water

[rat pac]

hi my first post on bushcraft uk
Can anyone give me any ideas on the best way to carry water
i have been doing bushcraft a number of years but never found a good way to carry the one thing we DO need
regards
Rat pac

 

[Wayland]

Everyone has their own preferences on this from commercial metal or naglene bottles to flexible bladder systems.

It's always going to be a heavy part of your load 1Kg / Litre but one of the lightest methods of carrying it is in plastic fizzy drink bottles.

Cheap, light, easily replaced and remarkably strong for their weight.

By the way, welcome to the forum.

 

[rancid badger]

Waylands already tagged these but I cant praise them highly enough.
If I need to carry water for cooking etc, in other words I need more than just a water bottle, this is the way I do it. up to 6 litres or 3 bottles will fit into a bergen or decent sized camping/hiking sack and although heavy, slot in quite nicely.

To be honest it really all depends on how much you need and how you intend to carry it. I used platypus systems for several years and while they are extremely good they do have a few drawbacks; in cold conditions I have had the hose freeze solid! I got round this one by having a bag made which went around my neck so that the bladder hung inside my smock, this kept the water at near body temp which stopped the hose blocking( I kept the actual hose in a loop of velcro sewn inside the smock and fed the hose through a modified pen slot on the left chest pocket.)

Anyway! enough of the war stories! genuine issue 58 pattern bottles are good too but a bit of recycling never goes amiss!

Welcome and
Kind Regards
R.B.

 

[British Red]

I use 2 1 litre water bottles and a collapsible 4 litre platypus.

The two 1 litre bottles go like this.

They are 1 litre because thats what water purification tablets purify.

Two because the tablets take time to work. So as soon as I have emptied one I'll fill at the next stream and put a puritab in. I still have a litre of water if the next water takes a while to find.

The collapsible baldder takes minimal space empty, but, if I fill and purify near camp, its enough for cooking, washing up, drinking etc. I will also fill and purify my bottles so that I have water ready in the morning.

I'm describing using puritabs although I have a good water filter and, on occasion, use the millbank and boil method. However the real advantage of puritabs for me is I can fill the bottle on the move, dump in a puritab and in a while have safe water. No pumping, dripping or boiling needed. Thats a big plus when covering distance and a habit I picked up when backpacking. In a fixed camp I vary my choices.

My water bottles are plastic and different colours - this is so that I know which to drink and which to leave when I've just re-filled

Red

 

[rat pac]

Lads
Many thanks for your input a lot of good info hope to see you in the woods sometime.
Very good site, nice people should have joined long ago

 

[Dingo]

Red

do the puritabs have a slight taste?

i have never tried these and been thinking of either the puritabs or the polar iodine crystals as seen in the magazine, would really like to hear any opinions on the taste strength of either of these methods.

Cheers

Adam.

 

[Wayland]

Tried most of em at some point.

The best for taste IMO. is Aqua Mira but it's not the cheapest or longest shelf life.

Polar Pure is the cheapest and longest lasting (Shelf life), it tastes a bit but the taste can be reduced with an acid such as fruit squash or vit.C

 

[w00dsmoke]

I'm constantly amazed at how little water many people seem take with them when out and about. When in the canoe I take as much as I can carry as you can never get enough for peronal admin/cooking etc. I tend to use 5 litre rigid plastic jerry water carriers for a few pounds and I have the same capacity flexible ex gulf war 1 bladders that are great for tying on to your pack. I tend to use a lot of water when I'm out, to keep clean/wash and shave, to cook with and to wash your cook pots etc. I need to buy a decent purifying system but I'm yet to be convinced of buying a robust one that will take out the chemicals that are likley to be present in much of the water I paddle on.

 

[malcolmc]

Rat Pac,

I look to carry 4 lt of water when I’m out and about (that's what medical advice says I need for a day when moderately active and, having experienced kidney stones, I'm not going to disregard that advice).

I’ve found the ex-army kit good for carrying 2 lt of this on my belt. The 98 pattern water bottles are black plastic and hold 1 lt each. They are shaped to be comfortable when worn on a belt, fairly robust and compatible with using the water purifying tablets/cold drink powders you get with the army 24 hour ration packs. I have a bit of coloured sticky tape on each bottle so that if I have used purifying tablets/drinking powder in one I know which one. If you’re buying second hand/surplus bottles you need to check the rubber seal in the screw cap is serviceable. There is a mug (plastic) that fits over the top. The army’s Personal Load Carrying Equipment (PCLE) water bottle pouches are tough, large enough for the bottle with mug fitted and have provision for storing purifying tablets and drink powder sachets/Milbank water filter bag with the bottle. (I’m told they will also take the army’s Crusader cooking system, which includes a metal version of the mug.) They have a drain hole at the base and loops to link to other belt kit with a bungee if you’re thinking of running (not something I do! ).

In each side pocket of my rucksack I carry a 1lt stainless steel vacuum flask, one with hot water from the morning brew up and the other with cold. I never use a flask to carry tea , coffee or soup.

I’m most comfortable if the load is distributed evenly on either side of me. Hence I’ll use two 1lt containers rather than one 2 lt container.

The whole set up is a bit on the heavy side at about 5 Kg including the full load of water.

I do like to stop when I'm having a drink so I've never considered using water bladders, it depends on how you like to make progress, they're good if you want to keep moving.

Just my pennyworth, hope it helps.