Why plastic taste develops in my camelbacks?

[Bert]

You could fill the camelbak with bottled spring water to make a control, and you could sample from
- the bladder direct into a cup
- the bladder into a cup via the plastic drinking tube
- spring water direct into the cup from the same bottle as used to fill the camelbak

I tested the CB this way, it was stored the last 24H at 12*C, and I noticed that the cup in which I poured the water via the drinking tube, has a very slight plastic taste.
The cup in which I poured the water directly out of the CB bladder has the same taste as the water from the control cup.

Of course I'm not a scientist, nor I have very top of the bill equipment, Only my tastebuttons Mk1 in my mouth. )

I'll continue this test with hot water.

Personally, I find the results very odd, I really remember the plastic taste, maybe it has to do with the temperature?
We'll see.

 

[Allison McKenzie]

Of course I'm not a scientist

If you are doing experiments, you are a scientist! Well done

 

[Bert]

So, I did the test with warm/hot water, and it does make a difference.
It's not as I experienced it in the summer, where the ongoing temperature above 20*C (can't remember anymore how warm it was) leached out the plastic taste in the water.

I poured in the bladder of my CB, water which was hot to the touch, though not burning hot.
Then I put the bladder on a table two meters from my burning woodstove for the reminder of the day/evening.
In the night I let go out the stove, to lit it up again about 0900H, and then in the afternoon about 1500H I poured out the water, one glass trough the drinking tube, one glass through the fill opening.
and one glass of control water.

By beeing exposed to the higher temperature in general, compared to the last test, now there is clearly a higher plastic taste present in the water, egal if it came out of the drinking tube or the bladder itself.
The control water did not have this different taste.

Would there be a difference in manufacturing between the old style bladders, or the newer style? or are the newer style bladders also sensible for this taste developping?

 

[deepcmonkey]

I have found they always end up tasting tainted and plastic, no matter how well you look after them and even if only using water in them and this is over multiple brands.
When I was doing strenuous activities where a CamelBak or similar was an advantage to use I found I didn't really notice it as much, usually, you spit out the tube water first.

To be honest I prefer using a hard bottle when doing something less active as then you really notice the bad taste in the bladders.

 

[Bert]

Yep, First I found it a good Idea, and I could see why the forces uses them, then I bough myself one, and noticed that taste, quite a while later I bought a second one and that one had that taste as well to my surprise!
Now, I have trouble believing that the services issue such a thing to their men!
I can't believe there is no soldier protesting against something so "unpleasant" as that?
And me for myself, Not using them anymore, and back to the hard bottles.

 

[Tonyuk]

Yep, First I found it a good Idea, and I could see why the forces uses them, then I bough myself one, and noticed that taste, quite a while later I bought a second one and that one had that taste as well to my surprise!
Now, I have trouble believing that the services issue such a thing to their men!
I can't believe there is no soldier protesting against something so "unpleasant" as that?
And me for myself, Not using them anymore, and back to the hard bottles.

Walking about the sandpit, a bit of plastic taste from your water will be the last thing on your mind.

I was more worried some bloke with a mobile or a pressure plate under the rocks myself.

Plenty of the water that you get also had a nice bleachy tang to it so you didn't really taste the plastic.

 

[Cabarfeidh]

I use Milton tablets to clean my CB's which also leaves a funny taste even after washing out but I'm happy to put up with it as it's the quickest way to clean them

 

[Silverclaws2]

Not having tried mine out yet to have experienced this plastic taste from them specifically but have experienced it from polypropylene water bottles to consider plastic chemicals may be leaching out of the plastic in certain conditions, like when it's warm for example, or could it be the added chemicals in tap water are reacting with the chemicals in the plastic.

To when I fill plastic water bottles, fill with filtered tap water to find a taste improvement.

 

[Athos]

Yep, First I found it a good Idea, and I could see why the forces uses them, then I bough myself one, and noticed that taste, quite a while later I bought a second one and that one had that taste as well to my surprise!
Now, I have trouble believing that the services issue such a thing to their men!
I can't believe there is no soldier protesting against something so "unpleasant" as that?
And me for myself, Not using them anymore, and back to the hard bottles.

Mate, it’s a blessing to have something to wash the taste of some of the stuff you get fed out of your mouth

Personally, it’s never bothered me. It always ends up being warm and gopping anyway. It is massively important to clean the mouthpiece and tubes thoroughly though, I’ve seen some really nasty mould in the tubes where people have filled their bladders with flavoured drinks and not properly maintained the drinking tube. Be religious with your maintenance or you’ll end up getting something nasty.

 

[Bert]

Be religious with your maintenance or you’ll end up getting something nasty.

I was thought that's the No1 rule for the military!

 

[Athos]

I was thought that's the No1 rule for the military!

Doesn’t just apply to the camelbak either!