Storing stuff in Nalgene bottles

I've seen pics on various sites of people with their survival supplies inside their Nalgene bottle. Is it a good or bad idea to use your Nalgene bottle for storage until you need it for water? How about waterproof matches (in a match safe) or a small bottle of hand sanitizer?

I just got a 32-ounce wide mouth bottle and moving all the stuff I had in a waterproof box to inside the Nalgene bottle would conserve a good bit of space.

The stuff you put in the bottle, where does it go when you use the bottle for its intended purpose?

If you have that option covered, the it sounds like a fine idea. If said items wind up with no home but your hands, maybe not such a great deal after all.

I have several gallon ziplock bags inside my bag, I could double-bag it if necessary and store it in the inner pocket in my bag. My main concern was the matches or hand sanitizer chemicals, even though they're not in direct contact with the surface of the bottle.

My kit is kept inside a Nalgene bottle, and I have a metal cup that is designed to nestle on the end of the Nalgene too. The bottle/cup is held inside one of those neoprene bottle insulators that can be clipped on the outside of my pack (although I typically keep it inside). Contents could be dumped into the neoprene insulator sack if I needed to use the bottle as a normal bottle. You can't ask for a more waterproof place to store your kit than a Nalgene bottle. And it's easy to break or recreate the watertightness just by opening/closing the lid normally. Some kits are sealed with tape, and their waterproofness may be compromised the first time you pull that tape off and it doesn't stick as well when you reapply it.

I highly doubt any chemicals would transfer, and if they did, they'd be such small trace amounts that it wouldn't bother you. It's not like you're storing super-toxic Anthrax in there.

I think it's a great idea, if, Like Des sez, you have a place to put the stuff when you need the bottle for water.

I think storing items in a polycarb bottle is a fine idea since it is a light and very strong container and you can even easily see the items inside it. With an appropriate cap, it is also watertight and will float. As others have mentioned, it would be good to have a plastic bag inside that can be used to carry the items or keep the contents dry after you need to take them out of the bottle to use it.

I use mine to store food bars (Marathon, Cliff) to protect them from crushing and to help contain the smell (bears, racoons, and skunks, oh my!). Another holds a headlamp, spare batteries, and other small gadgets I'd prefer stay dry. If I need the bottles for water, I have room for these items elsewhere, they just won't be as protected as they were in the bottles.

I might stay away from the hand sanitizer. Having just cleaned up where a bottle of hand sanitizer leaked in the center console of my truck, I could see it making the water taste bad if it leaked.

Just a thought.

It would seem that Nalgene bottles are kind of heavy for a survival kit. But then again, my perception of a survival kit is much simpler than some.

Ken

I stuff all empty containers full of stuff.
If I don't do that then I am just packing empty air around.
I like things like Nalgene lab bottles for anything that can be squeezed and leak.
Toothpaste is nasty to clean out of your pack once the tube has ruptured.
I just try to avoid putting toxics into food containers.
Neither matches nor hand sanitizer are toxic, but they can be stuffed inside of a baggy first if you are worried about them.

Where are you going to put your water?

I think some people see those water bottle "Survival" kits in various stores and simply try to copy it. Or they may just buy one. Truth is, if you're in a survival situation, water is one of the most important things you should have.

Keep your water bottle full of water. You'll be happy you did when you need it.

I think it is a good idea to put the stuff in the bottle. If you get a source of water to fill the bottle, you can always give the bottle a decent washing first with clean/boiled water.

I echo the comments of adding a small waterproof bag of some sort folded into the bottle. Maybe include a small stuffbag as well. They don't take up much room. Then, if you need the bottle, you will have your items in a waterproof bag inside the stuffbag, which can be placed where you need it or carried in a cargo pocket, or what-have-you.

In most survival situations, I need water more than I need my survival stuff. After an earthquake, there may be no opportunity to turn on a tap or filter water from a lake for a cold refreshing drink - my nearby lake should be polluted by ruptures to regional sewer lines. To be prepared I need water stored before an event, and not hope to find it after. So stuff that I might store in a nalgene I just store elsewhere. Smelly stuff that attracts critters and bears do just fine in a bear bag, hung from a tree at night.

And if you use one of the SS type bottles for your kit container, you can boil your water in the bottle, if need be. Not as easy to do with a poly bottle.

All depends on your need for that bottle. As Lono stated, you may want it filled already, or you have it as additional carry capacity if you source water.

Who says you only get to have one water bottle? My water goes in a different bottle (or hydration bladder) than my survival gear. The survival bottle could be pressed into use as a water holding implement during an emergency, but normally it's just a watertight container for survival gear. It does not hold my only survival gear. It supplements the PSK that is always in my pocket. But you can get a lot more survival gear into a Nalgene than into an Altoid tin, so the Nalgene stays in my pack.

Zip Lock bags simply do not work for any period of hiking.

I tried them out in my water backpack which is what I use to hike along the lake and river and has the chance of getting splashed or wet.

After maybe 5 miles the bags were rubbed through in some places, and others had opened. Double bagged, and not, zip-lock brand heavy duty and normal.

Bags simply are not strong enough to move around in a backpack.

They have THICKER plastic bags not sold at grocery stores that work... the map carriers that are for hiking are nice too.

I store stuff in my nalgene, works great.

I have other water in the backpack, so it doesn't need to reside in the Nalgene bottle right now. The Nalgene bottle (and it's contents) are for a survival situation, so I'm not concerned about having to remove the stuff to use the bottle.

There's water everywhere here, I doubt I'd have a hard time sourcing any. And I bet my odds are better of winning the lottery every week for a year straight than of having an earthquake hit here.

I'm also not too worried about the stuff that I'm now carrying in the Nalgene bottle getting wet when I take it out. Most of it is a waterproof flashlight, a Fox 40 whistle, a knife sharpener, a magnesium fire starter, a wire saw, a Starflash signal mirror, a waterproof match safe, etc... I'm just trying to conserve space by not having to take up space in other parts of the bag. In my opinion, anything in my bag that can contain something inside of it, should do so to conserve space.

So long as you have a second water container, or something to put the stuff in if you need the bottle, I say go for it. A good polycarb is hard to break, is water tight, and just can't die. A coworker of mine kayaks, and it turns out he keeps a 14oz wide mouth full of firestarting gear, PA tabs, SAK and a few odds and ends in a pocket in his life jacket and tethered to him in case he and the kayak have a parting of ways.

I do this at work. I use gallon non-ziploc bags, and double bag the inside of the nalgene, then put everything into it. If I need to fill it with water, just pull out the bag with everything in it. Problem solved.

As stated above, this is not an either or proposition. If you have your water needs covered an extra container will not hurt.

Water-Crush-Impact resistant, Floats easy to open/rec close and available in your favorite designer colors. Hundreds of carry options as many backpacks, fanny bags, bicycles, etc come with 'Nalgene Bottle Holders' already.

I recently got about a half dozen at $1.99 each from Marshals as they were Polycarbonate with BPA (and we all know that that will kill you all if you just look at the bottle).

I hope you will post pics of your kits. I am still working on mine. I planned to use a mesh bag to hold some items together, but maybe a Ziploc bag will work better.

I used to have one bottle packed with stuff, but finally decided that I didn't like that concept and went another way...

I do need to take some pictures maybe tonight and post them of what's in my bag so far.