Hello all!

If this topic has been covered before, please accept my apologies. I didn't find it in a search.

I am getting a tool box for my pickup truck so that I can store my BOB kit. I want include water and food, but am concerned about our New England winter weather. Today was 34 degrees with a chill factor of 21. Is there a preferred way to store water without the containers rupturing if they freeze? I was thinking of putting several water bottles in there contained in Zip Lock freezer bags. Is there a better solution?

I am assuming that MRE's will be okay under these conditions. Is that true?

Thanks for your help.

I carry empty water bottles. Unfortunately, it is the best I've come up with other than filling the bottles with ice cubes first.

I think MRE's have been covered before around here, the verdict being that they should be OK but probably changed annually. Don't trust the "10 year" shelflife with repeated freeze/thaw cycles.

Water, probably partially filled is the way to go. You may consider metal bottles, that can be heated if you need to melt the ice.

FWIW, I have had complete success with standard 2-litre bottles (rinsed and reused diet Pepsi bottles).

I fill them 80% full and leave them on their sides. They freeze solid in winter as a matter of course.

I forgot about a few and they went through several winters and summers.

Not a single failure. And they're free (OK, 30 cent deposit).

Metal water bottles are great, as they shouldn't melt when you heat them to melt ice.

Aside from their normal use, MRE's when frozen make great blunt force weapons for close range (Ha Ha).

Remember if any of the inner packages are swollen (tight like a balloon), DO NOT EAT. It is swollen because something is giving off a gas. Just like decomposition in a corpse.

I don't live in New England but I do live in Pennsylvania, it got down in the teens last night, I checked my water bottles in the truck, no surprise, they didn't freeze. I keep them in a soft sided cooler, I figured the insulation would keep the cold out to a certain degree and so far it's worked.

I'll do a 180-

In the Desert Southwest, I used to freeze water bottles (even nalgene), 7/8 full, and let them thaw as I traveled, bike, hikes, etc.

Same with food, freeze it and use it and the bottles as the "ice" in a cooler, as it thaws eat it.

No ill affects, except condensation leaving a wetspot.

With the MRE's, I found the little jelly packets would burst, so I took them out. Not enough airspace for expansion I guess.

I have not stored water outside in the cold for a long time, but when I did using 2L bottles, I filled the bottles almost all the way, then squeezed the size. While the sides were squeezed, I put the cap on. It worked, but I never did any comparisons.

I generally carry commercially bottled water (16.9 oz bottles) in my vehicle throughout the year. In Ohio, this means that the water is constantly exposed to freeze/thaw cycles during winter months. I've never had a bottle break and there is no apparent negative effect on the water.

I just carry water in my travel bag that I put in the Yukon every day and take it out out at night

I often have 500ml bottles of water freeze in my truck but have noticed a problem. After the water thaws there is a very small amount of white, cloudy sediment in the bottom of the bottle, I do not know if this is something seperating out from the water or if it is from the plastic bottle. Does anyone have an idea of what this stuff is?

Mike

I'm with SBRaider. It is a pain, but I take it out of the car every night and put it back in in the morning. That is the only method that works for me up in Northern New England.

probably just the dissolved minerals going out of solution as the temp declines. warm it back up and they should disappear.

I too have noticed that white sediment when I've frozen bottled water in the clear plastic PETE bottles, particularly if I've frozen, thawed, re-frozen, and re-thawed. I doesn't go away when re-heated in my experience. I haven't seen that white sediment when I use one of my Nalgene bottles. I've had good luck with freezing water in my Nalgene bottles when I fill them maybe 3/4 full and then placing them on their side in the freezer.

Partially filled metal containers work well for long term emergency storage where it could stay frozen for months on end. Metal containers make it easier to melt a big block of ice rather than trying to chip it out of a plastic bottle.

For shorter term storage you can try wrapping your water bottle with some kind of insulation and store it upside down so that the ice forms in the bottom first and does not block the drinking spout. Also add a bit of gator aid or other mix which will lower the freezing point of the water.

Hi Jim,

I am glad to hear that someone else has noticed this sediment also. I still do not know what it is?

Mike

This thread reminds me of being back in college and visiting friends at the University of Maine. We stored our excess party beverages outside, and at one point someone uttered the phrase:

"We all need to drink faster, because the beer is starting to explode."

It is an age old problem to be sure. Like some of you have mentioned, the 2-liter plastic soda bottles usually do not crack when the water inside freezes, at least in my experience.

What I would really like is non-freezable water that is drinkable! It can take alot of fuel and time to melt ice.