I don't know if there's a problem with coffee, but this morning, I realized that I forgot my insulated cup at the office yesterday. So, I pulled out my Eddie Bauer lexan bottle (same as Nalgene) and poured 32 oz of nice hazelnut & vanilla coffee into the bottle. The liquid wasn't boiling but it was very hot. Brought it to work and kept drinking on my way. I didn't put the lid on though, I was worried that it might leak or explode or something.

No bad taste, no nothing. I rinced it a minute ago and put fresh water in it... sounds like this might retire my insulated cup.

Snot. Dirty ears. Other comments.

Lexan flasks, including those made by Nalgene using the same formula they use for water bottles, are used for medical and enviromental lab work every day. If there was something leeching into the samples, you'd see it as a constant lab contaminant. And we don't see it.

I clean mine with dish soap and warm-hot water, but I put tea in them every winter. Never had anything I could taste or an ill effect. The one time I had an effect, it turned out to be a water source contaminant. As a result, any water from my parent's tap has to be boiled- again, never noticed anything.

I would be more concerned with the HDPE ones, actually.

I don't believe that the recent research demonstrating the leaching of BPA involved the kind of food-grade polycarbonate (Lexan) containers that we're talking about. The original scare started when a scientist noticed a higher rate of genetic abnormalities in her mice. She traced the cause back to BPA leaching from the polycarbonate mouse cages that had been cleaned with a strong detergent. These cages are a lower grade of polycarbonate and I'm assuming that the detergent was much stronger that any household detergent.

Besides bottles, I've also been using Lexan "silverware" now and then. That stuff gets exposed to reactive substances (like chili sauce) even while in use. Hmm. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Could you elaborate on what made you change your mind?

The initial reason I bought a hydration pack was because it was cheap! A special sale at REI Outlet.com got me a BCA MicroFlash hydration pack for $17.95 I think it was. I was looking for a small pack but not really the hydration part. So I bought this thing with the intention of removing the bladder.

I tried a hike with the bladder in place, before my planned removal, and found I was sipping water nearly constantly. Every few minutes. Much more than when I'd have to pull out a H2O bottle from inside a pack. I'd walk up a hill, breath a little harder and dry out the mouth, and found I really liked a quick sip to wet things down again. In the past I'd have said to myself, "Just had a drink - don't need another one this soon." Since you don't stop or even slow down to drink with a hydration bladder, you don't fell the urge to deny yourself and keep moving. I think I just prefer the near continuous drip feed of a hydration bladder setup over the binge/deny scenerio I used to follow.

I never understood hydration packs until I moved to Arizona. They are not a replacment for my Nalgene bottles (two of which I have are 15 years old) but usefull just the same. One benefit of Nalgene bottles is that you can put just about anything in them without them staining or holding the taste.

I am also fond of my hydration pack.
Before using it, I would stop, drop the backpack, get the bottle out of the pack, drink a mouthful or two, wait a bit, drink some more, put the bottle back inside the pack, put the pack on my back and start walking again..... hen I would have to walk faster to regroup with my hike buddy, who didn't stop to drink ....
Now, I just nibble on the hydration pack's mouth piece from time to time, each time I feel like it, while walking.
it sure no longer breaks the rythm of my walk.
And I'm better hydrated.

In addition to the hydration pack (about 1.5 liter), I also have in the rucksack a 1.5liter plastic bottle of mineral water and and a sturdy 1 liter aluminium canteen. Should I fall, the plastic bottle may break, but the alu canteen should resist. That's my emergency water reserve, the one I do normally not drink during the day hike.

No Nalgene bottle up to now...

I still have to stop sometimes.... to empty my bladder ! <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Is there heat transfer between your body and the hydration pack? I would think your body would heat up having that much contact with the bladder, and/or the water would warm up faster from body temperature.

Most are housed in an insulated carrier.