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Hi, i use a nalgene bottle to hike because it's simple and effective. Does anyone know the most practical reason we use the Nalgene bottle?
The most practical reason why people use Nalgene bottles? How about because outfitters can't make any money selling you empty, used Pepsi bottles? People tend to use what other people tell them they need to be using until they have the opportunity to get out and get enough experience to develope their own way of doing things.
i do not use nalgene bottles,i prefer one liter code red mountain dew bottles or one liter power aid bottles:sun neo
i've heard studies are showing that reuse of nalgene bottles can cause cancer. anyone heard this before?
grrickar
12-25-2004, 15:09
Propel fitness water bottles are great, as are the gatorade/poweraid bottles with the sip-top cap. You can even remove the label if you want to get 'fancy'.;)
I own four nalgenes, none of which I carry while hiking. Three were given to me free at a REI store grand opening, one I bought awhile back before I started considering the weight of all of my stuff. The nalgenes stayed home, and I took a Propel bottle instead. I drank the Propel, then used the bottle for water and for mixing Kool Aid. At each watering hole, I would fill my hydration bladder, drink from my Propel bottle all that i could, then top off the Propel bottle which I would drain first since it was on the outside of my pack.
You can even take one and measure off fluid measurements on the outside if you want. Nalgenes are just too heavy for backpacking IMO.
grrickar
12-25-2004, 15:10
i've heard studies are showing that reuse of nalgene bottles can cause cancer. anyone heard this before?
Nalgenes? Did you mean soda bottles? I would think that nalgenes were made for reuse. Either way, I have not heard of either causing cancer.
Hi, i use a nalgene bottle to hike because it's simple and effective. Does anyone know the most practical reason we use the Nalgene bottle?Winter camping you can fill the nalgene with hot water,and slip it into a sock and put it in the bottom of your sleeping bag. GatorAde bottles aren't trustworthy with hot water (the plastic gets a bit soft and they leak).
I also use a Nalgene cantene, a soft Nalgene. It weighs about three ounces, holds three liters, and screws directly onto my MRS water filter. I filter water into it for evening use. I have two GatorAde bottles I use to hold water while hiking. I recently bought a Pur Hiker. It doesn't screw onto the Nalgene, so I use a discharge hose.
I too have heard about not re-using GatorAde and soda bottles. I called one company about it, but they wouldn't give me a reason. Just said they don't recommend re-using them. I assume that the material breaks down with washing. It's easy to replace them often, though, so I don't worry about it.
In winter you can easily break through the frozen ice in a Nalgene and get to your water. Not so easy with a soda bottle.
In China, many millions use Nalgene (or knockoffs) to carry thier tea to work.
Rick B
Fiddleback
12-25-2004, 17:42
You can find the cancer/reused-plastic-bottles urban legend on the various online hoax info sites such as hoax-slayers.com . Now, the hook-on-the-door-handle story, THAT's real!! :D
FB
Hi, i use a nalgene bottle to hike because it's simple and effective. Does anyone know the most practical reason we use the Nalgene bottle?
It's almost indestructable and leakproof.
Nameless
12-25-2004, 17:44
Manufactures of bottled water (and i assume soda bottles) dont recommend reusing the bottles because of bacteria that cannot easily be cleaned out of the design. I've never heard or the cancer thing, i dont think the bacteria thing is real serious. I think the manufactures just want you to keep buying new waterbottles out of fear instead of just reusing them.
Just my .02
Pink
The Old Fhart
12-25-2004, 18:37
Maybe the Nalgene-cancer story is an offshoot of this thread. Click here. (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4535&goto=nextnewest)
Singletrack
12-25-2004, 22:36
I use a round, wide mouth Rubbermade 1 liter bottle. It weighs 2.5 oz. It's easy to mix powdered drinks, and easy to clean. I bought it at a grocery store for 3 bucks, and they let me swap the top for a round screw on type. It sort of looks like a Nalgene. And it's bombproof.
orangebug
12-25-2004, 23:28
Nalgene bottles are pretty handy with the wide mouth to let you pour in hot water. I find them very good for hot cocoa, hot Instant Breakfast and other drinks. They also make pretty good containers for glasses and other fragile gear.
Peter Mossberg
12-26-2004, 00:43
I think the plastic soda bottles impart less "plasticy" taste to the water than the Nalgene bottles.
The nalgenes are handy when you need to mix stuff though. They also work for eggs, spagetti sauce, etc.
Found some info on nalgenes. they don't cause cancer. but there are several studies that point to a correlation to birth defects. has anyone heard this before?
ffstenger
12-26-2004, 05:49
Nalgene bottles are made to be less reactive with whatever you put in them,
Soda bottles are not. The makers of soda bottles cannot recomend that you
reuse them because they can't be responsible for what you put in them or
how long you leave it there. Certain acidic soultions can cause the cheaply
made soda bottles to react and leach chemical components into your drink
They don't want law-suits from people who reuse the bottles. If you keep the
soda bottles very clean and use them for water I don't think it is a problem, but
I would also recomend getting a fresh one frequently. Showme
i USED Nalgene bottles on my first two section hikes...because as i was researching (yes, doing homework) my hiking needs...many articles told me that the Nalgene bottles were a "NEED".
and of course...the more i hiked...& encountered more "learned", seasoned hikers...like my friend & hiking mentor: "Model T (http://www.modelt.net)",...
they told me to take a good 1 litre plastic cola bottle.
it works...& its about 1/3 (or less) of the weight! :D
1 liter soda bottles work great with cold water & drinks, But add hot water and you'll find it shrink to 1/2 its size!! Learned this the hard way one morning - had to guzzle down a lot of water for a long waterless section a head of me.
Stupidity can be a very harsh teacher.
The Solemates
12-26-2004, 21:31
We use salvaged saline bottles that we get from the hospital. They weigh about 5 oz less than Nalgenes and are just as sturdy.
1 liter soda bottles work great with cold water & drinks, But add hot water and you'll find it shrink to 1/2 its size!!
yep - this is the reason that in the winter I carry one Nalgene - so that I can have a hot water bottle at night in the bag.
I use a water filter that mates to the large mouth Nalgene 32 oz. bottles. Are there any other bottles, soda/gatorade etc., that have the same design? I have an extra hose, but would like to avoid using it.
TakeABreak
12-28-2004, 13:31
Nalgene bottles at were time were very practical, but then came along camel back, then platypus hydration systems.
I use a platypus hydration system, a 2 liter hydration system is lighter (dry weight) than 2 nalgene bottles, you do not have stop to drink, so you are not dehydrated while waking.
grrickar
12-28-2004, 14:23
Nalgene does make soft side bottles not (similar to Platypus) that have the same filter threads as their hard-sided Nalgenes. I thought about getting one, but the larger ones are odd-shaped and will not fit in a hydration sleeve. I bought a Kelty Source hydration bladder that holds 1.5 lt, and it had the standard threads that my MSR filter screws onto.
I ditched my nalgenes when I ditched my MSR filter. Both weighed to much.
I now carry a Platypus with a siltstopper in-line. Excellent combo and very lightweight.
I stopped carrying them when I started weighing gear. Each 32 oz. Nalgene weighs 6.08 ounces. A narrow-mouth 1.8 L Platypus weighs less than 1 ounce. I had rather carry that 5+ ounce weight difference in water-or not at all if I chose to.. :)
Does anyone know the weight of those 32 oz. polycarbonate bottles marketed by Eddie Bauer? They can usually be found in Target stores. They seem to weigh less than a 32 oz. Nalgene.
cyclocrosser
01-10-2005, 17:41
Save weight- Drill holes
NICKTHEGREEK
01-11-2005, 17:59
Nalgene does make soft side bottles not (similar to Platypus) that have the same filter threads as their hard-sided Nalgenes. I thought about getting one, but the larger ones are odd-shaped and will not fit in a hydration sleeve. I bought a Kelty Source hydration bladder that holds 1.5 lt, and it had the standard threads that my MSR filter screws onto.Love those nalgen canteens, I have 2 sizes the 96 oz that holds more like 110 oz and the 48 oz that holds about 56 oz. Nalgene makes a tube system that mates to a replacement cap but it only feeds if you have the canteen inverted. Mine has never leaked. I'd say they hardly weigh anything at all but all the molecule counting ultra lighters would have my butt (after weighing it of course).
Nameless
01-11-2005, 19:37
I use nalgenes sometimes with day to day walking around school and such, but on the trail I will never take one again. Could never find a covient place for all that bulk...
I chose platypus instead of the nalgene bladder for one simple reason. The platypus opening is small and on one end, our of the way, and easy to drink from. The nalgene opening is huge, must weight a lot more (sorry, a bit of a gram weenie) and just looks if i set down a filled nalgene the water would fall out. It just doesnt look like it would hold water as well.... they make pull tops for the platy to, like sports bottles, to open it you pull, have easy to drink water, close it, and you are good. I cannot imagine the horror to drink out of a nalgene...
Just my 2 cents
Pink