Bottle carrier | Notes From The Bunker

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Every now and then various pieces of gear will combine in a Voltron-like fashion to form a ‘perfect’ piece of kit. Of course, your mileage may vary when it comes to what the definition of ‘perfect’ is. What some might see as shortcomings, I may view as strengths (or be willing to ignore completely) and vice versa. Everyone has their own guidelines…Im as big a fan of lightweight gear as the next guy but it seems like often the tradeoff is durability…and if a piece of gear cant take abuse then what good is it, really? See, other folks might find lighter weight or cheaper price to be their criteria for ‘perfect’. Its all subjective. Having thrown that caveat out there, lets move on.

A year or so ago I picked up this. It’s basically a MOLLE-type pouch for the ubiquitous Nalgene bottle. The pouch itself has several redeeming features. First, it has no less than three different attachment methods to other gear – attachment points for a sling, webbing, and an HK-style snap hook. The pouch has thick padding for insulation, which can be handy in the winter. Slip a little chemical hand warmer in there next to the bottle and you shouldnt have any problems with stuff freezing all day long. Theres an attached compartment for accessories and thats what really makes this thing shine.

Although the standard Nalgene bottles are wonderful pieces of gear, I use a military surplus canteen with this thing. A few years ago I found a deal on these Swiss canteens with cup. The selling point, other than the usual Swiss quality, was that the caps were compatible with NBC drink tube systems. (A small detail, and one Ill probably never need, but nice to have anyway.) Various makers also offer a nested cup that will fit on the bottom of the Nalgene bottle in a similar fashion as the surplus canteen and cup that I use. I am especially enamored with this setup. The cup will fit on the base of a Nalgene bottle so it will nest inside the bottle carrier, and the lid can sit on the bottom inside of the carrier, with the Nalgene bottle resting on top. The advantage there is that the lid, which is flexible, won’t get dinged, warped or bent if the bottle carrier takes some hits. Not a fan of the price, but it looks to be almost exactly what Im looking for.

So….A canteen and cup go into this bottle carrier. What next? Well, an Esbit stove with fuel tabs and some matches leaves room to spare in the accessory pouch. A folded up sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil is always a good idea. Add a couple packets of instant coffee/soup/tea/cider/chocolate drink and you have an excellent, compact, contained and fairly complete ‘field kitchen’. This little package has everything you need to set up under a comfortable tree somewhere. fill your canteen cup, light the stove, boil some water and reconstitute freeze drieds or make a life-saving hot beverage.

What you see in the image is:

Pretty much everything you need to setup a comfy little field lunch under a poncho shelter or a convenient sheltering tree. And, yeah, it all packs into the attached accessory pocket on the bottle carrier.

Although I normally use a hydration bladder system when Im out in the sticks I do carry this package in case I need extra water, want to make a ‘field lunch’ of soup or cup-o-ramen, or during the winter have the option of a hot drink. The MOLLE attachment points make it nice for attaching to whatever gear Im using, and the options it affords me are definitely nice to have. I’ll probably phase out the military canteen and cup for the Nalgene bottle and Snow Peak cup kit. So, all in all, a good piece of kit and highly recommended.