View Full Version : Staying Hydrated
Matt Pincham
11-20-2003, 07:35
Was hoping I could get a few straight-forward answers about water carrying.
On your thru-hike (or section hikes etc) how many bottles, reservoirs etc did you carry? (ie. what capacity)
PS When you refer to Quarts, does it mean a quarter of a litre? Gallon?
Matt,
Water is fairly plentiful along the AT. I usually carried only 1 liter of water when ever I left a water source. I also carried a 3 liter collapsible canteen so I could fetch addional water in the evening for cooking and cleanup and to get me started in the morning.
Matt Pincham
11-20-2003, 09:09
Excellent.
I had visions of people hauling 4 litres of water everywhere they went! Think I'll just get myself a CamelBak or similar and a 2/3 L bladder for when I need to carry more.
Cheers guys
Matt,
I carried usually 2 liters of water at most at a time. I used two one liter soda pop bottles. They are incredibly light only cost 1.50 $ and you get free soda with them! Just buy a soda in town, drink it and you have a new bottle. I found this easier than playing with the hydration/bladder systems. I heard many a bad story about them leaking. Some people like em but theyre not for me.
On the PCT in Southern California, where water is, in general, rather rare, I carried 3 2.4L platypus waterbags. From the Sierra Nevada north (the last 2000 miles), I carried only one of them. In a few stretches I had to buy some bottled water to get me through a particularly long dry stretch (like 35 miles without water!). I liked the way they fit in the external pocket of my pack and the way that, when empty, they took up little room. In the Smokys, I tend to carry a liter bottle (wide mouth gatorade) for drinking out of and a 6 L platypus waterbag for hauling water into camp in the evening. This is also the set up I used on my Springer to Damascus section hike in May 2002.
Matt Pincham
11-20-2003, 10:27
Ah that sounds more like an idea for me. Cheap Soda bottles that don't matter if they break. Think I'm going to have the trail name 'Pennywise' :D (not only because I'm being pretty tight with my money but it's also the name of my favourite band) Kill two birds with one stone.
I hear a lot from gatorade bottles..is this because they have a sports cap?
tlbj6142
11-20-2003, 10:31
One thing to consider about using a bladder as your main hiking water source is that it can be difficult (depending on where to store it) to see how much water you have left. As such, you might drink less. I know I do when I use a bladder.
I have since switched to using 2 1L bottles and I find I drink quite a bit more. Futhermore, you can fill them 1L at a time. If you have a 2L bladder that has 1L left and you run across "the last stream" for X miles, how do you treat the additional liter?
Regarding stoping to drink...
If you can't take a 10-15 minute break every hour you pushing yourself too much. Hike longer days, but take breaks every hour. I amazed at how much people bitch about taking their pack on and off. It can't take more than 90 seconds, to take your pack off, put it on the ground, pull out a bottle, slam a bit, put the bottle back and put your pack back on.
Footslogger
11-20-2003, 10:40
I carried a 1.8L Platy in the top of my pack with the hose hanging down over my shoulder. I also strapped a 20oz gatorade bottle to the shoulder strap of my pack ...a lot like the adventure racers do on TV. I used the gatorade bottle to mix powdered drinks. I found that I lost interest in driking only water after a while. Nice having something with flavor. I would buy a tub of gatorade or Tang and carry it in my pack. At times I mixed the gatorade and Tang powder together and really liked the flavor. Got my salts replaced and a little sugar/nutrient boost at the same time.
I did carry a 4L Platy that I used to gather water in the campsite at night but I never carried it full while hiking. The empty 4L didn't weigh that much (a couple oz) and I found that I could fill it once upon reaching my campsite for the nite and it would get me through dinner, breakfast the next morning and my initial carrying water/beverage for the day.
Regardless of how much water you carry or in what type of containers it's easy to forget to drink. I adopted a habit of taking a drink every time I thought about water. You'll pee a lot more that way but you'll avoid the fatigue and exhaustion that creeps into your afternoon from being dehydrated.
Hi, I started my thru using a 16oz and a 32oz Nalgene bottle. I kept the 32oz in my pack and the 16oz attached to my pack strap. As the weather warmed I drank more water and found that the 16oz bottle had to be refilled, from the 32oz, often.
In Demaskas I purchesed a 1.8L Platypus with the sip tube. I used this the rest of the trip. I also carried the 16oz bottle for back-up. You can't tell when the Platypus is running out, so when it did I than 16oz left. During the dry part of 2001 I did carry an additional soda bottle of water or another drink because many water soarces in PA, NJ were dry.
I, also like Footsloger, would use a drink mix for variety. I would not recommend using drink mix in a Platypus. It can cause a groth in the tubeing.
Happy trails.
Grampie
chknfngrs
11-20-2003, 11:28
i carry the msr drom bag/hose combo, prolly $25 USD and am now considering using it as the backup and a gatorade/soda bottle for the main event.
Matt,
Like every other piece of equipment, you see all kinds of containers used for water.
Hard Nalgene is the "normal." Their advantage is that they don't leak and don't break.
Soda bottles and Gator-aid type drink bottles are also used frequently because they are cheap to buy, and light weight. However, the caps frequently leak, so you need to be careful how you set things down. And periodically, they do break, so they need to get replaced. May not fit in exterior pockets of packs.
Camelbacks and Platypus is also used. Disadvantage is that it's hard to tell how much you have left, and they are prone to leaking when least expected. Also, best if drink mixes are not used in them because they are hard to clean, especially the drinking tube.
RagingHampster
11-20-2003, 17:56
Heres what I do when I hike...
A 3L Platypus Bag for Reserve.
A 32oz Pepsi Widemouth Soda Bottle
Use the platy to carry as much extra water as you need, and leave it untreated. Use your soda bottle to drink from and treat new water as you need it. I hope pepsi never changes their bottle designs!
Nightwalker
11-20-2003, 20:45
Regardless of how much water you carry or in what type of containers it's easy to forget to drink. I adopted a habit of taking a drink every time I thought about water. You'll pee a lot more that way but you'll avoid the fatigue and exhaustion that creeps into your afternoon from being dehydrated.
I make it a rule to take five large swallows whenever I start panting, and 8-10 whenever I feel "dry". It works for me. I carry a 3 liter CamelBak reservoir, a Gatorade bottle that will be full or empty, according to how long 'til the next water, if I'm going to be cooking soon and the temperature. I also carry an empty a 2 liter Platypus, just in case I'm in a stretch of VERY dry trail and long stretches between water. Use that filter.YMMV
icemanat95
11-20-2003, 20:47
It really depends on the conditions. Most of the time I go with 2 1-liter Nalgene bottles. I did my whole thru-hike with Nalgenes and had no problems drinking on the run. A little splash often feels good.
I habitually carry 2 liters because you never know when you may need extra water RIGHT NOW. To clean out a wound, to help someone who is badly dehydrated, to brew up hot food fast for someone who is injured or hypothermic, etc. If you only carry "just enough" to get by, then you aren't prepared for the possibility of something unexpected happening.
At times 2 liters has been woefully inadequate to meet my own needs let alone incidental disasters. For instance, going north out of Lehigh Gap in Palmerton, PA, there is a LONG dry spell, a significant portion of which is functionally a desert. I hiked along that in July and had three or four liters of liquid handy, a bottle of Gatorade, a Gatorade bottle filled with water, and two Nalgenes full of water. I had also tanked up in Palmerton drinking as much as I could hold. The first accessible water source along the ridge that day was still considered contaminated (the area is a SuperFund site for Zinc contamination.) the next water source was over a mile down the ridge. The next water was at a road crossing where a nice person left fresh water every day. We got just enough to get to camp that night and go to sleep without dinner.
There were other dry spots in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. The water in High Point State Park is darned near undrinkable (or at least it was horribly sulpherous in 1995) and that includes in the park visitor center building as well. I dumped 2 quarts of gatorade mix into one bottle of water and still the taste was oppressive. I choked it down, but it was awful.
I recommend you go with 2 liters of water, and the capacity to carry more (I carried a 10 liter MSR Dromedary Bag which came in handy a bunch of times) but that's just me.
I would carry a smaller Drom bag now, probably a 4 or 7 liter.
Kerosene
11-20-2003, 22:07
I section hike every fall, so temperatures don't usually get up above 60 degrees. Water along the Trail in the fall can be tough to come by. I usually carry 2- to 2.5 liters in flexible Nalgene bottles unless I'm confident that water will be available near the Trail before I run out. I once ran out with about 4 miles to walk, and I never want to experience that again.
Alligator
11-20-2003, 23:51
I have several platypus and recently gave up my Nalgene for all but winter hiking. I use 3 l filled in the morning and unless the weather is warm that does it until stopping. I also carry a two liter platypus. I use both at camp to cook, eat, wash dishes, make breakfast, then I only need to fill up as I leave. If you have a drip line, and you're thirsty, you should drink the water. By the time your thirsty, you're already dehydrated, so it doesn't really pay to conserve because you're not really sure how much is still in there. Platypus' bladders are very light.
A nice thing about a drip line is that the body can only absorb so much water per minute (unit time). The rate does vary under different environmental conditions. Drinking in small measured amounts from the drip line maximizes absorbable water. Chugging say a liter of water all at once is likely to result in water passing out of the stomach before it can be absorbed.
I used to like having my Nalgene wide-mouth for mixing Gatorade, but I found carrying the Gatorade was messy and heavy, as is the Nalgene, so I decided to not carry it anymore.
For my section hike, I carried a 2 liter camelbak for drinking and a 2 liter platypus w\o hose (w\ soda cap) to carry extra water (if needed) and for in camp.
Dont forget, that extra 2oz for a 2 liter bladder could save you many trips to the water source in camp.
Brian
Future Thru Hiker 2013
Nightwalker
11-21-2003, 00:56
I once ran out with about 4 miles to walk, and I never want to experience that again.
It was a 6-hour water fast that got me willing to carry more water weight (see post 14). As the miles have went by, my legs and back have gotten stronger, but I'm still thirsty. 2.2 pounds per liter can start sounding really nice. :)
Frank