Something that has annoyed me for a number of years is that while I can find fruit-flavored sugar water in tetra-pak ‘juice boxes’ or mylar pouches in just about every supermarket I walk into, I can never find that kind of packaging for just water. Invariably, I have to order offa Amazon or some other place on the internet.
Given how everyone is all about walking around with a plastic bottle of water these days, you’d think the more convenient forms of it would be readily available. Nope. (And before you send me a link to ‘beer can’ water, and other forms of the stuff please note that by ‘readily available’ I mean in Aisle Six of most supermarkets.)
I bring this up because this arrived in todays package delivery:
When a 12 ounce plastic bottle of water, in bulk, is around fifteen cents, these pouches are a rather expensive way to carry around some earth sauce. Quite honestly, the little hand-grenade sized plastic bottles are a better choice in almost every way.
But, the qualifier there is ‘almost’.
I think I have a couple pretty good reasons for using the pouches for emergency water to keep in my vehicle. Both reasons are seasonal. For some reason, I just feel that leaving plastic bottles in a hot car in the summer for months on end is going to wind up leeching plastic chemicals into the water. Do I have anything like research to back this up? Nope. The mylar pouches, in my twisted brain, seem less prone to that although you could argue the mylar is lined with a similar plastic.
Where these pouches really shine is in the winter. They don’t burst when frozen and, most importantly, because they have the general profile of a Pop-Tart they are easily and quickly thawed by holding one between your palms, sitting on it, or tucking it under your arm for a few minutes. Try thawing a 20 oz bottle of water using just body heat. Youre gonna be a while.
I usually tuck these things into a plastic ‘ammo can’ to protect them from punctures and they just sit in the storage box in the back of the truck, there if I need them.
If I go on any trip out of town, even if it’s just a couple hours to Kalispell or Bozeman, I throw a five-gallon jug in the back of the truck in one of the gas can racks. Unless you’re drowning, more water is usually a good thing.
I don’t need to tell you anything about how much you need clean water. Every one of us has heard that ‘three days’ thing. But long before Day Three you’re gonna be a hurting unit to the point that your ability to function and operate optimally is going to be severely compromised. So…extra water. And note I said ‘clean’ water. Drinking from an irrigation ditch by the side of the road will keep you alive in the short term, but whatever you picked up from that water won’t do you any favors a few days later. But..even dirty water is better than no water in the short term. But why take chances? Carry water and have some purification options.
The day will come, someday, when you may have to leave in a hurry with whatever you can grab in your two hands as you run out the door. It’d be nice to have one less thing to worry about knowing you’ve got several days of water in your vehicle ‘just in case’…winter or summer. And, not to get judgemental, you really should have a pack with the essentials and a sleeping bag in your vehicle at all times to begin with.
And, finally, when I was a very young survivalist, I bought a bunch of these water pouches from Major Survival (remember them?). This was back in the 90’s for crying out loud. I still have a few in the freezer. I thawed one a year or so ago and drank it. Water was clear, tasted fine, and I’m here today to tell you that water ‘expiration’ is meaningless if the stuff is stored right.
Major Surplus and Survival is still around, although I don’t know if they still publish that little newsprint catalog. I used to buy NATO gas cans, wool socks and MRE entrees from them.
Following. This product, and a pro-prepper insight into all things staying alive, is indicative of having nearly all your bases covered. Those folks dwelling in fema regions that freeze over real well for half a year have to adapt storage strategies of frozen and expanded water containers, thawing and usage, etc. Despite the higher costs per unit, and unique packaging, this item like many things can indeed make or break one’s survival chances in spicy. Clean water in your possession is not a cute and colorful meme to banter about, it is death level serious subject matter. Denzel spent better part of a movie plot focused on water aquisition during the story’s journey. Having some of those datrex lifeboat type rations along with these would make a good cache package unit. Stay hydrated and frosty.
Commander:
I understand your points, but these pouches are WAY too expensive! Supermarket plastic bottles (replaced regularly) are far more cost-effective. The variety of plastic containers have very similar “taste” characteristics.
“I can afford it so I don’t mind wasting money” is rarely the right answer…
I agree that it isn’t economically as sound as other options, but unless I’m missing something it’s the only option that can do freeze/thaw cycles AND still be easily thawable with just body heat.
My long time friend Steve owns and runs Major Surplus and Survival in Gardena California. Great place to find prepping supplies and surplus military items from around the world. They still publish a catalog you can request. Check them out
Major Survival ? I remember that same store re-named from Survival Inc., run by Bill Pier. I bought a lot of inexpensive military surplus from both of them in the past. Its been a while since I received a catalog from Major in the mail.
Good points made on keeping drinking water in hand. I’ve kept a folded mylar envelope in my wallet for harvesting water from public drinking fountains. Handy to take water to another person holding a place in line.
I used to shop at Bill’s store on Artesia Blvd in Redondo Beach in a previous life.
Add a sillcock key to your vehicles tool bag.
Indeed. For those unfamiliar with the term, a sillcock is what most folks call a garden hose faucet, a hose bib, or a spigot. Many public places have these but need keys to use them as they have no handles. One of these keys in your kit adds almost ZERO weight or bulk, and could save your life!
This seems like a little better deal – https://www.homedepot.com/p/Mayday-4-225-oz-125-ml-Emergency-Drinking-Water-100-Pack-73011/302014530
Those are also available on Amazon. A little pricier than Home Depot, but about 2/3 the cost per ounce of the other brand.
I’m originally from So. Cal – and spent a fair bit of time in the deserts or on SAR missions. So, I tend to keep a flat of water bottles, and enough 1-gal jugs to fill my Camelback 3 times in the vehicles, at all times.
That included when I lived in Ontario, Canada – for twelve years. -40F was not an unusual temperature in Jan/Feb. Yes, the bottles would freeze solid. Likewise here on the Flathead, where it rarely gets that cold. I’ve NEVER had one break. The bottles seem sufficiently durable. I have some pouches that go into my aircraft and boat survival kits/vests
We have and continue to use these pouches. We have them in a clear, plastic box, with a handle, and closed with duct tape.
Living in the desert, I get the fact that leaving bottled water in a hot car can cause leaching of chemicals into the water. That being said, “packaged” water is ridiculously expensive. A cheaper option is to keep the bottles in the car, but swap them out once in a while. I take the old ones out and water the ornamental plants with them. They don’t care, and I’m not going to be eating them. The leaching process can be slowed by keeping the bottles in a cooler or one of those insulated lunch bags. Temperature-stable is the aim here.
Your vehicle first aid kit can suffer the same degradation in a hot car. I keep the vulnerable items of the kit, the OTC meds and the like, in a thermal commuter cup with a screw-on lid. The meds go in the cup and are then covered with a piece of foam to make up for the lack of insulation in the lid. Then the lid goes on. The cup goes into an insulated lunch bag, which is then stored in the coolest possible place in the car. The temperature swing the meds feel is probably only a few degrees over a 24-hour period.
Just a couple of observations re durability.
The pouches can be frozen and thawed with impunity, which is not the case with a conventional bottle (especially depending on how full it is).
The pouches also don’t tend to crack or break when dropped.
On the other hand the pouches aren’t reusable, really, as water containers (or for anything else). So there’s that.
I haven’t yet worked with these water pouches.
My experience with water bottles is quite varied… I used to only buy Dasani because they had better bottles and packaging so they didn’t “skunk” when left in a car in the summer, but they cheapened like most other companies.
Some brands sit well in the car for a year; other taste funny or leak after a few weeks. I buy the best bottles available when I’m looking, and I also keep a 1.5 gallon bottle in the car.
From personal experience with these, they survive multiple freeze/thaw cycles very well – I had them in my truck as part of my “living in the mountains” emergency kit for the better part of a decade. Given the differences in day/night temperatures, they probably went through at least 100 freeze/thaw cycles. Never leaked, still okay at the end.
I’ve not found plastic bottles to do nearly as well in freeze/thaw terms, or in terms of general longevity, especially depending on the fill level of the bottle. If you drop a plastic bottle, it’s much more likely to break than one of these pouches in like condition (e.g. both frozen or both liquid). On the other hand bottles are much more reusable than these pouches, so there’s that.
Reusing plastic bottles and only filling them 3/4 should handle freezing issues. Although you are right about the difficulty in thawing them out. I had an old M-65 that I cut the sleeves off of and tucked two bottles of water, one in each upper pocket and wore under my clothing while snowmobiling and they stayed liquid in spite of temps in the negative 0 range. You should do an article about SODIS if you haven’t yet. Using a plastic or glass bottle or even a zip lock baggie if you have nothing else. Strain water through a t shirt to remove particulate and fill the container. Leave out in the sun for at least 8 hours. The ultraviolet radiation from the sun will kill the pathogens. Works on cloudy days.
SOL Water Bags are a product that claim to have SODIS sterilization and a long term life. These appear to be on the upper end of practical walk-about storage size carried in INCH bag.
Is it possible to make water pouches yourself with heavy weight Mylar bags?
Sure. Just don’t fill them too much
Found the sport drink bottles to be the most durable and dependable small containers (5 gal Septre or Swiss rubber bladders best option). The plastic is multiple times thicker and more resilient to almost anything except driving over
Every cup holder in the car holds a bottle of water for three seasons with several more squirrled away in corners. In winter, every cup holder holds a bottle of 7-up. Between Boyle’s pressure laws with the carbonation and the sugar content, they do not freeze even in a serious winter. I serve them at Easter.
Major still sells them…when they can keep them in stock.
I see ’em about every month there.