Wandering Daisy wrote:Just a side-note. Lately I have found plenty of those lightest weight bottled water bottles left in the wilderness. If they break or leak be sure to pack them out. Seems like ditching them in a boulder field has become common.
At least your bear can did not go floating to the Pacific!
After being so careful not to get wet crossing the river, when I discovered my water bottle missing I went back and waded downstream quite a ways, hoping that somehow my bottle had gotten hung up somewhere. But there was just no way. Gone. Sorry about the unintentional litter. And I wish I could do something about the prevalence of mindset that litters intentionally.
You know, I'd never thought about it before, but my Bearikade would float, wouldn't it? Even though it feels like a big heavy rock when crammed full of food at the beginning of a trip it would be buoyant, at least at first.
I started with bladders, but switched to bottles in cold weather when the bladder hose would freeze. After a while I switched entirely to bottles because I have a better idea how much water I have with bottles, they don't have hoses that get moldy, and they don't have hoses that freeze. Also, I like having bottles when backpacking because they are easier to fill with water from lakes, springs, and streams than bladders are.
I am not comfortable with the lack of cleanliness with the bladders. To much tubing and the chance for a funky taste. It is easier to clean a bottle. If we are packing a stove we give the bottle the occasional boiling hot water treatment. Fill bottle with very hot water, cap, shake and pour out. We use the rechargeable Steripens and they are easy to use with wide mouth bottles.
We do keep a couple 4 liter MSR Dromedary bags for the sections where more water is needed or for overnight camping so we have enough water to get through the night and start the next day. We carry 2 MSR bags for our group of 3 plus a little bottle for each of us.
