Silnylon Water Bag

[Philip Leith]

A few years ago I bought a cool silnylon waterbag from Dancing Light Gear. I hear they went out of business last fall.

I'm looking for another, or material to make my own (although I hear it's hard to sew… but… how hard can it be?)

Looks like a circle of siliconized nylon collected at the edge by an elasticized nylon edge with a nylon handle to make sort of a bucket. It works great, but a friend of mine wants one now.

Are there other sources of such a product?

-P

[Lance M]

Coghlans sells a coated nylon water bag. $9.95 at Campmor and others. Mine weights 49 grams and has held up well.

Making one the 'Ray Way' is pretty simple. The one pictured below is made of silnylon and grosgrain ribbon and weights 35 grams. Run a length of cord or ribbon through the loops to gather up the edges. It won't hold itself up like the Coghlans so you have to hang it. Sewing the grosgrain to the silnylon was not a problem unlike sewing silnylon to itself along a long seam. I cut a small hole in the middle and sandwiched the fabric between the top and cap from a sacrificed Nalgene ATB bottle. This allows an on/off spigot and a place to attach a tube for gravity filtering, shower or whatever (but adds 49 grams).

Inside of ATB 'Spigot'

Outside of ATB 'Spigot'

[paul johnson]

Lance,

that water bag looks somewhat like my late '06 black Marmot windshirt!

More seriously, very nice work. This looks like something that even someone who is all thumbs, like me, could do. Thanks for sharing you work.

Just some questions which will reveal my ignorance about the R-W design: why aren't the carrying handles pictured on the packaging that the water bag comes in sufficient for hanging the filled water bag? In other words, why does the grosgrain and cord need to be added? What are the benefits to adding them?

If you have the time to reply and educate me, I'd appreciate it.

Many thanks,
pj

[John S.]

Philip contact antigravity gear and see if they will make one. They have been/will be bringing back some DLG gear to the market.

[Anonymous]

Lance,

Looks good! I was thinking you could add a pre-filter. Perhaps cutting a circular disk from a coffee filter the same size as the inner diameter of the to the sacrificed Nalgene ATB bottle shown in picture #2. It would be a SUL, low cost and effective option that could extend the life of the primary filter.

Regards

[Lance M]

Thanks for the positive comments. Here are a few more pictures to clarify the differences between the Coghlan bag and the RW bag.

The perimeter of the Coghlan bag is gathered in pleats and sewn in place with nylon edge banding. As in the packaging picture in my posting above, you can set the full bag on flat ground without spilling the water. It is easier than the RW bag to fill by dipping. You can also hang the bag by the carry loops.

Here is a close-up of the Coghlan bag:

The RW bag pictured in my posting above does not have the perimeter gathered up and sewn with edge banding, just eight grosgrain loops to run a cord through. It is more difficult than the Coghlan bag to fill by dipping. You can not set the full bag on the ground without spilling all the water. However, it is more 'multi-purpose'. Maybe (sans ATB) a sit pad or a rain hat or a storage hammock or ???

Here is a picture of the RW bag hanging.

[Jason Turner]

Jeff's site has instructions for making your own:

http://tothewoods.net/HomemadeGearWaterBag.html

[Robert Brown]

Just bought a Big Agnes pump house. Works great as a stuff sack, pad pump, dry sack, pillow, water carrier, back-country shower, etc… Weight 1.5 ounces (not bad). By wrapping the top edge over a piece of peeled off and appropriately sized birch bark it will stand on its own.

[Wesley Witt]

Those look pretty cool. I've used the Granite Gear self standing bucket for years now and really like it. It weight 136 grams, which is a lot more that the silnylon options. How well to the silnylon carriers do as self standing holders? Is it easy to spill the water? Is it easy to access the water in the container?

[Richard Scruggs]

Antigravity Gear has a 1 gal sil water bag for $10 (plus shipping), with the weight given as 18 grams:

http://www.antigravitygear.com/antigravitygear-1-gallon-water-bag.html

[Heath Pitts]

Jacks R Better sells a pack cover/gear hammock that can also be used as a water carrier as a dual use item. http://www.jacksrbetter.com/JGHPC.htm

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