Desert Water Carry (Extra Bottles or Bladders?)

[House On My Back]

For the long water stretches in the 700-mile desert section where 5-7 liter water carries are sometimes required, did you carry extra bottles or bladders or both? I'm finalizing my Mojave rig and it seems reasonable to have two extra 1 liter bottles hanging with me in the front, two everyday 1 liter bottles in the side pouches and 1 extra 2 or 4 liter reservoir in the pack or back mesh. Is this a reasonable setup for an Arc Blast 55 without pushing its limits? I've never carried this much water before and obviously want to be as efficient as possible and paying attention to the PCT Water Report. I'm sure I'm rehashing an old thread just want to have my ducks in a row since I'm starting later than a lot of the others (May 14 start date).

[AllDownhillFromHere]

I recently purchased 2 Evernew bladders, they each weigh about what a Smartwater bottle weighs, but they hold 2L each, and roll up when empty.

Have you tried the 1L bottles on the front? I've looked into it and seen mixed reviews.

Watch the water report, it's not like you'll need 6L every day, there's a few hot/dry stretches for sure, but it's not like the Sahara.

[map man]

A few years ago when I needed to carry as much as seven liters of water in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in west Texas, I carried 2 rigid one liter gatorade bottles and five collapsible platypus one liter containers. The platypi weigh just one ounce each and don't take up much room in your pack when they are not filled with water. Rigid bottles do take up a lot of room.

[Coffee]

I used a combination of smart water bottles and 2L platypus containers on the PCT in Southern California. Usually I would hike with 1.5 - 2 L in the Smart water bottles. I had two 2L platypuses for longer carries for a total of 6L. I believe it was coming out of Tehachapi that I added one additional Gatorade bottle for added capacity. The key thing is redundancy. Best to avoid one huge bladder, for example. You don't want your one water storage container to fail - so having many is better than fewer.

[Dogwood]

I wouldn't take much from what others did in the past as your mid May start date, out of the norm, very likely requires greater water carrying capacity and backpacking approach.


With that date I'd reserve my approach to much more night hiking. It will factor highly in less need for carrying very above avg wts of water even for PCT NOBOs.


I would seek advise from Postholer on how the 2018 PCT snow levels are shaping up.



FWIW, with my typical mid April NOBO start dates I carry both - a couple of Smartwater bottles one on each shoulder strap, like seen in WB User Lazarus' user pic, and a Platypus of 2 L, which is more like 2.5 L when filled to capacity. I consider my water logistics decently above avg with a good amt of desert backpacking experience.


With that date I'd be giving serious consideration to sun protection clothing and/or sun umbrella.

[Malto]

How much water you carry will really depend on the particular year and when you hit certain areas. I carried two 1-quart gatoraids bottles and two 1 liter collapsible. Like that combo as I can stow the collapsible away when they aren't needed.

[MuddyWaters]

Ive carried 6.5L

Thats only 14.5 lb

If rest of gear is light its manageable. I bumped me to about 31lbs with 5 day food. I used circuit, my old arc would suck bad at that. No experience with new ones, but you quickly get into conventional pack territory.

I just used 2 skinny one liter bottles in each side pocket, and a 2 L platy. The platy actually holds 2.5 full.

I'm not necessarily recommending it but I've also used gallon Ziploc still hold a couple of extra L for short sections. And then the ziplock becomes my garbage bag. A couple of extra gallon Ziplocs weighs about 1 ounce. Double bag. If a trail only has a one or two-day dry stretch that's typically what I end up doing. I always have one or two extra qt Ziplocs for dinner in case one breaks, they make great extra water capacity if needed for one day .

[AllDownhillFromHere]

I recently purchased 2 Evernew bladders, they each weigh about what a Smartwater bottle weighs, but they hold 2L each, and roll up when empty.
Have you tried the 1L bottles on the front? I've looked into it and seen mixed reviews.
Watch the water report, it's not like you'll need 6L every day, there's a few hot/dry stretches for sure, but it's not like the Sahara.

Responding to my own post - as a data point I started May 14 last year as well.

[gwschenk]

I'd be prepared to haul 2 gallons. Bladders are nice, they roll up.

[imscotty]

House on My Back;

I'm starting a section hike from Campo on May 16th. Hope I see you, but I doubt I'll catch up.

I'll be carrying 2 x 1L bottles and a 6L MSR dromedary bladder. I'll be bringing a hiking umbrella too.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

House on My Back;I'm starting a section hike from Campo on May 16th. Hope I see you, but I doubt I'll catch up.I'll be carrying 2 x 1L bottles and a 6L MSR dromedary bladder. I'll be bringing a hiking umbrella too.

+1 for the umbrella

[DuneElliot]

While not desert hiking I have had long water carries in South Dakota's Black Hills and had to carry 4+ liters for 15 miles or more for me and two dogs. I have an Evernew 2L bag for my dirty water. I fill my 2 1l Smart Water bottles and then fill the Evernew bag and put it in my pack for filtering later. I have carried an extra 2L Evernew before because it can be packed down small so had 6L carry capabilities although never needed quite THAT much. 4L was heavy but doable for my Arc Haul and I wasn't completely miserable (and I'm only 110lbs and can't carry a 40lb pack).

If you use the Evernew bags in this manner I would highly recommend changing out their caps...they leak as there is no seal and I ended up with some wet extra hiking clothes. I kept a couple of lids from older Smart Water bottles and switched them out

[Venchka]

This discussion comes at an opportune moment as I get serious about finally visiting Big Bend next winter.
Without benefit of any internet discussion and totally by accident, I find myself in possession of 4 soft water bottles totaling 8 liters and a 1 liter hard bottle on my hip belt. I’m good.
Thanks Y’all!
Wayne

[AllDownhillFromHere]

...If you use the Evernew bags in this manner I would highly recommend changing out their caps...they leak as there is no seal and I ended up with some wet extra hiking clothes. I kept a couple of lids from older Smart Water bottles and switched them out

This is a great tip. Are your bladders older? The ones I just bought _seemed_ to seal well, but they haven't yet been in my pack all day bouncing around.

[DuneElliot]

This is a great tip. Are your bladders older? The ones I just bought _seemed_ to seal well, but they haven't yet been in my pack all day bouncing around.

A couple of years old but they did it from day one. I don't know if they usually have a silicone seal in them and if they do maybe mine just got missed. I bought a couple extra more recently but didn't check them

[lonehiker]

This discussion comes at an opportune moment as I get serious about finally visiting Big Bend next winter.
Without benefit of any internet discussion and totally by accident, I find myself in possession of 4 soft water bottles totaling 8 liters and a 1 liter hard bottle on my hip belt. I’m good.
Thanks Y’all!
Wayne

Bigbendchat.com will be your go-to resource for spring/water information. On two recent trips to Big Bend (serious off-trail hiking) I got away with only 6 quart capacity. Should I do another trip where I push for the river, I would probably up my capacity to 7 or 8 quarts especially if the temps are solidly in the 90s as they were in November. If you are just doing OML then 6 is probably sufficient. Water can easily be cached at Homer Wilson Ranch and if you have high profile vehicle and the time you can also cache at Juniper Canyon TH. Again check with BBC as there you should get a good report as to what springs are flowing etc.

[Venchka]

Thanks! I read your trip report today. That was an awesome hike!
Wayne

[One Half]

I haven't done much desert hiking - just day hikes. But when I backpack I carry a 3L hydrapak seeker (weighs 3.3oz) for when I want to camp away from water or if water is scarce. I carry 2x 1L smart bottles and I have a 1L platypus bag which has dirty water. All totaled I can carry 6 Liters (1 is dirty in the platypus).

[Leo L.]

While not on the PCT, I'm doing lots of desert hiking.
The max I'd carried was 9 liters. I have a bunch of 1.5liter industrial square-shaped PE bottles, which fit fine into my pack (the big 80lt Lowe).
Last spring I was in the desert mountains with two frinds and very experienced hikers, and they showed me how you can squeeze and twist and crush empty PET bottles (I think this comes down to what you call smart waterbottles), just to later blow them up for use.

For any future high capacities water carries, my way to go would be: 1x 0.4lt bottle on my belt, 2x 1.5lt square bottles in the pack, and additional crushed 1.5lt PET bottles (as many as I'd need to get my fill).
Personally I dislike bladders: clumsy to fill, no knowledge about how much is left, and extra money (while the crush-able PET bottles are free).

[garlic08]

Like others above, my sweet spot for nearly seven liters is two of the 2+L Platypi (2.4L each) and two 1L soda bottles--reasonable cost, weight, and durability.

I do not use a drinking tube with the bladder(s).