Any suggestions for keeping my drink tube and water filter from freezing.
_Boom Boom_Frozen drink tube
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#2
My solution was to stop using them. I use a platypus bladder that I keep wrapped up in my extra insulation or in my sleeping bag at night, and AquaMira for treatment, which I seldom need in winter.
I’ve seen some hikers use insulation sleeves on tubes, and have heard they work OK, at least for shorter day trips.
One trick I used before simplifying things was to put hot water in a bottle, put the filter in a ziplock and wrap it up with the hot water bottle in any extra insulation I had, like a down vest or fleece. On day trips I could add lunch and have a warm sandwich or leftover pizza. I would also have warm water to sip on or warm hands on until late afternoon, and a nice warm fleece to put on if needed.
On overnights, you can sleep with the filter in its ziplock, or if it’s not too cold, put it under your knees outside the bag. That trick works well with damp boots, too.
There’s a downside risk to storing water in your extra insulation, of course, and it could be very dangerous if you spring a leak. To be safe, keep everything bagged and check it often.
_garlic_
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#3
I can't take credit for this but just for the drinking tube you can drink from it and then blow back into the tube to send water back into the bladder to keep it from freezing in the tube. I should have done this on a winter day hike but read it at a later date.
_Rocket_
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#4
we had that problem this weekend woke up Sunday morning to 8 degrees everything frozen. we decided that the only way to keep drink tubes from freezing was to blow the water back into the bladder before it freezes but the bladder was frozen to. also watch your water filter if you use one it will freeze and crack.
_huff & Puff_
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#5
Yes, blow the water back into the bladder to prevent it from freezing. I also stuff the tube down my shirt just to be sure. If the tube or bladder is already frozen, stuff one or both down you shirt while hiking. They will thaw in a short time and it only hurts for a little while . :eek:
_Hokey Pokey_
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#6
I have found that blowing the water back into the bladder also helps on very hot days when the tube gets kinda warm from the sun. Perhaps taking sips every five minutes or so in cold weather would keep the tube from freezing completely. Zero to 100 degrees, lets take a hike.
_Boquack_