lightweight idea for keeping water from freezing while hiking

"How much volume does your winter pack?"

-40L Valdez for day use: I find this holds all the gear I need for the route and any unplanned bivouacs including a stove and adequate food.

-50L Chernobyl for winter multi-day routes when I bring a 4-season tent, winter sleeping bag as well as the required food.

I would think for your 60L pack, a few added water bottles shouldn't be a big deal.

For years I've carried a high quality wine bota under my GTX mountain parka on winter trips. I replaced the leather shoulder strap with a 1/2" nylon webbing strap and a QD Fastex buckle.

It works great and I always had water to drink. At night I seal it in a light OP roll top dry bag and put it in the foot of my sleeping bag, along with my boot liners.

I had Joe at zPacks make me two cuben botas that fit one and two liter platys. They're great, reasonably priced, lightweight, and work like a charm. I especially like their accessibility while hiking. Also, if you clutch the two-liter version to your chest at night, it makes an excellent arm rest for side sleepers (me) and keeps the water from freezing.

Stargazer

Pics? Having trouble visualizing as my reference for bota bag is a funny deerskin thing. :p

Here you go, the two-liter cuben version. It hangs around your neck, of course, and weighs next to nuthin'. I also keep my "p**p kit" in it for easy access. (Ha! The forum wouldn't allow me to use the word p**p.)

The nozzle is barely visible sticking out of the top. It surely beats reaching around to a side pocket to get a drink, and you can huddle it up to your bod to prevent freezing. I find that I can use it as an arm rest while hiking and sleeping, as well.

Stargazer

> How much volume does your winter pack have Roger?
Day pack or extended trip pack? :-)
Reality is that I have 'several' packs … I take the one most suited to the trip. And I don't take shovels ever.

> Just have to stop and reach into your pack for a drink each time, no?
Yep. But We don't drink while moving anyhow. We stop every 2.5 hrs for food and drink (weather permitting). That's enough for us.

I do keep repeating: it isn't the volume which matters, it's the weight.

Cheers

I am not sure if I follow your initial plan but maybe the Internal Hydration Sleeve by MLD would also work?

I personally plan to buy a couple Hunersdorf bottles and matching bottle boots from 40 below. These will be able to handle boiling water better than my platys. And they also appear to be near indestructible.

That's exactly the idea. Many thanks. Only kicker… it doesn't quite fit the 3l Platy's dimensions. (1/2 in too shot in the length)

Agreed on the weight vs. volume thing. I think my load will be as light as my mind can make it with my spreadsheet (:p), but just curious what volume packs people use in the winter as I have a Mariposa I no longer use and it'd be great to put it back into service. Looks like it might do the trick from reading replies. :)

"Add lightness." is a phrase coined by a the Brit who developed Lotus sports cars, which are known for being exceedingly light but quite fast despite having small engines. The phrase was coined when Colin Chapman was asked how he planned to make his cars faster.

And so I think I'll abandon my heavier, full grain, leather covered wine bota in favor of a homemade Platy 1 liter container in a homemade bag and strap. I'll Add lightness."

Colin was the man!

So much so that I purchased a Lotus 7 replica (but with a 3.8l supercharged engine putting out 300hp hehe, and the car is <1500lbs) last year. Here are pics documenting my drive to CT from OK via the Smokey Mtns:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.571806852496.2103433.17506531&type=1&l=b6bd698987

Bryce, I knew there was a reason I liked you!

Well I knew it wasn't for my looks or knowledge of hammocks. haha.

Platypus has made all sorts of holsters and holders over the years and Evernew has some too. Most can be rigged as some sort of shoulder sling. Nalgene and Klean Kanteen have made bottle carriers too. It would be easy to make a macramé holder to use with a web strap. A macramé holder could be used with spring water bottles too. For that matter there is a Platy Bottle that has a big loop on one side and the mouth on the other, so it could be rigged with a simple sling. A MYOG version wouldn't be much more than a stuff sack with a web shoulder sling. I assume they would be carried under a shell to keep them warm.

But I don't think it would be practical for anything more than a liter, and even then it would be in the way and bouncing— I've thought about using arrangements like slings to use with small packs that didn't have the volume or weight carrying capacity for water bladders or bottles. I think Roger is right about just getting them in the pack close to your body. It wouldn't be too hard to carry a small container for sips between breaks.

I personally like to carry things like Emergen-C in the winter just to keep my immune system all up and running. This would probably add too much extra weight on longer trips but for weekends to a week or so, maybe this would keep the weight down.

The electrolytes and other stuff in something like Emergen-C or Gatoraide should lower it's freezing point… by how much? Again, untested. We don't get that deep cold here in the deep south. Below freezing, yeah, but below enough to make our carried water freezing an issue, not often really, especially in South Georgia.

And it's hard to test except when actually out in the field, as water sloshing around on a pack pocket will freeze slower than water sitting in my freezer.

But the packets are light and for shorter trips it might be worth it (if it even works, I'll put some Emergen-C in the freezer tonight). Plus, immune system boosts in that cold weather can't hurt!

Again, probably dumb, but just a thought.

Not a bad idea at all. I looked up Gatorade and it freezes at 31F. 40 proof (20%) booze will get you to 15F, but it won't do well for your cold tolerance or hydration. Party on :)

Interesting ethanol chart at: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ethanol-water-d_989.html

I'm hanging my bottle (HDPE nalgene) on neck in the winter and have no problems with the system, bouncing or anything. Of course comfort level is a personal thing but do give it a try. Bottle hangs on the frontside and under my mid layer, if midlayer is necessary (can freeze over the midlayer). This way it's really easy to drink and drinking enough is something I always need to remind myself in the cold.
Reason for a wide mouth bottle instead of a more comfortable bladder is my habit to stuff some snow in it to melt every time I sip. On warmer days bottle starts full in the morning and ends up full in the evening. Sometimes I throw in a Nuun tablet for taste and electrolytes.
Key neck lanyard works well.
And this is especially useful on long daytours or training, when there's no need for a backpack at all.