Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

As I mentioned, one of our local sporting goods stores is shuttering up after several decades in the biz. Soooooo….I went and looked for bargains.

Platypus 1.0 liter bottle – Was $7, marked down to $3.50…bought all they had
Platypus Big Zip SL – Was $25, marked down to $12.50…bought four
Platypus Hoser 1.0L – Was $16, marked down to $8…got a half dozen

I have a few Camelbaks and use them often when out in the boonies, but they arent cheap. When I was up in Alaska a couple years ago one of the guides at the glacier had the 1.0L bottle and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. You couuld squeeze out the air so it wouldnt slosh and make noise, and when it was empty you could roll it up to fit in a pocket of your bag. I immediately purchased one, tried it out, read the reviews, and became convinced this seemed like a good product. So, when its on sale at 50% off wouldnt you buy a bunch too? Priced cheaply enough that they’d be excellent candidates for secondary-location caches and everyday usage.

I’ll probably pick up a few extras to hand out as gifts this year. At that price I could probably afford to do some destructive testing but I’m already pretty convinced theyre what Im looking for. For now, I’ll inspect them, repack them, and tuck them away in the bunker. I do believe I am utterly finished with anything having to do with personal hydration….I’ve got a couple dozen surplus Swiss water bottles with NBC adapters, CamelBaks, Nalgene bottles and now these. Yeah, I’m done.