Nalgene Lexan vs. Platypus Bottle in the field

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There are a number of techniques for filling a Platypus. Perhaps the easiest is to carry a lightweight food safe plastic bag and stick it under water, and pour it into the platypus opening.

Another possibility is the Nalgene Cantene wide-mouth soft containers, which fill very easily, even from shallow sources.

The Platy zip containers are also easy to fill, but I've never like wrestling with closing them securely.

Very simple… I just my pot to fill my Platypus bladders. Done.

I found the Platypus bottles maddening to fill.

You can not dunk them in a stream and fill them up easily, as the water collapses the sides of the bottle.

I have used my MSR Kettle to pour water into a 2 L Platypus bottle, but why should I have to pull stuff out my pack just to get a drink of water?

A Gatorade bottle might work well….wide mouth, cheap, and weighs nothing.

What works for me is dependant on the fact that I used an inline filter.

I carry a 1 pint disposable water bottle and dunk it into a stream and screw on my inline filter (Sawyer filter with a Platypus filter link attached to allow for threading to the bottle).

I use the end of the inline filter as a straw and drink and filter at the same time.

I do use a 4 L Platypus bag with a zip top to scoop up a lot of water when I am in camp and use the Platypus bag as the dirty water storage for a gravity filter.

Like others have mentioned here, the Zip Top Platypus works well, but you have to be careful closing it to make sure that it stays shut.

As an example, I regularly sit on my 4L Platypus Big Zip bag to speed up the process of forcing the water through my inline filter when I am too impatient to wait a few minutes for gravity to do the job.

It can take my full 140 lbs of skinny weight.

Anyway, hope this rant helps.

-Tony

I’ve been using Platypus bottles/bladders for the last 4 years. To fill from a shallow stream, it’s best to have a water scoop. And the BEST water scoop is simply an old 1L platy with the opening cut off! VOILA, you now have a wide mouthed, UL platy water scoop that weighs ‘nothing’ and can be rolled / folded up into ‘nothing’ when not in use!

After scooping up water, it’s also good to pour the water through a “bottle cap prefilter” — to remove sediments, those small bits of grass, mosquito larvae, and all other visible gunk. To make one, just click here. Pouring through the prefilter and into your Platypus bladder, there is no perceptible slowdown — unlike with water-absorbing cotton bandanas or paper coffee filters that can be tedious to use.

I use the Platypus Zip to fill with a gravity feed filter into a regular platypus. Easy to fill and easy to filter. I then like to pour water into 1 liter clear bottles to place in my mesh pockets of my G4 pack. Otherwise the corners of the Platypus can snag or rip the mesh pockets.

I usually take a one liter platypus and a one liter aquafina bottle. The platypus needs a deeper water source to fill by itself, but there are lots of scoops that can be used in shallow water as others have described, including even a zip lock bag.

In the past I have used the platypus plus hose as a shower and that works really well.

If you ever wanted a twist sport cap for that wide mouth aquafina bottle, the wide mouth propel or gatorade containers will work.

>>And the BEST water scoop is simply an old 1L platy with the opening cut off! VOILA, you now have a wide mouthed, UL platy water scoop that weighs ‘nothing’ and can be rolled / folded up into ‘nothing’ when not in use!

I use the same scoop, Ben. The one liter platy with the top cut off weighs 0.6 oz. on my scale. Your bottle cap filter is a great idea. I’ve been using no-see-um netting but the wire mesh looks even better.

Here’s my set up when I’m melting snow. Adapting your idea, I think I’ll replace the netting bag on the Nalgene canteen with an extra cap with wire netting.

I have a 1 quart freezer ziploc bag that I use to collect water. Inside the bag I store a small section of bandana plus my aquamira or kleerwater. I put the bandana over the platy opening, poke my finger in it to create a funnel shape, and use the bag to pour the water in. Works pretty good.

That's what I've been doing the past 3 years. I just got a steripen though, so now I have to change my water strategy.

I use a water filter if there's a group of people to share the load with. It's easy to direct the outflow into the mouth. I usually use tablets, though.

Maybe I'm weird, but I haven't had any trouble filling a platypus. I think I squeeze the sides apart while partially submerging the mouth, letting air flow out and water flow in at the same time. I've never paid it much attention. I've only been using water bladders for one season, though, so I'm bound to come across a water source that doesn't favor them.