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  1. #21

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    These days most people are using one of these:

    http://www.statelinetack.com/item/bucket-cart-for-40qt-muck-bucket/BRE22/?srccode=GPSLT&gclid=CO-KoY7Xy88CFYNGXgodYVgJIg&kwid=productads-adid^53091238428-device^c-plaid^109332507948-sku^70002-adType^PLA

  2. #22
    Registered User KDogg's Avatar
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    The answer completely depends on how much you drink and how far apart the water sources are. I found one liter to be plenty for most of the trail. There was about a month that I carried two liters because water sources were dried up. Guthook's app was ideal for water planning as the waypoint comment sections usually had up to date information on the water source. Don't assume that your if your AWOL guide says there is a reliable water source that it is true. The East coast didn't get much rain this year so much of the water information was just wrong.

    I never carried extra water "just in case". Water is heavy and you will really never be in a life threatening situation if you run out of water. You may be miserable for a few miles but you won't die. I had two of the 2L Sawyer bags the entire trail. Yes, they break but they but are only $10 for two and are commonly found at outfitters along the trail. When I got to camp at night I filled both. This was enough for dinner, breakfast and filling of my smart water bottle in the morning.

    Once again, get Guthook's guide. You will still need AWOL for resupply information but Guthook's gives you GPS info and the waypoint comments which I found very useful. Spend a few minutes in the morning with your hiking group planning water, lunch and break stops and you will have very few water issues.

  3. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by MuddyWaters View Post

    Its actually possible to only drink at sources and not carry any, except in late summer drought in a few areas. But this is not real smart to attempt.
    To the OP: the above statement along with "you only need to carry 1 liter of water" is exactly why you need to take advice with a huge grain of salt. It's not absolute and you will have to figure out what you need.However, I would advise not starting off thinking you will need to carry minimal water or no water at all between sources.
    Last edited by capehiker; 10-08-2016 at 14:10.

  4. #24

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    My rule is "don't carry water up to water". You need to look at the map and check the weather (NOAA) and figure out where you need to fill up and where you can get along with half a liter (ie most of the time). We always aim for a known spring/shelter to fill up 2 liters before camping for the night, but other than that it is rarely necessary to carry more than 1 liter during the day, especially in the typical cloudy cool mountain weather. You are not in the Grand Canyon.

  5. #25

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    I usually carry at least 2 liters in normal conditions, even when there will be a chance to replenish the supply later in the day. And if I plan to stealth that night, I make sure that I have plenty of water for supper, breakfast, and the first few miles of the next day's hike.

  6. #26

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    on the AT, I would never carry more than 2L's of water hiking unless I was going up to elevation to camp without a water source or a really long dry section.

    I carry two smartwater bottles, 1000ml, each and a 2000ml evernew collapsible.

    I like to setup camp with two filtered liters and another 2L's of dirty water at hand... that is ideal for me

    typically while hiking here on the east coast, i only ever really have to carry a liter of water. camel up when you get to a source and drink a good amount of water with breakfast

  7. #27

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    One liter is usually plenty, but I would have the capabilty to carry 2-3 if need be. Depending on the season sources could be dry leaving you with longer carries.
    - Young Blood | AT2015 | PCT2016 | CDT2017

  8. #28

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    I did 2 1 liter smart water bottles.
    Days I wan't to hike particularly fast and knew water shouldn't be an issue I carried a 1/2 liter in each bottle and just cameled up in the am and at lunch


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  9. #29

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    The bigger my hump gets the more i pee.

  10. #30
    Registered User jjozgrunt's Avatar
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    I will be carrying the following for the AT. 2 x 700ml flip top smart bottles on the pack straps, both full and an empty 1lt bottle in a side pocket and a 32oz nalgene collapsible canteen that I use with my sawyer squeeze. Gives me options to carry lots of water if I need to. I hate bladders having dropped a full 3lt on a thru hike and it split. Had to hike for nearly 2 days carrying, it my hands, on its side till I got to a picnic area and found a 2 lt bottle in the rubbish.
    "He was a wise man who invented beer." Plato

  11. #31

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    You really don't want to be carrying water that you don't need to - it's one of your heaviest items. Some ideas: Always camp at a water source. Before leaving camp, drink as much water as you comfortably can ("camel up"), so you start hiking fully hydrated. Know what water sources you are expected to reach during your hiking day. Guidebooks like AWOL's and Guthook's app are very helpful as are reports from other hikers. I typically leave camp with two 20 oz gatorade bottles attached to my packstraps and plan to get additional water at water sources, treating it with either a SteriPen or a Sawyer so that I can drink as much as I want right away, and carry no more than my Gatorades. If there is to be no more water until evening camp, I will add an additional 1-2 liters to my load, depending on the weather, mileage, and elevation changes. It's rare that 1 additional liter is not enough. I carry two 2-liter Evernew water containers that I use in camp, usually treated with Aqua Mira. These give me additional capacity if I should need it or have to dry-camp, which I really try to avoid. YMMV.
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  12. #32
    Registered User ddanko2's Avatar
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    My general rule of thumb is 1 liter per 4-5 miles, plus 1/2 liter for every 1,000' gained. So, if I know I have 10 miles to the next water source, and there's a 1,000' climb in between, 2.5 liters will get me there with a little to spare. I do think that I tend to drink a little more than most out on the trail though (and also, water sources on the AT are typically less than 10 miles apart, unless it's very dry!)

  13. #33
    Garlic
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    Quote Originally Posted by QiWiz View Post
    ...Always camp at a water source...or have to dry-camp, which I really try to avoid.
    I think most feel this way, but I don't. My finest camps have been dry camps. Often water-side sites are the coldest, wettest, dewiest, buggiest, most crowded and noisiest, and have have more critters trying to get into your food. Give me a breezy dry ridge on a humid, buggy evening any time. Nighttime thermal inversions are common in the hills, and you can often get warmer by going up a few hundred feet. I often enjoy the morning view of mist in the valley below, where campers are soaked with dew.

    I think it's appropriate this thread because this style of camping does require a bit extra water capacity. But not much more if you eat and wash up at a water source, then hike on a mile or so to camp. I never carry more than one extra liter to a dry camp. Usually 1/2 liter will do, just for drinking water and a bit to wash down breakfast.
    "Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning

  14. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by garlic08 View Post
    I think most feel this way, but I don't. My finest camps have been dry camps. Often water-side sites are the coldest, wettest, dewiest, buggiest, most crowded and noisiest, and have have more critters trying to get into your food. Give me a breezy dry ridge on a humid, buggy evening any time. Nighttime thermal inversions are common in the hills, and you can often get warmer by going up a few hundred feet. I often enjoy the morning view of mist in the valley below, where campers are soaked with dew.

    I think it's appropriate this thread because this style of camping does require a bit extra water capacity. But not much more if you eat and wash up at a water source, then hike on a mile or so to camp. I never carry more than one extra liter to a dry camp. Usually 1/2 liter will do, just for drinking water and a bit to wash down breakfast.
    I did an experiment on my last furnace hot August trip by camping both on water and on ridgelines to see which is cooler. Definitely camp by water, boys!!! Plus when you're on water you can repeatedly go swimming to cool the troubled heart.

    The problem with water sites esp on the AT is that many trails are ridgeline trails and never parallel or follow water sources. You'd have to get off on a blue blaze into a valley to stay on a creek trail all day to camp every night on a creek.

    When I plan a backpacking trip in this current drought (an October trip is coming up), I shoot for a route from one valley watershed to the next and only dry camp for a day between valleys.

    One day I hauled over two gallons of water just so I could stay on a ridge and mountain tops for 3 days.

  15. #35

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    One of the other issues about always camping at a water source is that's what everyone else tends to do particularly on trails like the AT. Established often beaten down campsites ensue. The cookie cutter hiker mentality is further promoted. No matter how careful people are the sheer AT usage numbers leads to wildlife associating food/salt/sugar/garbage/etc at these sites, human vectored virus, parasites, and diseases being a higher risk, etc.

    Backpacking has no rules like organized sports in the sense of soccer, baseball, etc. We're not all doing the same hike. That means there is no one right way or one appropriate connect the dots diagram that fits all people all the time. There is no such thing as "this is the way to hike the AT." We're not all in the same place in regard to knowledge or skill sets either. Too often this is what has happened on trails like the AT, PCT and JMT...cookie cutter hiking where people expect they don't have to ultimately be personally responsible for the hike they experience and the impact they create. It should be understood here on WB and when reading journals and books and researching other forums much of what's shared are opinions based on what someone else believed worked for them. And even that is subject to change as we evolve. With backpacking and hiking you get to, and have to, make your own decisions especially when it comes to things like logistics ...water logistics. Too many variables otherwise.

  16. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by KDogg View Post
    Water is heavy and you will really never be in a life threatening situation if you run out of water. You may be miserable for a few miles but you won't die.
    Actually, running out of water can absolutely be a life threatening situation. True dehydration would leave one unable to go a few miles to get to the next water source. I'm all for not carrying an excessive amount of water to the next water source, but one should never put oneself in a situation not hydrated enough to make it there. If that means arriving at a water source carrying some water, so be it.

  17. #37

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    Regarding Dogwood's reply---Then again, the AT is not the only game in town, there are hundreds of miles of trails adjacent to the AT in the Southeast people can use to backpack. I commonly go on trips where I don't see any backpackers for 3 weeks or more.

    If I wanted to learn about a certain place like Linville Gorge, I'd go to their forum site and talk to a few old hands and experts. THEN I'd take my personal knowledge of backpacking along with whatever else they could share. It all works out in the end.

    A backpacking forum of course is about sharing opinions. Funny thing is, experience produces unique and valuable opinions which is why everyone here listened to Jack Tarlin and a few others when they spoke.

    Do newbs have opinions? Yes. Are they valued? Not much.

  18. #38
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    I would usually carry 2 litres of water away from a source. Most of the time I would only drink one litre before reaching the next source so the second was more of a reserve. In the hotter months I tried to force myself to drink an extra litre at the source before moving on because I got a little paranoid about getting overly dehydrated. The only time I carried more than 2 litres was when I knew I was going to be camping in a spot with no water source. In my opinion, carrying anything more than 2 litres is unnecessary and extra weight you could do without.

  19. #39
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    I'v learned to never camp too close to a water source. Got nearly trampled by an elk in the night once.
    Main point is, any water source is important to wildlife. Most (bigger) animals come in the late evening or during the night to get their fill, and would be disturbed by me being there.
    In the desert, it is more life endangering: Where water there is green and shrubs, where shrubs there are mice, where mice there are snakes. At least there are moskitos.
    So I always go away from the water source for at least 1/2hr walk, and am careful to not occupy a deer track leading to the water.
    But usually I camel up on the spring and carry an extra bottle up and on to the dry camp.

    The biggest amount of water I ever carried was 9 liters, that was on the very first day of a desert hike.
    I was just scared to death by the vast desert ahead. Found out that there were good water sources daily along the hike.

  20. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    Regarding Dogwood's reply---Then again, the AT is not the only game in town, there are hundreds of miles of trails adjacent to the AT in the Southeast people can use to backpack. I commonly go on trips where I don't see any backpackers for 3 weeks or more.

    If I wanted to learn about a certain place like Linville Gorge, I'd go to their forum site and talk to a few old hands and experts. THEN I'd take my personal knowledge of backpacking along with whatever else they could share. It all works out in the end.

    A backpacking forum of course is about sharing opinions. Funny thing is, experience produces unique and valuable opinions which is why everyone here listened to Jack Tarlin and a few others when they spoke.

    Do newbs have opinions? Yes. Are they valued? Not much.
    Except by possible newERbs, and then only in a relative sense.
    " Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. "

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