Nalgene VS platypus VS cheap plastic disposable

[WesleyCBruce]

Hi, I'm planning my AT thru for 2021 and after reading some stuff have been rethinking my water system. I normally carry a nalgene 32oz along with a Nalgene 48oz. Been reading about hikers using platypus or large plastic disposable water bottles (like the ones you buy at a gas station). I am curious about people's experience. I have just always used Nalgenes without much thought or question.

Lastly, I don't drink coffee, tea, or powder drinks- so not worried about cold morning comforts, etc.

[OwenM]

Evernew or Platypus for bags, Smartwater 700mL or 1L for bottles.
You can drop a relatively large amount of weight vs. Nalgenes.
I typically use a 1.5L Evernew for dirty water(matches up with Sawyer filters), and 2x700mL Smartwater bottles for drinking from, so can carry up to ~3L. Total weight for all 3 is about half that of one 32oz or 1L Nalgene.

[Leo L.]

Honestly, I've never got the idea why people spend lots of money on outdoor drinking bottles like Nalgene, just to add extra weight to the pack.

PET bottles (like your Smartwater) is all I've ever used to host my water haul, plus a small 400ml Aluminium bottle (looks like a Sigg, but is a Chinese fake) for the occassinal gulp while walking.

[swjohnsey]

1 L Gatorade bottle (2) plus Platypus for overnight in dry campsite.

[Traveler]

I typically carry a Platypus with a light weight commercial plastic water bottle for unfiltered water gathering. I can't recall the last time I added weight with a Nalgene bottle.

[Analog_Kidd]

Look at the 2L Cnoc Vecto for a dirty water bag, and carry two Smart Water bottles. You can filter what you need during the day into one or two of the bottles, and gives you the option for carrying a massive 4L of water when needed, like in a really dry stretch, or when coming into camp.

The Cnoc's are awesome. They have a wide opening to allow you to scoop water. That opening seals with a slider bar. A Sawyer Squeeze attaches to the other end and you can squeeze water thru, or hang it from the slider bar to gravity feed.

[cmoulder]

I use one 32oz Gatorade bottle and two 1-liter Platypi

[Captain Panda]

I carry 2 full smart water bottles; attach my Sawyer to one of them, and drink right out of the bottle. Don't carry Sawyer filter bags, or any bladders for additional water. When the Smartwater bottles get a little nasty, I buy 2 more when I resupply. Lightweight and economical. BTW, if you are going to get a Sawyer filter, don't buy the mini!

[Feral Bill]

Big peanut butter jars from Costco work well. You have to smooth the rim with VERY fine sandpaper to get a good seal. BUT: 1. I would not sleep with one. 2. They do not tolerate very hot water, either as drinks or in a dishwasher.

[HooKooDooKu]

Given the quality of modern water and drink bottles, Nalgene is an overweight dinosaur.

[Astro]

32 oz Gatorade, 1 Liter Smartwater, and also 1 Liter platypus that only use occasionally usually at night (but rolls up really small and 1oz or less).
Also have 64 oz bag for Sawyer Filter, but prefer to store just filtered water when hiking (and reduce chance of that bag tearing).

[HooKooDooKu]

What I personally do is use a Sawyer filter in gravity mode..
a 2L Evernew bladder for dirty water, a 2L Platypus Hoser for clean water, and a pair of Bai water bottles, because they are about as light as Smartwater bottles, but have the larger mouth of the 32oz Gatorade bottle for adding drink mixes.

[Starchild]

Nalgene is good if you have to put boiling water in it, which could be used to soak food items or to use as a hot water bottle in your sleeping bag as it will stay warm all night (and usually placed inside a sock). I also found use of a 1/2L Nalgene as my steripen 'make good' water bottle. The wide mouth that allows proper steripen usage and seals water tight is hard to find in a light weight bottle - though I have found a few including a baby's sippy cup that had a sealed lid. Other then that Nalgene is way too heavy.

The bladder systems is a matter of personal preference.

The light weight disposable bottles are strong and lightweight, they do great for carrying water.

Gatorade makes great pee bottles.

[Traillium]

I’ve been using the same two large Gatorade bottles for three years now. Still in good shape.

I use a titanium Bot for my Steripen, and also use it as my soaking container.

[Odd Man Out]

I carry two 1 L Evernew bladder. One for dirty water and one for clean water (also a back-up for dirty water if one breaks). They are usually empty but used when I may need to dry camp or hike a long hot dry stretch. For routine use I have a couple of these 24 oz Gatorade bottles. I like them because they are free (recovered from a recycling dumpster), narrower in profile than the fat Gatorade bottles, durable, have a nice closable drinking spout, and I can wrap a thin shock cord around the the the deep ridges in the bottle to attach them to the shoulder straps of my pack.

45493

[RangerZ]

I carry three 2 liter Evernew bags - two for dirty water and one for clean. I like to make only one trip to a source, depending on what I have in my reservoir I fill one or both dirty bags. I have carried dirty water to a dry camp for later filtering.

I gravity filter direct from a dirty bag into the clean bag, and maybe treat it with AquaMira also depending on what I thought about the source. I usually set up the second dirty water bag to filter overnight to have breakfast water or more for the reservoir.

i also have a 600 ml Evernew bag for drink mix.

The bags are are light and don’t take up much space. They are more durable than the Sawyer bags but do fail ( after years ) mine have separated at the top near the bottle opening, never had a problem on the sides or bottom. I’ve made on trail fixes with super glue and ShoeGoo.

[TX Aggie]

I use the 2L CNOC as dirty water as well with a 750ml smartwater type bottle, maybe second 750 as well for a longer hike.

If I think I’ll have a long water carry, or when I’m backpacking with family, I carry a 4L MSR Dromedary light. The cap has a smaller cap on it that’s the same size as the Sawyer so it makes for a great gravity system.


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[Hikemor]

(2) 32 oz Gatorade bottles and (1) 64 oz iced tea jug. Treat with Aqua Mira.

[Night Train]

I use a 32oz and a 50oz Evernew. It is strictly a personal preference thing for me. Additionally, if the Nalgene works for you, stick with it man.

[Dogwood]

Hard sided Nalgene type and most soft sided Smartwater type bottles are not easily or can not be collapsed in volume when empty. Bulk of non or non easily collapsible water receptacles can correspond to additional volume, hence extra wt, needed in a backpack. In my UL mindset reducing bulk is as significant as reducing wt of what's carried. These two characteristics are correlated. This is the advantage of collapsible compact Platypus and Evernew very light wt soft sided bladders. Consider a $12 1.3 oz collapsible Platypus 2 L water bladder - that actually holds 2.8 L about 95 fl oz- reduces in volume to a small cigar when not being used to carry liquid. Plus, both Evernew and Platypus are BPA free 'plastics.'

Some WB naysayer will point to they can fail. This is true just as can any gear. In 15 yrs I've had all of two Platypus failures. I always store filled and emptied Platypus' on the outside of packs. One from external punctures in Joshua Tree NP, the victim of cacti, and one seam failure. The seam failure occurred because of my rough use throwing around to the ground and plopping on a filled one. I will sometimes use one as a pillow placed on top of my shoes. Improper hasty cross threading of caps can occur if one lacks care.

A SmartWater bottle, maybe two, are held on the shoulder straps ala ULA's H2O water bottle holding system. Again, this is to avoid using pack pocket or pack interior volume to carry H2O. Doing such has factored into being able to use lower volume, hence lighter wt, frameless packs. The water bottles on the shoulder straps assist balancing out the load AND also make drinking water easily obtainable while still on the move while not taking up pack volume.

[martinb]

I use a 3L platypus (for dry camps) reservoir/filter and 1L smartwater bottle. Nalgene is unnecessary dead weight.

[CarlZ993]

My water carry varies based on what type of water purification I use and whether or not I'm going solo or not. If I use chemicals (AquaMira drops), I'll typically carry two 1-L 'cheap' water bottles (SmartWater for one & an old, wide-mouth AquaFina bottle that is no longer made with a 24-oz Gatorade duckbill cap), a 2-L Platypus bag, and a small 500ml bottle cut down as a water scoop for shallow water sources.

If I'm using my Sawyer Squeeze, I'll take the same water bottles & the 64 oz Sawyer bag or possibly the 2-L Cnoc water bag along with my water scoop.

If I'm going with other people that might use my water filter, I'll take the same bottles, take AquaMira as a backup, take two 2-L Cnoc water bags (one orange - dirty water - and one blue - clean water), my Sawyer Squeeze with a coupler, and utilize the system in a gravity feed method. I'll still take my water scoop.

If 4-L of water capacity isn't sufficient for my hike, I'll add additional 2-L Platypus bags as needed.

[fastfoxengineering]

For an AT thru hike. 2x 1L smartwater bottles and a 2L evernew bag is a good place to start.

You do not require that much capacity on the AT. You may find you prefer different bottles such as a widemouth perhaps.

I agree with Dogwood. The only time I've busted a soft bag is when using them with sawyer filters. It stresses the seams and will eventually fail.

I suppose dropping one could lead to a failure as well. I find if you use the softbottles as a primary drinking vessel then the push/pull sport cap is a necessity.

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[Berserker]

I've always used a combination of plastic bottles (Gatoraide and/or Smart water), Platypus bags and Sawyer bags. Only thing that has failed me in the last 15 years was a Sawyer bag I squeezed too hard.

[scope]

OK, Nalgenes aren't all that heavy. I think more than anything, they're going to get nasty with use, and I think it makes more sense to trade out gatorade bottle after a while instead spending money to replace a Nalgene bottle. I think some of it depends on your packing, too. I used to own a GG pack and didn't like the stretchy side pockets for bottles - and in fact GG admitted as much that they weren't made for bottles. Whereas the ULA packs have pockets that fits wide bottles like Nalgenes nicely. I use a Platy because it seems more efficient to me to carry water in bulk, but I prefer drinking from a bottle and its more convenient around camp.

This said, I often do carry a smaller Nalgene type bottle in winter to pour hot water into at night. Just more substantial, trust it won't leak, and isn't getting ruined with the minimal use.

[Nanashi]

One thing that made a lot of sense to me about going with a disposable water bottle was, if anything came up where you had to put a fluid in there other than water, you can just throw it away after. Like in an emergency situation where you need a container for fuel or, as Starchild mentioned, a pee bottle. You aren't out very much at all if you have to toss it out. On a side note: If re -using disposable water bottles, you should change them out occasionally as they can degrade over time and you will end up drinking the plastic. Expiration dates on water bottles are usually for the plastic, not the water, so I would use that as a max life span for any water bottle you can throw away.

[HooKooDooKu]

Expiration dates on water bottles are usually for the plastic, not the water, so I would use that as a max life span for any water bottle you can throw away.
Good to know... always wondered how "water" could expire.

[Ethesis]

Look at the 2L Cnoc Vecto for a dirty water bag, and carry two Smart Water bottles. You can filter what you need during the day into one or two of the bottles, and gives you the option for carrying a massive 4L of water when needed, like in a really dry stretch, or when coming into camp.

The Cnoc's are awesome. They have a wide opening to allow you to scoop water. That opening seals with a slider bar. A Sawyer Squeeze attaches to the other end and you can squeeze water thru, or hang it from the slider bar to gravity feed.

that nails what my wife finally ended up with.

Ive got a smart water bottle and then add a Gatorade bottle.

[Ethesis]

I carry 2 full smart water bottles; attach my Sawyer to one of them, and drink right out of the bottle. Don't carry Sawyer filter bags, or any bladders for additional water. When the Smartwater bottles get a little nasty, I buy 2 more when I resupply. Lightweight and economical. BTW, if you are going to get a Sawyer filter, don't buy the mini!
That is the new standard I’ve seen on the trail.

The micro is worlds better than the mini.

[colorado_rob]

That is the new standard I’ve seen on the trail.

The micro is worlds better than the mini. The trouble with this new trail "standard" (which I agree, is very common, almost like current hikers are in uniform with it), is that it is not quite enough water capacity for maximum flexibility on where to camp. If you dry camp, which I like to do often to avoid crowds and overused camps, it sure helps having an extra 2L platypus bottle along. Less than 2 ounces, I believe. Basically, that's my kit, 2 1L water bottles (sometimes smart water, sometimes a mix of different brands) and a 2L platypus.

And yeah, wow, the micro is way better than the mini.