Billy,

Been there, done that. Big time.

I picked up some one-gallon bottles of distilled water for both of our vehicles. I chose distilled as it can do double duty (drinking water or radiator water).

One fine day I popped open the RubberMaid ActionPacker in the back of my Landcruiser to get something. D'oh!!!

The both water bottles had leaked. That would be bad enough if I needed it in an emergency, but the leak ruined over $100 in survival gear and tools. Rust and mildew were in everything.

I did a quick check of my wife's trunk (her car, not her caboose) and found her water bottle had also leaked. Fortunately there was a small drain hole in the wheel well in the trunk and the water simply exited the car. No gear/tool damage, but no water either.

From doing a bit of reading, I found that the semi-opaque water bottles (like used for milk jugs) are very poor storage containers that are prone to leaks over time. If you want to buy prepackaged water in gallon or larger containers, buy the water that comes in the hard, clear plastic containers. It is much more rugged.

Lessons learned:

First:
Choose suitable storage containers for water. Before storing water at home, I bought a variety of 5 gallon containers designed specifically for water. I found that most of them leak if tipped over or stored on their side. Unacceptable! For home use, I have had 100% success with Aquatainer jugs. Never a leak and includes a water spigot. Very nice, but they can be a bit large for vehicle use.

Initially I tried the red Rubbermaid plastic gas jugs for our vehicles. I would fill them with a water/baking soda mix, and let them soak overnight to remove the plastic taste. Then fill with clean water and treat with bleach. I always carefully and prolifically mark the outside as “WATER”. Now I just buy small individual bottles of drinking water and store them in a small Rubbermaid container to protect them from damage and to limit any possible leak damage to other gear. I have had no leaks and rotate them annually. I have younger kids and this is a better (but more costly) solution as I can more easily distribute the water amongst us if we need to hike away from our vehicle. Not so easy to do with a 5 gallon, or even one gallon jug.

Second: I put all my preparedness gear for the vehicles in double-bagged Ziplocs. This separates the gear and limits damage from water, mildew, leaking batts, etc. It also helps reduce damage from vibration-friction. I discovered that my foil packed survival bars (Mainstay I think), had vibrated in the storage container and also had small pinholes worn in the foil. These were now ripe for spoilage. Double bagging reduces the friction and eliminates the wear on the foil.

Third: Inspect your gear on a regular basis. Despite my prolific errors, I did discover the problems before the kits/gear was needed in an emergency situation.

Please learn from my stupidity.

TR (Brainless in Seattle)