In storage I have a couple of milk crates that hold nothing but various water containers. Some of these things go a ways back. Over thirty years of being a survivlist has given me the opportunity to try all sortsa things…some worked, some didn’t; some lasted; some didn’t.
I distinctly recall, as a young and wildly stupid lad of 14 or so, when the first hydration bladder (“CamelBak”) hit the market. I can’t recall the brand name but it was the most novel and bizarre contraption. It looked like something you’d find in an emergency room rather than in a back pack. (Trivia: hydration bladders got their start from repurposed IV bags and tubing.)
Of course, starting in the 80’s, everyone’s go-to was the ubiquitous military canteen which had just been transitioned to plastic.They were somewhat inexpensive, seemed to work, worked with the ALICE gear which was all the rage at the time, and were widely available. Drawbacks? The die-hards never quit wailing about how because it was plastic you would melt it when you mated it with your canteen cup if your canteen cup was still hot from boiling up some water. Also, they tended to smell rather strongly of plastic. Nalgene makes a version that I have tried and can endorse, although they don’t fit quite right in a military canteen cup and cover.
Moving forward, Nalgene bottles started migrating from something that was almost exclusively a backpackers piece of gear to something a bit more mainstream. They were capacious, modular, and very durable. Drawbacks? The BPA scare that caused people to turn towards stainless bottles and forced bottle makers to reformulate their plastic with, according to some people, a decrease in durability. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the Nalgene bottles. There are all sorts of aftermarket accessories and pouches available for them and I will often use them when I need a ‘hard’ water container.
Continuing along the evolutionary highway, the hydration bladders showed up and these pretty much still dominate the hydration-on-the-go market. Eventually the military caught on and started issuing them. Their biggest advantage has been the ‘hands-free’ usage of them, the ability to carry a large quantity of water, and the reduced bulk since as they empty they can be compressed. Drawbacks are that theyre sometimes tough to keep clean and, depending on circumstances and manufacture, they can suffer damage.
A nice byproduct of the evolution of the hydration bladder was the collapsible water bottle. I remember exactly when I first became aware of these. I was in Alaska visiting some glacier and the park ranger was drinking from one of these. I was immediately fascinated and asked her if I could examine the product. It was, as I recall, a Platypus of some kind. I had no idea such things existed but I knew I was seeing the future of on-the-go water carriage. These things are my go to for carrying water when out in the sticks. The biggest attraction is that as you drink, you can squeeze the air out of the ‘bottle’ so that there is no noise from water ‘sloshing’ around. This was always a headache with rigid canteens and water bottles. And, when empty, you can roll the thing up and tuck it way where it takes up no room. I keep two of them in my Bag O’ Tricks so that in a crisis I can load up on water and take it with me. In an emergency, when you’re on your feet and moving, you may not know when and where you’re next opportunity to get water may arise. It’s nice to have extra containers along, that take up no room when empty, so that when you do find that hose bib or lawn sprinkler that works you can load up. (Tangent: I have always hated those scenes in movies where someone is stranded somewhere, they drink the last drop of water, and then they look at their empty canteen in disgust and throw it away. Idiot! If you find another water supply how are you going to carry the water????)
And, interestingly, there’s a rather neat hybrid system that I’ve found extremely useful. Made by Source, this kit turns your Nalgene water bottle (or other water bottle) into a tube-feed hydration system. Highly recommend. (The Source ‘tactical’ line is probably one of the more survivalist-oriented lines of these types of products.) Nalgene makes water bottles in larger sizes that still use the same diameter cap, so you can have a nice big jug of water in your pack or in the seat pocket behind you and plenty of water. The Source products also feature modular attachment points for bite valves and bladder connectors, which allow you to fill you reservoir without taking it out of the pack. Good stuff.
And finally, for ease of use, disposability, and all around convenience, a couple cases of cheap bottled water are handy. Shove a couple in your pack or in the trunk of your vehicle and leave ’em there. I’ve had them go through dozens of thaw/freeze cycles and never had one fail.
When Im out on my bike or running around tow, I usually just have a Nalgene bottle with me…I can abuse it and know it’ll be just fine. When I’m out in the woods, I have some sort of hydration system like the Platypus to keep things quiet and compact. And for just general hand-out-to-the-unprepared I have plenty of surplus military canteens floating around.
By the by, the Nalgene and Platypus product freeze quite well. In hot summers like we are having now, I usually fill them 1/4 with my preferred beverage and let them freeze solid. Then fill the remaing 3/4 with whatever I plan on drinking. Keeps things cold all day…especially if you’re dropping that hydration reservoir into an insulated pouch.
Anyway…if you’re still rocking the OD plastic canteen from 1985, more power to you. But, you may wanna examine some of the newer options out there.
I use two 32 oz. Nalgene wide mouth bottles that I changed out the cap with one from Humangear with a smaller opening for drinking. I live in the deep South and use these at work. I fill each one about 1/2 full then freeze solid overnight. Don’t tighten the cap or you won’t be able to remove it until it thaws. Next morning, fill with ice cubes then top off with water. Melts across the day for ice cold water when I need it the most. Have used the same bottles for years with no damage from freeze/thaw cycles. These bottles are as tough as nails…
CAP – https://www.amazon.com/Human-Gear-capCAP-BPA-Free/dp/B007HJBWZO/ref=sr_1_18?crid=3DWFXAFODFQOK&dchild=1&keywords=humangear+cap&qid=1595678479&s=sporting-goods&sprefix=human+gear%2Csporting%2C260&sr=1-18
Bottle – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002PLU912/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Add one of the 4 way hose bib wrenches to your kit
I buy the 500 ml Platypus for my aircrew in a Fighter Squadron in the American Redoubt region. Fits in the leg of the G-suits perfectly. We only buy the ones with the push/pull top as no one wants one of these knuckleheads to drop the twist off top in the cockpit. A dropped object can cost numerous hours of maintenance folks trying to find what was dropped inflight.
I found the Geiger Rig products (https://www.amazon.com/geigerrig/s?k=geigerrig) which contain the traditional water bladder and an air bladder to pressurize the water bladder on most of my adventure gravel bike rides (also include minimum survival kit should I have a total breakdown). You just squeeze the bite valve, once you have pumped up the air bladder and the water shoots out. It is great for refilling of water bottles for the long rides. I have discovered I manage water H20 intake on long rides better from a water bottle instead of just sucking water out of a Camelbak tube. Their product line provides a plug-in water filter and they offer replacement filters for North America or worldwide (to take care of the really nasty bugs in water you find in the 3rd world). Needless to say I have several of these as part of my hydration supplies, along with various Camelbak, military plastic canteens, canteen cups, collapsible military plastic canteens, and various bottles.
My USAF Survival School training impressed the importance of staying hydrated in a survival situation. Probably explains my ODC in keeping plenty of water containers, purification supplies/methods, and other necessary stores stashed away for spicy times.
i have a 3L source water bladder…best made bladders on the planet…the guy that makes these ( https://theperfectpack.com/2019/01/03/sarma-custom-made-torba-mini-review/ ) works for source…he makes other bags also…i’ve been waiting on my bag to get here forever…damn covid crap…
My water bottles in the vehicles are water bottles. Commercial water from the grocery store. I keep two 1-gallon water bottles for filling bladders. I do search and rescue, and keep my SAR pack in the car all the time, also a GHB which is a different loadout. The separate sealed water lets me keep the bladder dry until use.
I also keep a couple of six-packs of bottled water: They survive hot and cold (-40F or lower) just fine, and are easy to buy, rotate, and use. I can also tuck extra bottles into pockets in the packs.
I have seen the 1 gallon water/milk jugs fail after a year or so. Some — or so I’ve been told — are designed to break down as a ‘green’ matter, and bouncing around on dirt roads the jugs do not fare well.
I like using the 1 liter bottles that seltzer water comes in. Tougher than the usual flimsy water bottles, and nothing to clean out of them before refilling with tap water. Plus it’s easier to stow several 1 liter bottles than a 1 gallon jug.
I was waiting for others to comment first, but seeing none, I will. I have used almost everything mentioned by Z and I keep coming back to the same item as I used as a kid in the 50’s.
A stainless steel canteen, army canteen, surplus. You might hear the sloshing of the water, but it was a reassuring sound when you’re thirsty. You can boil water, etc and a lot of other things.
The Nalagene interest me, but at 71, I’ll stick to stainless.
BTW: Does anyone remember the pancake canteen of the boy scouts?
Use to have one the pancake ones back in the 80s.
Yes, and I still have and sometimes use the canteen so I can show others what we used back in the day. Good memories from the old scouts.
I’ve always found Nalgene’s square half gallon water bottles handy to have around.
If you’re big on the standard round quart Nalgene bottle and biking there are a few companies that make water bottle cages that fit them.
These guys do an interesting spin on some of the classic kit:
https://www.heavycoverinc.com/
I have a Camelback I use when bike riding. Great for the purpose, but you’re right, hygiene with it is time consuming and hard to do correctly. For other purposes, I use water bottles, usually plastic. Put them in a backpack pocket, or use a bit of cord to carry them over a shoulder if necessary. Have a good filtration system and refill every time you have the opportunity.
I still have a couple of the plastic military canteens from the early 70s that my Marine brother-in-law gave me as a kid. In fact, he gave me his who combat rig which I still have and it still looks brand new at over 40 years of age.
Commander zero- I too like the collapsible water bottle- I have ones that are in a canvas bag that basically make it like an old Desert Bag- keeps the water cool by sweating. I lucked out and found several for a buck rack marked down from $7. I suspect it would be easy to just make a canvas cover for you current collapsible canteens.
I’m not a fan of the hydration bladders- due to the that, as you mentioned, they are a pain to clean, or should we say impossible to clean without special brushes etc. no thanks.
The old mil 2 Quarts could also be compressed as you emptied them and they now have cap adapter that allows you to do the tube thing like a backpack reservoir. I still have a couple of them. Soaking the carrier bag helps keep the water cool in hot weather. Used to carry 2 at a time down South humping the Jungla…
Regards
I do that with the GI 2 qt canteens too. Thoroughly soak the pile liners of the carrier and then I just hang it off the side of the truck as I drive. Keeps everything cool; just make sure the carrying strap is %110!
Hell Yeah. At least there’s no Black Palm up here. They were a death sentence for those 2 qts. Even for the occasional 1 qt plastic ones too… I think I still have some bits embedded in me to this day.
Regards
Better than 5 gal Scepter is Swiss surplus rubber bladders, easier to store(no racks) fit any where(full or empty),easy to see how full they are,easier to carry,spigot make dispensing easy,makes a good seat(full) or pillow,indestructible(weeks sliding around the bed of 5 ton in desert-only scuff marks),rolls up well, drop on foot barely noticed,not spendy.
Cheap solution to carry size is empty sport drink bottles(gatoraid/poweraide)heavy duty,cheap can be used to solar purify, freeze well,easy to find.
I still have a pair of milsurp Vietnam era 5 quart collapsible canteens for hiking / backpacking / deployment. The instructions on the OD carrier bag show how to use it as a personal flotation device. It too allows the air to be squeezed out so that it it is noiseless. If there wasn’t so much water around here, I’d keep one in my get home bag.
https://olive-drab.com/od_soldiers_gear_canteen_5qt.php
It’s nice to store vast amounts of water but at 8.3 to 9.71 pounds per US gallon, it’s a little much to carry. In my bushcraft kit are 2 stainless 1qt canteens with cups and lids and a water filter. Nalgene is nice, but it doesn’t hold up very well over a campfire when you are trying to thaw it out.
As for the home supply, I live in a rural setting and my water comes from a well. Since I have a backup manual water pump alongside the electric one, it’s not worth it to fill the basement with water storage containers. All I have are 4 carboys that I once used for making wine. The only reason for them is if I’m stuck inside (nasty weather/fallout etc.) and can’t go out to the pump for a few days.
The Aussie army went to plastic canteens in ’67. I’m sure that my two surplus ones are ex-Vietnam War bringbacks, the diggers weren’t allowed to throw anything away! They’re still in good nick too.
Multiple options are not a bad thing. I always carried 2 of the plastic GI canteens in the Army. When they issued us Camelbacks, I kept my 2 canteens. The Camelback got filled with ice — if it was available —- and went under the the armor vest. The cold water was for drinking, the canteens were for if things went bad. Camelback bladders — and even more so the no-name GI bladders — on occasion split and leak. If that’s your only water supply…
We did the same thing with our vehicles. Everyone had a 5 gallon plastic water can stowed in the back of the HMMWV or truck, but what we drank almost all of the time was bottled water from the supply point.
Didn’t worry too much about the sloshing of a half-filled canteen. We were mounted, most of the time, and it wouldn’t have been audible over the sound of the diesel engines and radios.
Retired now and lazy, I keep a couple of gallons worth of water in the truck. Not commercial bottled stuff — the 500ml bottles from Costco seem far too weak to be trusted in freezing weather or just to the vibration and wear of daily driving — but in 1 liter seltzer water bottles that have been refilled with tap water. Figure those are far stronger, and no issues with cleaning them before re-use as they only ever held water and CO2.
In the house? We go through a lot of apple juice, so those bottles get rinsed out with soapy water and filled with tap water. A few dozen under a sheet of plywood — that other stuff can be stacked on — in the pantry. That will take care of medium-term potable water needs (after whatever we saved at the last minute, and/or bottled water on hand), then the stack of 5 gallon GI water cans in the garage that are used for camping and hunting, but are kept filled with clean water the rest of the time, just in case.
And if things drag on too long, there’s the creek down the hill that has yet to run dry.
Awesome post. My childhood camping water carrier was a metal G.I. canteen with metal chained threaded cover. Metal frog canvas pouch with black ‘button’ closure. It was a hand me-down from a cousin I forget who. Funny metallic taste was guaranteed, straight from the garden hose. No cup or stove tucked in – I didn’t even know that had been invented. Fishing – hiking – camping – hunting – that was the carrier. A lot of miles a million years ago – a lot of good memories.
I wear an Outdoor Research “Catchment” hat – it has a wide brim, with a drainage tube going to your Camelback.
You can hike all day (in the rainy season) and never go thirsty!
Some people like that metal cup that houses inside the U.S. military canteen pouch. I don’t know why they didn’t make a companion cup for the 2 quart canteen. So I had one made up, out of stainless steel.
7″ x 7″ x 2 1/2″ deep (check 2 qt. bladder dimensions) – holds considerably more than the 1 quart cup and is long enough to cook by extending 1/2 over the coals, the other 1/2 away from heat source. Can also be used as a very small reflector oven. Had the edges pierced with 4 – 1/8″ holes to insert nails and hold over flames or gain water to be purified from water source.
It cost me about $30 – well worth it to me.