Water bottles: 3 32’s, 2 48’s, or something else entirely?

[Bonzo]

I need to replace my old wide-mouth bottles before a couple of climbs this fall and winter; on warm-weather hikes I just carry a few SmartWater bottles but that’s not going to work in the cold.  I thought about picking up some of the old-school HDPE Nalgenes, and either carrying 3 32’s or 2 48’s because I drink a LOT of water; I was leaning towards the 2 48’s because it would be slightly lighter and I’m trying to clip excess pack weight wherever I can.  Thoughts and opinions?

I’ve also considered just making do with a few Gatorade bottles and hoping that the openings are wide enough, but I haven’t used those before in colder weather, so I don’t know how they’ll perform.  Anyone used those down to -10°F-ish?

[David Thomas]

How about 1-, 1.5- and 2-liter soda bottles from the #1 recycling bin?  Free, as light as possible, tough enough for multiple trips, but as soon as they get a bit funky or scratched up, toss them back into the #1 bin.  I fill them with a 25% brine solution and toss them in my chest freezer at -15F, repeatedly to use like “blue ice” but a much colder version, so I know they’re good to low temps and when swollen by frozen water multiple times.

Yes, they take a bit longer to fill, due to the narrow-mouth lid, but a single wide mouth lets you do whatever – UV treat it,  mix tabouli in it, etc – while the rest of water can be in those cheaper, lighter containers.

Do you need the wide mouth for UV treatment?  Only the larger Gatorade bottle have a wide-enough opening but those work great because the Steripen sits just perfectly on that diameter opening.  Also being #1 plastic, the Gatorade bottles should also be fine to -10F-ish, although their larger lids don’t handle as high a pressure as the soda bottles do (those soda-bottles fail around 130 to 180 psig with the lids still in place).

If the wide is for UV treatment, you could still use 1 or 2 narrow-mouth plus 1 or 2 wide-mouth.  Use the 2-liter narrow-mouth to haul untreated water and then refill your wide mouth and zap it before drinking it.  That routine has the advantages in that 1) you get away from the mosquitos at the water source sooner, 2) if you get to fresher cold water later, you toss the carried now-warm water without having needlessly zapping it, and 3) use that untreated water for hot drinks/food and again save some battery life by zapping less water.

I’ve used (well-rinsed) 1-gallon windshield-washer fluid HDPE containers for bringing drinking water for car camping or boat camping.  The handles are decently comfortable if you want the 8 pounds in your hand and not on your back and they are sturdier than HDPE gallon milk jugs without being too heavy (nor costing anything).

[Iago Vazquez]

I see plenty of insulation pockets for 1L bottles. There may be some for 2L, but I have never seen them.

I was going to recommend Forty Below neoprene covers, and it turns out they do have a 48oz model. I have been very happy with my 1L…

Another consideration is how will the 48L bottles be carried in your pack?

Regarding UV treatment, the Steripens seem to max out at 1L…

[Roger Caffin]

I use 1.25 L ‘fizzy’ water rocket base bottles. All of 34 g and free. The lids seal well: i have done big drop tests onto rock and the bottles survived. Barely a scratch on the bottles.

Freezing: I carry these bottles inside my pack against my back. Even when ski touring in rather cold weather the water has never come close to freezing. It stays drinkable. And my gas canisters sit next to these bottles and stay ‘warm’ enough as well.

Steripen and the 1 L limit. OK, so what? If I want to treat 2 L I just do 2 runs. I treat the water in my cooking pot and then pour it into the bottles. The narrow necks are not a problem for this. In fact, the narrow necks are why the caps seal so well.

48 oz bottles: I think not, as they would be a bit inconvenient for packing. Also, they seem unnecessary, at least to me.

Cheers

[Bonzo]

So, I don’t need the widemouth for UV; I mostly like them because I suck at pouring and because I’ve had them freeze less often than the narrow-mouth bottles, which I think has only happened…maybe twice, that I can recall.

I did recall that someone marketed a 48-oz. neoprene cover, but couldn’t recall who it was.  Thanks for that lead.  As far as how I’ll carry them: vertically, in the pack, right up against my back.  Kind of like what Roger described.

I’m not familiar with the bottles you’re describing, Roger…or at least not that term for them.  As far as packing goes: I started going with taller, narrower bottles awhile back…so this is kind of an extension of that.  On an average fall/winter dayhike – 8 to 16 miles with some elevation – I’ll carry two full 1.5L/51oz SmartWater bottles and go through both of them.  On hot days in the summer I’ll go through a third one.  I guess my packing system got kind of based around that bottle shape; that’s the genesis of the idea.  Fewer pieces, less to deal with, etc, etc.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Bonzo, Do a Search on “fizzy mineral water” and look at the bottles. Capacity 1.25 L or 1.5 L. They are NOT special backpacking water bottles (=$$$) but supermarket consumer items. Points to note about thrm:
They are made by the tens of millions
They have to be tough to meet Transport rules
They have to be hermetic to meet Health Dept rules
They have to use as little material as possible (cost), so they are light
They are usually ‘rocket-based’

Cheers

[Bruce Tolley]

So you want the bottle to have a wide mouth, yes?

MSR makes the Dromlite bladders in 2, 4, 6 and 8 liter sizes which are rated to freezing.  I melt snow at dinner time, fill up my 2 liter one, and bury it in my tent vestibule so the water does not freeze over night.

In the past, Nalgene had a foldable, wide-mouthed container in 32 and 48 oz sizes. Not sure if it is still on the market.

[Bonzo]

Roger – if San Pelligrino bottles count, then I have a few new fresh ones every week, because my partner drinks that for migraine help.  Something about the trace minerals seems to really knock down the aftereffects, it seems.  We recycle almost all of them, except for a few which get used in the same way as my SmartWater bottles get used: upcylced into hiking-water storage.

Bruce – yeah, a wide mouth is usually better for me when it’s cold and/or I’m refilling things along the way.  I have fundamental and serious issues with pouring liquids; I almost always spill something, even with vessels that are specifically designed to be on either side of the pour.  I could never be a bartender, for this reason alone.  I originally got the Nalgenes for the wider mouth: I can easily pour water into them – even hot water – and not worry too much about getting it all over me or wasting the resource.

I don’t know that the folding bladder thing is still available.

Also, while I’m thinking about it: does anyone have any good ideas for writing on HDPE?  If I go that route I want to get some kind of label or idenifying mark on the bottles, but I’ve never found anything that will do it successfully.

[Iago Vazquez]

Identifying… The family bottles were purchased in several different colors. I think Nalgene makes white, green, orange and red for 1L. Not sure about 2L…

Also, stickers can be used to differentiate at camp from other folks’s. I thought placing boiling water would cause them to fall out, but hasn’t been the case over a handful of outings  I know, they increase weight…

Wondering whether using a permanent marker and placing transparent tape over would work.

Or perhaps Leukotape and writing on the tape. The way it sticks to skin compared to the typical first aid tape is great.

You can also order a separate lid in a different color and shuffle. White bottle with black lid, etc. Most white bottles seem to have a blue lid.

Or tie a thin piece of colorful cord around the lid attachment link.

[Bonzo]

Only problem with stickers is that they don’t stick to HDPE…at least none of the ones that I know of.  And that’s unfortunate because I have a bunch of cool stickers that I haven’t used yet.

Sharpie + tape is a method that some people use at my workplace; it’s not that great of a solution, though, in my opinion.  Perhaps if a higher-quality tape was used I could get behind it, but the tape wears out pretty fast and stuff sticks to the peeling edges; that might not bother some people but it annoys me. ;)

Swapping lid colors is a good idea, as is the cordage.  I have several lids at home that I could swap without having to order anything.

Also, holy f***…those bottles from Forty Below are insanely expensive.  I love the lugged cap, but damn.  I also wasn’t recalling how much the neoprene covers cost.

[Roger Caffin]

any good ideas for writing on HDPE?
We don’t write on them: we put rubber bands around them. Rubber band = drinking water.

Cheers

[David Thomas]

I’ve written on HDPE containers with Sharpies.  HDPE gas cans labelled “Pre-mixed 50:1 for Chainsaw”; A 1-pint HEET alcohol HDPE bottle marked “Unleaded” to take another pint of gasoline with me as I use the weedwhacker to maintain a forest path; etc.

It wears off/fades over multiple years, but that can be minimized by roughing the area up with some fine-grit sandpaper.

[Bonzo]

Rubber bands are a good idea; might have to try that.  Thanks, Roger.

David, I’ve done the same thing with gas cans, but I’ve always tried to write that kind of info in locations that don’t see a lot of physical contact in order to keep the lettering from wearing off; it’ll last for awhile, that way.  At my workplace, it’s a different story: the smoother bottles that get handled every day simply don’t maintain their labeling.  We might get a week or two before the words are smudged and faded to the point of uselessness.  That said, I’ll try the sandpaper idea on one of our bottles, here, and see what happens.

[Christopher S]

My go to is the ultralight nalgenes + adapters to make them work with a hydration tube system. Gotta prioritise drinking lots of water in winter and make sure you are staying hydrated. I also like the Husendorf style bottles for really really cold stuff when a hydration hose is not worth the hassle.

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