I am in the process of fine tuning my water carrying/consumption system. I am currently (trying out) carrying a 1L SmartWater bottle in which I fill and drink from while hiking/backpacking. With this I should be able to refill as needed along the trail and use my Aqua Mira drops to treat my water on the go. Of course I will have to stop and let the solutions mix for 5 minutes and then add them to my bottle, but it will be a good reason to take a short occasional break. Once added I then just wait a minimum of 15 minutes and that water will be good to go.
Also, I am going between a Nalgene 1L Cantene and a Platypus 2L SoftBottle to carry as backup or to simply haul water back and forth at camp. At this point I am still undecided as to which one I favor most since they both have pros and cons. In the video I briefly list some of each…
The Platy is really meant to be a storage reservoir for use with their gravity-fed filter.. The mouth screws onto the connector and fills in a flash from the 4 liter “dirty” bag. I’m going out to do Trans-Zion 55 miles or so next week and I’ll be bringing the filter ( comes with a 4 liter “clean” bag ) a secondary platy ( for camp cooking etc.. water access is difficult at times in that route.. ) and a 1 liter Nalgene. The Nalgene will be my hiking drink container (I hate drinking from a tiny camelback tube), I’ll keep the 4 liter bag in my pack full to refill the Nalgene with (Helps me conserve water better if I have to stop and refill), and an empty platy to fill at the last water opportunity before camp.
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BTW. It sounds like a lot of gear for UL and it is, but I’m taking a bunch of Scouts so I’m going in heavy because I just know we’ll get into camp and everyone will have guzzled their water with none left for cooking.. A Scout is prepared… Also the Platy filter system is soo much lighter and so much quicker/high-volume than a pumper like my MSR Sweetwater that the weight is almost negligible in comparison. Water is pretty critical when it’s high’s of 95 with little cover.
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I stopped using soft Nalgene’s after I had two leak on me. In both situations, they fell out of my pack (UL packs don’t accomodate taller flexible bottles well) and the seam completely exploded. I haven’t had that problem with the Platy brand.
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Yeah, carrying the soft bottles filled will be something I will have to figure out as well. The first night I got my ULA Circuit I filled the Platy and shoved it in the side pocket really to just to fill it with a realistic weight. I noticed it did not sit too well in that pocket.
And thanks for the warning on the seams. I will keep an eye out for them on both the bottles.
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Hey Chad. I’ve been using the Nalgene Canteens for about 4-5 years now and I’ve never had one delaminate at the neck or fail. Also, you’ll definitely appreciate the wide mouth the first time you have to fill up from a seep and need to use a mug or spoon to fill your bottle.
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Thanks George. I already do appreciate the wide mouth on the Nalgene. Last weekend on a hike I tried filling the Platy in a deep stream which was running pretty fast and I still struggled a little to fill it. Ended up with some cold hands, but not too bad. While I was sitting there trying to fill it, I thought about how it would have went if this had been a shallow, still water source. However, due to it’s light weight and larger volume I am not quite ready to file it away…Glad to hear that the bottle hasn’t delaminated on you either. The film does seem quite durable and rugged, more so than the Platy. I will see how it goes…Chad
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