Anyone recommend a decent hydration bladder? Something robust, that’s not going to leak into the rucksack.
Need about 2L.
I’m sick and tired of pulling plasic bottles in and out of the rucksack.
TIA
Mike
2O0YYY
In reply to 2E0YYY:
Hi Mike… can I start by saying, HA HA HA HA HA!
I used a bladder which leaked twice over my gear and a friend who previously swore by them had problems too.
Just get a tritan bottle.
In reply to 2E0YYY:
I use some clone Sigg aluminium bottles. I can’t afford the real thing so I got mine from ASDA.
Andy
MM0FMF
Get a name brand like Platypus or similar. In my experience these perform better and last longer than “shop’s own brand” bladders.
Get one that states it has “antibacterial” something or other. This really helps in keeping the bladder clean and avoiding build up of dirty bits.
Use it only for water, unless you want to spend 10 times as much time cleaning it! Keep it in the freezer between uses - this also helps with the fight against bacteria.
Get one with an on/off mechanism at the mouthpiece, not just a squeezy bite valve. A rucksack with a section to place the bladder in, and a hole for the tube helps too, although the latter is far from essential.
Do I take it you’re going to be taking on some longer walks Mike?
Tom MO1EYP
In reply to G7LAS:
Hi Mike… can I start by saying, HA HA HA HA HA!
I used a bladder which leaked twice over my gear and a friend who
previously swore by them had problems too.Just get a tritan bottle.
Cheers Rob. Leaking was my main concern. After having a look around, there are some expesive examples and I was wondering if these may be better.
Maybe I’ll just stick with the bottle.
73 Mike
2E0YYY
In reply to MM0FMF:
Cheers Andy, I may go down that route.
In reply to MO1EYP…
Yeah, I plan to do some more longer activations in the near future.
I was surprised at just how much fluid I got through on the last one.
73 Mike
2O0YYY
In reply to 2E0YYY:
Mike,
I use a Camelbak with 2 litre capacity (I think it’s called a unibottle), it’s never leaked in 5 years of use. With a lot of these things prevention is better than cure, inspect regularly and clean now and then. Some of them can be attached to the outside of the rucksac with clips. That’s how I use mine when on longer climbing expeds, it’s easy to fill it from a stream that way.
73, Ian.
I am constantly surprised at how little I get through on mine. Noted some of the other comments. If you buy a good quality decent spec bladder, and have an intended sleeve for it in your rucksack, I don’t think you need worry about it splitting etc.
On another matter, I use Exped Drybags to put my rig etc in, so any unintended water (ie particularly heavy rain) in my rucksack doesn’t get to the main stuff!
Camp 4 in Macc usually has most of the top brand gear in. Purchases in there seem expensive at the time, but with the quality of headlamps, poles, drybags, bladders etc I’ve bought in there, I’ve never really needed to buy replacements - as well as the gear being really good.
Tom MO1EYP
In reply to MM0GYX:
Hi Ian,
When I activated GW/NW-007 Aran Fawddwy with M0TUB, after a steep slog from the farmhouse at the start of the track, we came to to a small fastish flowing steam that we had to cross. The water was ice cold, gin clear and looked so inviting that I couldn’t resist taking a drink. It tasted absolutly wonderful. I spent the rest of the activation, praying there wasn’t a dead animal laying in it upstream …or worse!
73 Mike
2O0YYY
In reply to 2E0YYY:
Mike, I’ve used Platypus, Camelbak and Source bladders and I think the winner hands down is the Source one.
My platypus ones always had a habit of eventually (and admittedly this was always after a significant amount of usage) leaking around the inlet to the main bladder (I’m sure there is a proper techincal term for this). It was also a bit of a faff to fill up from streams as the hole being small meant it took a bit longer to fill.
I liked the camelbak but I eventually found it leaked thorugh the bite valve and they’re not cheap to replace (so do as Tom says and get one with an “open/closed”). It was also a bit of a faff to remove from the bag to fill up from streams as I invariably had the tube through the “hydration” hole in the rucksack but it did have a much bigger hole so filling with water didn’t take as long.
The source one seems to solve all of the above problems, quick to fill, on/off valve and a valve at the point where the tube attaches to the bladder so you can remove the bladder from the rucksack without removing the tube, oh and it also has a cover for the bite valve.
A bit like this one…
http://www.theoutdoorattitude.co.uk/source-hydration-widepac-transparent-blue-p-1854.html
That said I generally have a wee 0.5l bottle in the side pocket of the rucksack too, but the bladder does encourage you to drink often rather than when you stop and off load the rucksack. Bottles in side pockets on the rucksack are a good alternative.
Oh and in winter the tube freezes much quicker than a bottle which can be a problem.
Iain, MM3WJZ
In reply to 2E0YYY:
I’ve had a couple of these and they’ve taken a proper beating :
http://www.sportsdirect.com/karrimor-1-litre-tritan-bottle-787160
There has been a lot of coverage about Karrimor gear not being like it used to be, but I’ve found these to be excellent. You’ll recall my visit to Scotland recently… I had no trouble trusting my life on these.
Talking about drinking water in the “wild” - I’ve used these and they give none of that strange chlorine/ammonia taste :
http://www.lifesystems.co.uk/products/water-purification/chlorine-dioxide-tablets.html
The water on Knoydart, when treated with these bad boys, was the nicest tasting water I’ve ever had!
All this stuff makes me thankful that we live in an era where we have these amazing man-made products, fibres and treatments. Without them, our expeditions up daft summits would be far less comfortable.
R
In reply to MM3WJZ:
I must admit that since learning about such delightful little creatures as liver flukes I have been very wary about getting water from streams!
73
Brian G8ADD
Me and Jimmy have Source kit as well. We agree that this is the best make we have ever used. Antibacterial, easy to maintain, refill etc. Twist on/off at the mouthpiece and a mouthpiece cover so it doesn’t get dirty when you drop your rucksack onto the ground!
Tom MO1EYP
In reply to 2E0YYY:
Mike,
Well, you’re still here Mike. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…up to a point (-:
The thing you need to be wary of in the Cairngorms is faeces left by folk playing winter survival, snow melts…poo enters water chain, not nice.
73, Ian.
Often wanted to taste some stream water but have resisted the temptation so far. Don’t think I will try it after reading this…
http://survivaltopics.com/that-water-is-unsafe-to-drink/
Me thinks a nice bottle of tap water sounds good.
Dave
M0TUB
In reply to M0TUB:
Often wanted to taste some stream water but have resisted the
temptation so far. Don’t think I will try it after reading this…
I feel a whole lot better after reading that, Dave 
Me thinks a nice bottle of tap water sounds good.
You’ve got to carry the tap water…
73 Mike
2O0YYY
In reply to 2E0YYY:
Ladies, some perspective on the risk is needed. Ask how many cases of liver fluke there have been in the UK recently that are not due to people using Khat, imported from Africa.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
It is a known hazard in areas where sheep graze, I used to know a farmer who had suffered. Infection can also come from eating watercress amongst other things. It isn’t a common problem but when it occurs it is nasty. Why take risks?
73
Brian GO8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
Why take risks?
73
Brian GO8ADD
Then again why not? There is too much ‘risk assessment’ for things that were normal/commonplace when ‘I were a lad’ 
Roger G4OWG
In reply to G4OWG:
Oh sure, Roger, we take on risks every time we climb a mountain, any sport involving hazards involves the participator in risk management. You prepare yourself, minimise the risks that you have some control over, and go ahead. I lost a couple of good friends in a caving accident and a couple of others to avalanche and rockfall in the Alps, they knew the risks, minimised them and went ahead, and things turned out badly - but it didn’t stop the rest of us.
Not drinking water from streams in sheep or cattle country is part of risk management: drinking water from springs is low risk, drinking purified water is even lower risk. We have control, we should exercise that control.
73
Brian GO8ADD