Nalgene vs bladder?

[flemdawg1]

I have a 1-L Nalgen and a 2-L Camelbak bladder. I've kept the Nalgene because I have a Steripen and the prefilter threads on the Nalgene.

[rafe]

I've got about 700 miles on my 3-Liter Platypus bag. No problems. I was nervous at first but not any more. I carry a 20 oz. soda bottle as a reserve, just in case. When I hiked on the JMT last summer, I carried a spare (empty) Platy bag as a back-up.

[JumpInTheLake]

I like my Nalgene bottles. They work with my filter, and they make a great hot water bottle. Someone mentioned that they are incredibly heavy. I have to laugh while I disagree, but they do help me meet my thirty pound minimum. Actually I can see the logic of carrying one Nalgene and one Gatorade bottle.

Bladders always leak sticky sugar drinks all over my friends pack, and I have visions of nasty crap living in those things. I have a day pack with a bladder, and I don't use it (the bladder).

I hang an empty one gallon milk jug on my pack for camp water. I am eye balling those slick silicone nylon water bags though.

[Roots]

It's kind of confusing. I love Nalgene bottles while at home. On the trail I used to use the collapsable Nalgene--48 oz--with the Nalgene drink tube. Then I started having a lot of problems with the drink tube leaking around the lid. NOW I use a Camelbak Omega Hydrotanium Reservoir--2.0 liter. I LOVE THIS THING. It has the anti-microbial treatment, easy to clean, easy to fill, taste free, and VERY durable and leak-proof. I still carry one of the Nalgene collapsable's with my Steripen pre-filter connected to collect and treat my water in. I also use the Platypus tank (4L) to collect camp water. I guess you could say I've tried them all. Definitely recommend the Camelbak though.

[Toolshed]

I prefer Nalgene Bottle (and not only because I hail from the Nalge Nunc Home Town).
I always use Nalgenes in the winter with my OR bottle parkas, but for regular 3 season Use I usually carry a 1 Liter Nalgene and my water bladder (either a platy or my MSR Drom Bag.)
I almost never drink out of the platy, but use it to refill my Nalgene. My concern is that the time I have use the hose, I never really know how much water I have left. With my Nalgene bottle, I always know.
In addition, the water in the hose always becomes warm and I hate blowing it back into the cooler water before sucking up more water.

I have found the best of both worlds by carrying both and if I use my Drom Bag, It gives me the capacity of up to 5 liters if I ever really needed it.

[Mags]

It's kind of confusing. I love Nalgene bottles while at home.

[BigBlue]

I like to use a Dasini bottle and a 3-liter cantene for camp, seems to work well for me. I don't like the bladders you never know how much water is left and also IMO you tend to carry too much water at a time.

[Marta]

...and also IMO you tend to carry too much water at a time.

Extremely important point. Under ordinary AT conditions, where there's water every hour or two along the trail, carrying six-and-a-half pounds of water is unnecessary, IMO.

[rafe]

Extremely important point. Under ordinary AT conditions, where there's water every hour or two along the trail, carrying six-and-a-half pounds of water is unnecessary, IMO.

Better to have too much water than not enough, IMO. Dehydration leads to all sorts of nastiness... not the least of which is kidney stones, eventually (though the docs tell me that's mostly a "guy" thing.)

IMO, judging "the right amount of water to carry" is about the most rigorous intellectual exercise you're likely to get on a typical long hike. It can be a game... but it kinda sucks to lose.

[leprechaun]

I have used the MSR hydromedary( http://www.msrgear.com/hydration/hydromedary.asp ) for years without a leak, and camelbak makes a cleaning tablet ( http://www.rei.com/product/695527 ) you can just throw in the bag then rinse out, easy and I stay hydrated. I have learned how to guage when I am using enough water, which does take some practice so there is a slight learning curve

[anie77]

I've only ever used Nalgenes because I wanted a sturdy bottle I can re-use, but have picked up really useful info here thanks!

[drastic_quench]

i take 1 of each. like having the nalgene for measuring water for dinners, mixing gatorade, and a hot water bottle if necessary. like having the bladder for drinking while walking

Same.

I carry one 3L CamelBak bladder and one empty Nalgene. Arguing that Nalgenes are heavy is crazy to me. They weigh what? As much as maybe four 20oz Coke bottles or three Gatorade bottles? I would say that small potatoes, but a small potato is still significantly heavier. These additional grams are more than made up for by its indestrucability.

My view is that a Nalgene has a whole host of pros, and I've only ever read "heavy" as being a con. I did read the complaint here about the threads getting gunky. I've only scene that on a bottle that I found. I think my method of "no-mouthing" my bottles and pouring the water in my mouth must keep gunk from building up.

I'm the last guy that'll ever tell anyone what they should carry, but the entire "Nalgenes are heavy" school of thought is just nuts to me. I'm not going to knock anyone for carrying disposables or anything else, they're just not for me.

[Peaks]

If anyone thinks Nalgenes are heavy, just compare the weight with a camelback.

For me, the HDPE Nalgenes are 4 ounces. My 1 1/2 liter camelback is 6 ounces, about the same weight as a lexan Nalgene.

(Gatoraid bottles are lighter than both, but not nearly as durable).

[Johnny Swank]

I used a bladder system for most of my thru-hike, but ran into problems once it stayed below freezing the last few weeks. It was more of a pain than it was worth then.

That said, I've gone be to using a 20 0z soda bottle in a water-bottle holster, along with another 1 liter soda bottle in a pocket (90% this will be empty) I also have a 3 liter platypus squirrelled away with my cooking set, but rarely use it on the AT.

[dessertrat]

I like to use a Dasini bottle and a 3-liter cantene for camp, seems to work well for me. I don't like the bladders you never know how much water is left and also IMO you tend to carry too much water at a time.

You don't have to fill it up all the way.

[brianos]

I prefer Nalgenes to water bladders. I usually trek with 4 Nalgenes - 2 in the side pockets of my Osprey Aether, and 2 spares in the main compartment, which I'll keep full if it's a long way to the next water source. That's probably more than most hikers carry, but I drink a lot of water even when I'm not hiking, and the last thing I want to run out of is water! Never been a big fan of bladders for several of the reasons cited already - more difficult to clean, more likely to leak, difficult to know how much is left, takes up space in the pack (although that can vary depending on the pack).

[BitBucket]

I hose up my Camelbak bladder by using a quick disconnect valve that allows me to attach directly to my Katadyn Vario Filter. The bladder becomes my temporary storage bag of "filtered" water. I transfer from the bladder to the Nalgene as needed and then zap with the Steripen attached to the Nalgene bottle to get my filtered & treated water. Any time I run dry in the Nalgene, I just fill 'er up from thecamelbak bladder and zap with the Steripen.

since I've got quick disconnect adapters on all the pieces, it's easy to keep a good supply of clean filtered water for cooking and only UV zap what I actually want to drink. (don't need to zap what you may be boiling)

I can quick fill the bottle or bladder with just a few pumps from the Vario and be on the way in just a few minutes. And with the Steripen, I'm never more than 60 seconds away from clean, filtered water.

[garlic08]

I stopped using the bladder/hose/bite valve system after losing water a couple of times on desert hikes. That was years ago, now I notice some systems have a stopcock valve or cover to prevent inadvertent squeezing if you set the pack down on the bite valve. Once the whole bite valve came off when snagged on a bush and I lost some valuable water then, too. So I just got rid of the whole thing, not reliable enough for my hikes. Now I carry one 1-liter Aquafina bottle and one 2-liter Platypus, which stays empty 90% of the time. Total system weight, just over 2 oz. An extra cap is a great idea, otherwise there's nothing to break or go wrong.

[rafe]

I like my Nalgene bottles.

Right, but they're heavy for what they do. The "old" polypropylene versions were 4 oz, the "new" clear plastic ones are 6 oz. That's for a 32 oz. payload. To carry 3 quarts of water using the "new" Nalgene bottles, you're looking at over a pound of plastic.

Bladders always leak sticky sugar drinks all over my friends pack, and I have visions of nasty crap living in those things..

A) I don't put flavored drinks (aka sugar water) in a bladder. B) So far (700 miles or so) no leaks with a 3-Liter Platy bag.

[Roots]

Good one! I need one of those.