Water bladder insulation

[JohnHuth]

A winter hiking question - how effective is the insulation on the tubes for water-bladders? I'm XC skiing in the Bigelow Range next weekend. In the past, the tube froze solid...duh....but now I'm trying again with an insulated tube. Any experience? I'm guessing we might be a 0 degrees F, but last year, it hit -20 on the same hike.

[egilbe]

They will still freeze if any water is left in the tube. Blow the water back into the bladder when you are done drinking from it. Best to switch to insulated water bottles.

[Slosteppin]

I have never tried an insulated tube so I can't speak directly to the question. I always blow the water back into the bladder. With the pack I use most often the bite valve will freeze if the temp drops to 20 F. I just put as much of the tube inside my jacket as possible. It usually thaws in about 10 minutes. Then I keep it inside my jacket, except when drinking, the rest of the hike.
I have another pack that the drink tube zips inside the right shoulder strap. It unzips from bottom to top. When I need to drink I unzip enough to drink, blow the water back and zip it back inside the shoulder strap. I've used this at and a little below 0 F several times on all day hikes without freezing.
Even with blowing the water back the bite valve can freeze, thus I keep the bite valve in my jacket if I know the temp is below 20 F.

[Traveler]

I find tube insulation to get iffy below about 15 degrees. Routing it and keeping the bite valve under my outer layer generally stops freezing when I am active.

[peakbagger]

I occasionally run group hikes in the winter in the whites, I ban hydration systems from my hikes. Some folks who are meticulous with blowing back can get away with them but its far too easy to screw up. Just make sure you have a spare water bottle so that when the tube inevitably freezes, you have something to drink from.

Another maintenance issue to consider is if you are blowing back water to the bladder you are going to have the clean the tube far more often.

Unfortunately many folks buy these rigs and believe the hype, until they freeze a tube and have to go through the hassle.

[JohnHuth]

Thanks for the advice all. Yes, my problem is that the tubes freeze solid and I'm not meticulous about keeping the tube in my jacket. I'll give it a try this weekend and see if it works at all.

I am planning on adequate back-up water, but wanted to give it one more try. I usually carry a large thermos with hot tea for breaks.

[colorado_rob]

I occasionally run group hikes in the winter in the whites, I ban hydration systems from my hikes. Some folks who are meticulous with blowing back can get away with them but its far too easy to screw up. Just make sure you have a spare water bottle so that when the tube inevitably freezes, you have something to drink from.

Another maintenance issue to consider is if you are blowing back water to the bladder you are going to have the clean the tube far more often.

Unfortunately many folks buy these rigs and believe the hype, until they freeze a tube and have to go through the hassle.

I do the very same, ban hydration hoses from CMC hikes I lead in the dead of winter, at least for high climbs. I cannot count the number of folks who swear by them even in winter (insulated and they blow-back), yet on the hike/climb, they still freeze up. The only saving grace is that their actual water bladders aren't frozen, so they can extract the bladders, unscrew the cap (if it's not frozen), and drink directly from the bladder. I've seen this a dozen times on my hikes.

I'm talking very cold here, like traveler says, below about 15 degrees.

My wife and I are leading a trip up Mt. Elbert (highest 14er in CO, 14,4xx) this weekend and I've explicitly banned hydration hoses, yet I know at least one person will ignore this and bring one anyway...

We always simply carry two 1-liter bottles in insulated carriers, start with warm water, or even fairly hot.

[nsherry61]

. . . We always simply carry two 1-liter bottles in insulated carriers, start with warm water, or even fairly hot.

I rarely bother to put my bottles into insulated carriers and until it gets into the low teens, and I never bother to use warm water. If my bottles start to freeze up (generally below 10-15*F) I just drop my second bottle into my pack and my primary bottle under my outer shell in my belly worn fanny pack.

My brother in law gave my a nice insulating sleeve last year because he never used it. Now it is sitting on my shelf unused.

[JohnHuth]

I'm expecting 0 and below this weekend, so I may just throw in the towel with the water bladder idea. They've always frozen on me below 20 - so I'll probably go with the big thermos and be done with it.

The only think I could imagine, but this is too much work - is to have a heater of some kind incorporated into the hose, but that becomes more effort than just carrying a thermos.