Here I go again! About water bottles and bags? I have two nalgene water bottles and one platy pus water bag. Do I really need a 1.5 liter water bag? Will I need two 32oz nalgene bottles or will one do? So glad I found this forum site, you guys have been SO helpful.
Palmetto Tar
Some like bottles because of the wide mouth, some the Gatorade bottles because they’re light. We like a 2 ltr platapus to get water in, it scrunches down small. Also 1 ltr platapuseses? platapi? are nice to put that extra quart in a small area of you pack for a dry stretch. Some carry the big Nagene 4 ltr bag with the wide mouth if they’re a water hog.
Bushwhack
2 Nalgenes weigh over half a pound and aren’t collapsible (important to my middle aged cranky right knee). When freezing isn’t a danger, I carry 3 Platypuses; a 1-liter and a 2-liter, both of which act as backup and remain rolled up in my pack. (Someone I met knew someone whose Platy leaked–clearly not a big problem; but last summer on the PCT 2 people had problems with the Other Brand leaking major amts of water) The third is the 2-liter Platy I use for my main needs.
And I think BW’s point about manueverability when water level is low is really important.
CeCe
You can also use one of the large ones with a drink hose. I like one hard Nalgene for mixing drinks/shaking them and a few collapsable ones for getting and storing. In Va when water was hard to find we had 4 qrts between us, two hard bottles and two 1 qrt softies. Mix up a lemonade in the hard, drink the soft ones first. Rolled up they take up no room or weight.
Bushwhack
I carry one 2L platy and one nalgene bottle(1L, of course). This allows me to carry plenty of water and have the advantages of both bag water and bottle water.
LarsyParsy
I would say the overwhelming majority of people we saw had some type of bag and a bottle (i.e., Gatorade, coke or something similar). We carried a 4 liter bag for the two of us and two 1 liter bags. During the dry season in PA we would have all three full at times. Hydrate in the morning, when you stop for water, and then at dinner time and you shouldn’t have to carry alot of water (which is very heavy).
Papa Smurf
I used a 2 liter platy with a drink hose. Once it got hot, there were plenty of days I went through 4 lites in one day. I also carried a naglene bottle for various things. This year I’m carrying the nalgene until it gets warm (they make GREAT hot water bottles) and then just switching to coke bottles. I also carry a 4 liter platy that I can fill up at the stream or spring and just carry back to camp. Gee… it weighs all of 3 ounces!!
Moose
What hasn’t been said recently is that at some shelters water can be a long way down. So, I carried a 3 liter collapsable canteen. That way, I would make one trip down to the spring or water source.
I also carried a 1 liter Nalgene (3.8 ounces). Most of the time, 1 liter would get me to the next water source, but if it didn’t, I would put a liter or so in the canteen.
Peaks
Carry some type of bladder and rig it in your pack with a drinking tube. Its a pain to try and reach for a water bottle out of those stupid mess pockets. But carry some type of bottle for dipping,pouring and mixing. Its also good to have a bottle just incase you need extra water. I would find that if I were at a water source and knew I was going to eat lunch soon (1-2 hrs) I would carry extra water so that I wouldnt drink up my hiking water at lunchtime.
Virginian