Have you ever watched a movie where the hero is off in some sort of arid environment and there’s that classic scene where he tilts the canteen to his lips, a single drop drips out, he looks disgustedly at the canteen, and then throws it away?
Why would you do that? Just because you don’t have any water at that moment doesn’t mean you’re not going to come across some later. And if you do come across some, and drink your fill, how are you going to carry some of that water with you since you threw your canteen away?
I mention this because I posted earlier about those water pouches and the conversation developed into a discussion about various water portage options. I always keep one heavy-duty-plastic bottle of water in my Bag O’ Tricks(tm) because you never know when you’re gonna get stuck somewhere. (I also keep a couple small ‘lifeboat’ ration bars in there too. If I’m gonna be stuck somewhere I’m not gonna spend the time listening to my stomach growl.) But in addition to the plastic water botle, I also keep one of these guys rolled up and tucked away. Although I like the Platypus, I go with the Nalgene because the mouth of this bladder takes all Nalgene lid accessories, including this one which I highly recommend. Importantly, the Nalgene version has the wide mouth so you can fill this thing in a hurry and even throw in snow/ice if you have to. And..I can fill it from a questionable water source and be abble to fit a LifeStraw through the mouth of it.
I carry it in my bag because I simply cannot carry as much water with me as I would like….its heavy stuff. But I can keep a water container with me in my bag so that if I do run across a water source…a natural body of water, a hose bib, an unattended faucet, or that sort of thing, I can supplement what I have.
You might ask, since I’m already carrying a plastic bottle of water, why not refill that? If it wer eempty, I absolutely would…every chance I get. But in a crisis I want more water than just the one bottle’s worth…more is better in this case.
Your mileage may vary, of course, but if you’re going to carry around a (insert acronym here) bag, you may as well take the two ounce weight penalty and have the option to carry around extra water when you come across the opportunity.
Add a 4-way Sillcock Key to your list of items for water gathering in civilized, or uncivilized areas. https://www.amazon.com/DURATECH-Sillcock-Utilities-Multi-functional-Spigots/dp/B09XQ9HKYN/ref=asc_df_B09XQ9HKYN?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80264479385685&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583863999617399&th=1
Add a short length of garden hose with the female end. Lot easier to harvest water with a hose rather than holding container up to faucet. In the interest of stacking functions, could also be used to syphon water or fuel.
Or you can purchase clothes water cold and hot water hoses (6 foot works about right), cut them in half and have four units that attach to a hose bibb and allow 3′ to guide water into container. Easy Peasy.
lol Ima cheap bastard always lots of garden hose thrown out during spring and fall cleaning for the picking. multitude of uses, I guess whichever way you go maybe test drive them on a few taps
Excellent thoughts here. I’m thinking the quart – two quart container size to accommodate water purification tablet use.
Soundly reasoned as I have come to expect from Mr. Zero.
My dear Commander. It’s called ” dramatic effect”. Most of the trash those fools produce is Half assed and ridiculous.
That’s why I stick to Sci-Fi and war movies. Less chance they can screw those up. And of course any western with John Wayne.
I like the 12 oz Nalgene flasks. It fits nicely in my briefcase for commuting. Best price was on the Nalgene website with lots of other useful items many of them on sale.
I like those too but for logistics and versatility I try to stick to the wide-mouth versions.
The pouch you recommended is cheaper direct from Nalgene than Amazon. Shipping is slow but free for orders over $20.
The U.S. military Aviator’s flask is about 1 pint and was made for discrete compact carry. Same construction as the 1 quart canteen, only flat and a detachable screw on lid. Can still be found in the wild. Used to be dirt cheap back in the day. Tough little guy, I often carried on in a M65 jacket pocket when deer hunting.
I’ve never thought much about the Camelbak type of bladders with built-in straw unit. I figured cleaning that tube and mouth valve would be troublesome. But the packs themselves are pretty nice for schlepping filled water bladders to your destination. I have a US service FILBE for a light duty patrol bag (only the essentials !) and it stays out of the way when walking through the brush. It too has a bladder pocket specificilly for these bags.
How do you keep the bladders from tipping over in larger packs and spilling their contents ? Some inner secured loop – hook or thing-a-mah-bob that does this ?
Most packs hese days have pocket specific for this use. But even if they dont, usually the contents of the pack are enough to keep any bladder in whatever orientation you want.
I use the whip from an old CB antenna to clean the hose on the Camelbak bladder. I remove the bladder and mouthpiece from the hose. Then I shove a piece of cotton ball into the hose and push it through to the other end with the CB whip. The whip works good because it has a ball tip on it and won’t puncture the hose. For sterilization I use “One Step.” You can get it on Amazon. It’s used to sterilize bottles for making beer. It uses hydrogen peroxide to sterilize. Fill the bladder, add the One Step powder, slosh it around until it dissolves, and then squeeze it out through the hose. You don’t even need to rinse it out, though I do. I use One Step instead of bleach because it doesn’t leave that bleach taste in the bladder. You can use this stuff in any water vessel! A little goes a long way!
Tom:
That does work. You will also find that baby bottle cleaning solution (available widely) is just as good, and costs less – something to remember!
Ceejay
Tangentially, western author Louis L’Amour often criticized those Hollywood scenes, where the protagonist throws away an empty canteen, in his novels.
Wow. Another Louie Lamour fan. Started reading his books in high school. The estate is reprinting many of his magazine articles in books that are collections. At last count I have about a hundred of his books. Plus several movies based on his books. He is without doubt the best western novelist I have ever read. He served in WWII as the commander of a tank destroyer. He was a man of many talents. His daughter Angelic Lamour appears in the movie Conagher. Along with Sam Elliott and his wife Katherine Ross.
I got into reading Louie Lamour while I was at sea in the Coast Guard. Someone on the ship was into his stuff and left the books on the rec deck when he was done with them. I passed many an hour in the Bering Sea reading them! Great books!!!
My favorite western canteen scene – the Three Amigos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHVpJGXZ21o
Hi, ever looked at Puribag purifying bags. I like them for both purifying water and as a stash container.
I’ve got a dedicated get home bag that lives in my daily driver and a jack of all trades do everything backpack. Both have 2 1 qt water bottles on them.
I like the idea of a roll up for a second one. May have to implement that.
For food I keep a handful of protein bars and maybe a thing of trail mix in them. Not a ton of calories but something to munch on.