I have seen on this site that the Gerber 6oz Breast Milk Bags work pretty well for carrying and storing water, so I decided to try them out. I got a 25 pack at the store for around $5.00. Let me say these things are great. I have a GI canteen/canteen cup in my BOB so I figured I would add some of the Gerber bags in one of the small pouches of the MOLLE canteen carrier. I could fit almost an entire pack in one side pouch. Some may be wondering why carry the bags right along side a canteen (or you may already have an idea where I'm going with this). The canteen cup holds 12ozs. The Gerber bags hold six. That means in the field you could use the canteen cup to boil water and then fill 2 Gerber bags at a time. So you could shell out purified water (if you have a water source and a fire to boil the water) to as many people that might be in or join your party as you have bags. I also have gallon size water carriers for my home kit. If I had just a couple of minutes to distribute water from the gallon jugs to the Gerber bags that's just more water that I could carry easily instead of leaving it behing if I had to bug out. I tried filling some of the bags out of a pitcher of water and I could easily fit 2 bags in each cargo pocket of a pair of BDU's. I leave enough room in my BOB that I could fit many more pouches in there as well. I have not tried any drop tests or heat/cold tests with them so if anyone has any experience with these bags I would love to hear more. Thanks as always.

My wife used the gerber bags while she was breastfeeding our son. they worked ok, but they had closure issues...we had a few come open when they shouldn't have, they also we not very condusive to freezing. I keep some just for outdoor use. If you're going camping, the water idea works well, as well as keeping individual portions of food to fix later. I've used them for to keep everything from trail mix to a marinated chicken breast. As I said, the gerber bags are ok, but check out bags by medela, they're a tougher plastic and can stand more re-uses, just wash them out and go again.

Another use is to fill them with water and freeze them, put them in a cooler to keep perishable stuff cold, and you've got potable water when they thaw.

Hi CBTENGR,

Have you checked out Doug's review of different water carriers and his discussion on the Gerber breast milk bags?

Good stuff there.

Cheers,
~Nemo

These Lansinoh bags are far better than the Gerber ones. They have a tear off top that keeps the bag closed and sterile until you need it. They stand up better than the Gerber bags. The zip closer is sturdier than the Gerber ones.

I also picked up a pack of the Gerber bags and have been quite happy with them so far. The ones I bought have 6oz measuring markings on them, but I found that if I fill them all the way to the zipper, they actually hold 16oz. This is the perfect size for the purification tablets I carry. Just for grins, I tossed one in my cargo pocked on a day hike, it was kind of annoying having it bouncing around there, but it never leaked

I carried two filled at the 6oz mark in a cargo pocket for a short 3 mile nature walk and had no problems. I don't think I would add more than the recommended 6ozs in one bag. I don't want to test them any more then what I would need them for in an emergency situation. I think that may be overlooking a good thing in a bad situation for a great thing in an ideal situation.

I just went out and gave these a try since I bought the same brand. They do hold just about 16 oz if you fill them to the zipper. They don't seem to leak if you treat them gently. The double zipper closure seem really tight.

Here is the rub, if you drop them, or just toss them around a bit, they will start to weep at the bottom seam corner. Tried it with two different bags. I tossed one in the sink (maybe 12 inches) and it did it. I tossed the other on the driveway from about 12 inches as well and the same thing happened in the same spot.

Net result, they look like they will work, just treat them as you would a condom water carrier---be gentle.

Bill