Water containers

[Lefty Red]

When I backpack and can pick my own campsites, I generally camp near water. I can refill my one liter water bottles right there. I understand that on the AT, I may not always have that option. On many of the gear lists for AT thru-hiker candidates, I see larger water containers for "camp water". Is there a benefit to carrying a larger water container all day so that I can fill it up at and carry it to a shelter or campsite?

[Rock Lobster]

Yes. There are some shelters where the water source is 1/3 to 1/2 a mile away and steeply downhill, so that you wouldn't want to make a second trip in the morning. There are also several 10-15 mile stretches with no water sources at all. Carrying a larger platypus at 1-2oz for these occasions can be well worth it.

That said, it's not a necessity. I prefer to camel up and rarely use mine. But ohhh am I glad I have it when I do.

[88BlueGT]

I always carry 4-5L of water. It may be extra weight that I don't NEED to carry but I prefer to haul it instead of stopping at every water source to refil. 4-5L is usually good for a full day of hiking, camp water and water to cook dinner with.

[FarmerChef]

It has been my experience that there is plenty of water along the central half of the trail I've hiked and as a result this has modified my approach such that I carry less water (to reduce weight) and fill up once during the day, typically at a lunch or other break to lessen the amount of time it takes. That said, I have camped away from water and at shelters where water was so far that you did NOT want to make a second trip. In those cases, I have been glad to have two large platypus reservoirs which are used in my gravity filter. With both full I can carry 8 liters of water to camp. For our family of 5 that gets us through dinner, breakfast and tooth washing plus a bit extra for coffee/hot cocoa and drinks.

One item I used to carry in my pack that I have since stopped (since I gravity filter) is a Coughlan's water bag. It is self-leveling and holds a gallon or so if I recall correctly. Weighs maybe an ounce total and compresses down to nothing.

[Slo-go'en]

Like all things, "it depends". I typically carry no more then 40 oz (2X 20oz soda bottles) of water at a time while hiking. However, in the middle of summer and on dry streaches of the trial I'll bump that up to a half gallon. (2 quart bottles).

As noted, some water sources for shelters can be a long ways off and down hill, so you don't want to make that trip more then once. I use a nylon water sack for lugging a couple of gallons of water up from the spring (or what ever).

There's a shelter near the NC/VA line which has a sign which says "water - 1000 yrds". So, I head off for water and after about 10 mintues I start thinking "1000 yrds --3000 feet - hey thats over half a mile one way! No wonder this is taking so long!".

[Odd Man Out]

A lot of people prefer not to camp at shelters. So if you are going to "dry camp", you want to make sure you have enough water for dinner, breakfast, and the hike to the next water source.

[swjohnsey]

I don't usually sleep at shelters. I find that carrying 2 liter Gatorade bottles is sufficient. I usually only fill one during the day. I fill both at the last stop before camping. On stretchs I know will be long and dry I fill both.

Never pass up easy water. Drink and refill, it only takes a second.

[max patch]

In my opinion, NO. I started off with a water bag and sent it home in Damascus. It may save you a trip to two from going to a steep water source, but for me that wasn't enough of a reason to carry the weight and bulk day after day. And I'm no ounce weenie.

[Old Hiker]

2 - 64 ounce water bottles. Before the evening stop, I drank as much as I could and refilled. In the 30+ minutes to camp, the tablets worked and I was good to go for that evenings meal and breakfast. I also wanted some to wash my hands and face in the morning. Usually, I had 1.5 bottles filled at all times.

[Another Kevin]

I'm just a clueless weekender, but I find that being able to carry 3 litres of water at need helps me a lot on dry ridges even in the East. (Desert hiking is another kettle of fish entirely - and I'm not qualified to comment on it.) If I'm going to have to go a half mile and lose 1000 feet of elevation to get water, I want to get enough to last a little while. I'f I'm hiking in a wet season and coming upon streams frequently, then I might carry just a half-full Camelbak and leave my Nalgene empty. (I'm going to carry one Nalgene in any case, because it's my hot drink container, and Gatorade bottles aren't terribly heat resistant.)

I've never found that the "camel up" strategy works for me. While nobody hikes well thirsty, I find I also don't hike well waterlogged. If I just slam down a litre of water, I'll feel funny and hike poorly until I've peed it out again, and it doesn't increase my range to the next water source much if at all.

[Sly]

In drier conditions, I mostly carried 2 two liter Platypus bottles and 2 one liter Aqua Fina plastic bottles (wide mouth). On the AT you can usually get by with one of each, or two of one and one of the other. Of course, only at times would I fill to capacity.

[SCRUB HIKER]

Is there a benefit to carrying a larger water container all day so that I can fill it up at and carry it to a shelter or campsite?

I kind of did this on the AT, although it wasn't deliberate. I hiked with 3 liters of capacity, but I never needed to carry more than 2L at a time when I was hiking. But sometimes it's nice to have a little extra water around when you're camping, for meals and whatnot, so that you don't have to make multiple trips down to the water source. Or you can fill up at a water source, hike the extra mile or two to a nice dry-camp, and have enough water for meals and the next morning's walking.

So yes, a little extra capacity is useful. If you carry something like a Platypus SoftBottle, it's collapsible and weighs .8oz for a liter container, so why not have one along?