Carrying Water

Well...it's New Years day and rather quiet and I'm looking for other things to do - so I'll respond to your thread. Depending where I am - I may use a "water bottle" or I bring along my Katydin filtration system to make carrying water lighter. (You would have to know that there is a water source).

 

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It let's you drink anything. Originally there were designed for the military.

 

When my wife and I do a day hike, I will usually carry 5 or so 20 oz bottles of water. A few years ago we were hiking every other weekend in the smoky mtn, and she joked about me being the pack mule. One of those filtration systems would have realy been nice. I do need the extra exercise tho.

 

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I can appreciate that. The interesting thing is that you can do just about anything with just about everything. When I'm in the mega outdoors stores I look at the rows and rows of self dehydration bottles and then look at the prices - someone is making a whole lot of money on a lot of useless junk. Since we have the extra cash I suppose it is okay to purchase the same.

Baden Bear says, "Don't tell anyone I told you but Northern Dancer never buys those bottle things - no...he just waits until the local swimming pool puts out all their lost and found. If you haven't picked up your expensive bottle by the third week- he will - and sometimes two or three others. He's good about sharing too."

 

Usually if I'm going to hike up a mountain, I like to carry with me a far amount of water. Depending on how tough the hike is up the mountain. Usually I will have a half gallon jug of water in my backpack and then a water bottle at my side for easy access. I also like to take a good amount of water for the other people I am hiking with. Just in case they didn't bring enough water for themselves. Keeping hydrated whiling hike is a big must and I try to keep as much on me as possible. If the mountain hike is a hard hike, it's sometimes difficult having that extra weight in your pack but I deal with it. I also keep bottled water in the trunk of my car, so when we are done with our hike we have some extra water if it is needed.

 

I am pretty much a water person so I really need a whole lot of water especially when I hike. I easily perspire so I need to replace my lost fluids on an immediate basis or I would feel weak. Even if I eat energy food along the way, water will still complete my need for energy. I usually bring at least a liter for myself and I make sure that my husband also has a liter in his backpack and an extra bottle of at least 500mL for our little boy. Just like @mett1982, we also keep an ample amount of bottled water in a cooler inside our car so we could have something to drink when we get back from a hike.

 

Carrying water is the sad part when hiking with the kids. It's not good if you don't bring water but if there are several of you and only 1 is bringing water then the load is a burden. Gone are the days when hikers have their own canteen that is attached to the belt. Now, it's the water bottle which is convenient but again, not easy to carry when you have a long hike. By the way, I have seen in one trail empty plastic water bottle presumably thrown by irresponsible hikers. That's another problem that we have to face in this modern times, the litter and trash that campers and hikers leave on the trail.

 

Yeh anytime my wife and I go hiking I am the designated pack mule. We keep our water bottles, wash em and refill them, and then recycle them when they won't keep water tasting good. We have done any overnight hiking trips, but we have done several day hikes. For a full day hike I'll carry around 5 liters of water. It's a little weight but I need the exercise. If we were ever do extensive multi-day hikes, I think I would invest in a good water purifier.

 

I have been through and seen a lot of products designed to make this easier, but I really do think that there is something to be said about a container that makes you remember to fill it up. What is the good of a container to carry if you forget to make use of it.