when it's not that far away isn't a trick. It's more interesting when you have to carry enough to get you through the next couple of days--at least--than when it's a five-minute inconvenience to walk down to the creek.

BTW, were those your boot tracks I saw down in the canyon? I thought I was the only one who knew about it..... (Jus' kiddin', of course. Though I wish I knew the secret spot. But I've got a couple of my own, so I guess all's fair.)

Thankfully my dog will willingly and happily carry 2 2liter platypus bladders and I slide a 4Liter into my pack. If I drink my fill before setting out, this will get the two of us through a day of hiking, one night at a dry camp, and the better part of another day.

Use to use the Nalgene wide mouth flexible and the recycled soda bottle. Changed over to the Platypus bottles. Just stocked up on some of the now "older" model of Platypus containers. Clearance prices to make room for the new model. The new model seems to be of a softer plastic.

Arborrider--Do you ever run into probs keeping the Platypus containers clean? Also, have you used the Platypus gravity filtration system?

Random--Sounds like a good system--unless you're the dog!

Perry-

I read a review on another site for those water buckets that collapse. Seemed like the guy was really impressed with it after using it on the AT, but I think carrying something with a handle probably doesn't fit the criteria you're talking about.

I'm afraid I don't have many tricks for you since water is never far away in the ozarks (see avatar picture... see river in background). I carry a 2L outdoor products hydration bladder and a wide-mouthed nalgene for purifying.

Sorry if I gave the impression of too much in the way of criteria, Nate. Just wanted to start a discussion in which I or others might learn something. Not sure about the exact species of collapsible buckets you mentioned, but the presence of handles is not necessarily a deal-breaker.

When I need to haul lots of water, I like using products similar to the MSR dromedary bags--they're collapsible, tough, and have the same size of opening as my Nalgenes, and so my filter device fits easily onto them. Being soft-sided, they're also relatively easy to pack. The specific MSR product also has ways in which to hang it, and a little flip-top spout that allows for easy dispensing of water in the camp kitchen area. Two 4 L bags, empty, don't take up much room, and when combined with two 1 L Nalgenes, I can have 10 L of water on hand. (Which weighs about twenty-two pounds all by itself at that point, but one can't replace water with anything else.)

To save water, breathing through your nose and carefully monitoring your heartbeat works really well. You can cut your water needs almost in half if you're carefull, at no additional cost.

Acclimatation also plays an important role, as does drinking a lot before leaving the water hole. I've read many confusing things about this, but for me the best way to carry water is in my stomach, and i don't need to drink for the first hour and a half this way.

Here's the bucket I was talking about...

http://www.seattlesportsco.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=316&idcategory=0

And here's a review, although I don't think it's the one I originally read.

http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Hydration%20Systems/Buckets/Seattle%20Sports%20Pocket%20Bucket/Thomas%20Vickers/Long%20Term%20Report/

Ah, I understand now a bit better what you were talking about. It really is a bucket! Not quite what I had in mind, as you guessed, since I was thinking of carrying water all day and such, not just "back to camp", but it does look like it could be a pretty useful item. Plus, it's blue. I like blue.