The popular call before putting on our packs at Philmont was "Camel up!" Same idea but it captures the young men's imagination better.

Regarding dipping the bag: my son and I both experienced a intestinal ailment because of poor technique when doing this. Our bladders have a big ziplock type opening at the top for easy filling. We scooped up water in a river and used polar pure in the bladder. A few days later we both came down with the intestinal ailment. I figure we must have come into contact with contaminated water somehow. My best guess is that we didn't leak the treated water properly at the threads where the hose and bite valve connect. I think I should have waited a while longer for the PolarPur to distribute through the entire bag. But were were in a hurry to make the next camp, which is why we used the PolerPur instead of taking the time to use the filter.

I won't make that mistake again. My son was fortunate/unfortunate that he came down with altitude sickness and was transported back down to base camp when the ailment hit him. I was on the trail on a steep, rock up hill climb when it hit me. I was miserable to say the least. I also twisted my anklenear the end the day's hike. Not totally related but I suspect that the distraction and general weakness from being sick made me more vulnerable to injury.

BTW, for those familiar with Philmont, I was hiking up to Sawmill from Ute Gulch. Tough trail to be sick on. Not a lot of "red roof inns" or "pilot/bombadier" opportunities. And it wasn't easy to locate a safe, suitable rock-free site away from the stream to dig cat holes. The best part was the hotest shower on the trail as the tobassco boiler had been stoked all day long. And thank goodness for Gatorade!

Like I said, I won't make that mistake again.



The Nalgene was for crew meals so that is always filled as it's part of youer responsibility to the crew. And the Gatorade bottle is always filled since I like having Gatorade or similar mix on a hike. But what most folks seem to forget is that just because it's a 3-liter bladder doesn't mean you need to fill it all the way up if your next water source is nearby.

Likewise, different folks consume different amounts of water. My son was draining his bladder while mine was still half full. And my urine was "clear and copious" so I know I was propely hydrated.



Agreed!!!

My personal experience with CamelBak® Disclaimer* has been nothing but a joy, I've owned the light weight bladder only style and just recently got a Motherlode.

A good canteen is great, Nalgene® bottles are great, it really depends on how he likes to carry his water and how he plans to get more water.

It really depends a lot on what you plan on doing with your son.







(*not affiliated with, I've got no stake other than owning and using for 8+ years)

Several people have talked about the nesting cup for a Nalgene, but still not having the flexibility of the nesting stove stand like a military canteen set up. I came across this thread some time ago and made one out of a coffee can. Makes a great stove stand and windscreen. Easily accomodates a Trangia stove or bring along some Esbit tabs. I keep the entire set up in an Outdoor Research bottle holder for a compact, go anywhere package.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=239693

I agree with Nalgene use for filter attachment and ease of use with a SteriPen. Camelback's nalgene knockoff is okay as well, although I broke of the bite valve thumbrests within hours of purchase and there are more "parts" to keep clean.

I have several different bladders, worn out more than my share,
I like the Cabela bladder's bite valve the best, lots of flow. And the material it is made of tends to keep a better taste longer.

I bought stainless steel bottles and just recently started using them, they tend to make a lot more sloshy noise than I like. But they are light and "un-crushable" in a sense.

So I usually have a big bladder (pun intended here as well)and a couple of nalgenes/camelback bottles, and one or two other bottles, either commercial PET (standard bottled water) or the stainless.

I'm in the desert, so depending on native water availability (many of the trails we use have springs marked)I may carry half of these empty knowing the spring is up trail.

There are a lot of good options out there now a days, just make sure you get a good stainless steel wide mouth bottle or canteen that will hook up to water filters or a steripen/miox and the same goes with a heavy duty bladder. The wide mouth supports filters and purifiers plus makes cleaning easier. Here's my set up as well, like I said there are a lot of good products out there and a lot of our it boils down to preference that's all.


I use a Guyot designs stainless steel 32 oz bottle with a ss cup for soup that fits in with the bottle plus I also have a MSR dromedary bag for large storage.

The MSR dromedary bag I have used for quite awhile has been very durable and I have not had any failure on them, they compact very well, light weight, tough as nails, can fit on to water filters, use as a shower bag and purify large amounts of water.

The Guyot designs 32 oz bottle is a little heaver but durable, boil water in it, hooks up to water filters, use a steripen water purifier in it or 1 tablet of a water purification tablet.




http://www.guyotdesigns.com/Product-Bottles

http://cascadedesigns.com/MSR/Water-Trea...ry-Bags/product

Since your son is still young, he has plenty of time to figure it out on his own. Hydration systems are kind of a personal thing, some people might like camelbaks, some like nalgene, that's why there are so many different types on the market.

When I was in scouts, we used metal canteens, and there weren't many other options at the time, so we just didn't know what we were missing. But as you mentioned, the drawbacks were the small opening so you couldn't add any powdered drink mixes to it (you'd never be able to clean it out afterwards). After a while, the wide mouth bottles came out (not nalgenes), then the nalgenes and camelbaks were coming onto the market. I've tried a few of different hydration systems like nalgenes and camelbaks, but currently I'm back to using the bottled water or large gatorade bottles. Durable, light, and best of all, free. Now my nalgenes and hydration bladders just sit around collecting dust.

I'm not a fan of the nalgenes because they're really heavy for their size, and for me I don't need a bulletproof waterbottle that can double as car chocks. You pay for all that durability in the form of extra weight. I'd rather sacrifice a little bit of strength to save on weight. I like the fact that some water filters screw directly onto them, but now they have adapters for regular water bottles as well, so that alone isn't enough of a selling point.

I never cared for hydration bladders because the tube is either in the way (when carrying a camera or other stuff), the mouthpiece always gets dirty when I set my bag down, and I like to know exactly how much water I have left when hiking. Plus cleaning and drying them is a bit more a pain. It's not difficult, just needs a little bit more care than rinsing out a water bottle. Also, I just don't like drinking from the mouthpiece, I don't know why, but even if there weren't any problems with them, I still wouldn't use them. They are nice for biking or other activities when you don't have your hands free, but other than that I still prefer bottles. Like I said, it's all personal preference, most everyone else I know loves them.

Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. When you're young, it doesn't really matter what you're using as long as it works. I know I never thought twice about the insulation in my clothes, the type of steel my knife was made from, what type of container was holding my water, or how many lumens my flashlight had. If only I could go back and not care, I would have saved a whole lot of money.

I like CamelBak's if I am being highly mobile or working heavy while in hot weather.They can be a life saver when in conditions hard to stay hydrated.When they first came out we had to fight the system to use them in the military.Now they seem to be standard issue.
In the winter they can be worn under the coat to keep them from freezing.That is the smaller ones(70oz.) without pockets so they add bulk under a coat.
The problem with hydration packs is you can't cook or "brew up" in one.I feel an ideal set up would be a day pack size hydration system with a stainless water bottle and cup.
I have a military version CamelBak HAWG and also a Guyot 38oz. bottle.Since I have left the service the CamelBak hardly gets used.The Guyot bottle is used daily.YMMV

BOATMAN
John