By: randosteve|Posted on: January 29, 2009|Posted in: DIY - Modification, Gear, Gear Reviews | 29 comments
Yes…I am a confessed CamelBak addict. (Actually, I prefer the MSR Hydromedary bladders, modified with CamelBak accessories.) Whether its summer or winter, I find myself always sucking out of a hose for hydration when I’m in the mountains. In the summer, its’ easy. Just fill up your bladder, plop it in your pack…and you’re good. Winter can often be another story, with cold temps often freezing up your hose, making drinking impossible. While many companies offer insulated sleeves in their backpacks for hydration hoses, they aren’t a complete fix and I’ve had my hose still freeze up using them. I’ve also had the access zippers freeze up from the residual water in the bite value, nearly destroyed them trying to get them open. They also add in fiddle factor and I don’t really care if a backpack has one or not. So, what’s a skier to do? Here are some cold weather tips to help keep you drinking on the skin track with your hydration bladder.
Randosteve’s drinking rig. Made more durable with Seam Grip. Who needs BPA?
- Fill your bladder with hot water. Doesn’t have to be boiling….but the hotter the better I guess.
- Mix in your favorite electrolyte drink. I use Nuun because it is very easy to use in tablet form and doesn’t muck-up my bladder with a bunch of sugars like mixes with added carbohydrates do. The salts will act as an antifreeze freeze…though by how much…is hard to judge.
- Pack your bladder next to your backpack’s back panel, so your body will help keep it warm as you’re skinning. Also, stuff your extra gloves, hat, down jacket, food, etc, to insulate the water from the cold.
- Don’t fill your bladder all the way, and don’t squish it in your pack. The pressure will push water up into the hose, where it is harder to stay warm.
- Putting hot packs near the bite valve works well if you have an insulated shoulder strap on you backpack…but adds in fiddle factor.
- Hold the hose upward with the bite valve open after drinking. This allows all the water to flow back into the bladder, minimizing the amount of water able to actually freeze in the hose. Blowing air back into the hose just doesn’t cut it.
- Keep your hose on the shorter side, so the bite valve is more parallel to the ground when you’re wearing you backpack. This will make it easier for any remaining water in the hose to drip back into the bladder instead of sitting stagnate down near the bite valve.
- If your hose does freeze, or to prevent it from freezing in extreme cold, stick the hose down your back…between your body and backpack. Be sure the bite valve is in the ‘off’ position. After skinning for a few minutes, the hose will thaw. I have virtually always been able to revive a frozen hose using this technique and you don’t have to take off your backpack to do it. I find this is harder to do with backpacks that have insulated shoulder straps.
Sticking the hose down your back will thaw even the deepest freezes.
Got any tips of your own to add, or any nightmare hydration badder stories? Please, do tell in the comments section. I hope you can put some of these tips into play because I feel you really do drink more…and more consistently…when using a hydration bladder. Allowing you to go further…faster
Yes- I have a love/hate relationship with my camelback. I like the electolyte antifreeze idea. I have not found a shutoff valve that doesn’t freeze- which type do you use? As for hot water, you may want to do more research. I have been told that drinking hot tap water is really bad due to higher amounts of toxic heavy metals
(http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1413847)
and hot water and foods should not be eaten/drank out of plastic due to nasty plastic toxin leaching out of the plastic when warmed.
(http://www.wholeliving.com/article/watch-out-for-plastic-water-bottles) Stay hydrated but don’t poison yourself.
Thanks for the info AW. I use a CamelBak ergo-valve…for ease of drinking. I think the straight ones are probably less apt to freeze, since they probably drain excess water more easily, and are easier to shove down your back to thaw after they do freeze.
Good info on hot water from the faucet. I guess heating cold water on the stove top sounds like a better option.
Thanks for the tips, Steve. I have been fighting this issue as well. I have had a couple of very cold touring days this year and have had issues with freezing. I had an old-style straight bite valve that had no issues, but it failed (12 years old) on my first tour this year, so I have gone to the ergo-style bite valve. I like the shut-off valve, but it freezes very easily. I like the idea of putting in between your back and backpack. I assume it is outside your shell – is there enough heat to keep it unfrozen? How do you keep it in one place so that it doesn’t get uncomfortable?
Thanks,
Jim R.
Golden, CO
What do you mean your straight bite valve failed? Did it freeze…or did you pull out the valve part? Cuz if you pulled out the valve part, you can just stick them back in and they work fine. From what I’ve experienced at least.
Yes…outside your shell. Once the hose is in place in the center of your back…it tends to stay there when you are hunched over…skinning. You can also take your pack off and get it in place if your having trouble sticking it down you back with it on. If your hose is long enough (there is a fine line between too short and too long), you can reach back with your hand and pull it down you back more as well. You don’t really feel it either…since it sits in the indention by your spine.
Thanks for visiting Jim!
Maybe it’s just my configuration, but blowing air has always worked for me. There will be some ice but not enough to stop the flow and when the hot water is sucked back through, it melts any residual ice. I’ve always used hot tap water and was surprised to read it could contain heavy metals. I need to research that one – can’t lose anymore braincells to mercury. I use Power Bar Crytals (lemon) and the hot lemonade is great when it’s frigid. Also, in a pinch I’ve used hand warmers on the bladder.
Glad you’ve been able to push through the hydration bladder learning curve Grant.
Live…to DRINK! 😆
On wicked cold days I put a couple of heat packets, double bagged in ziplock baggies, into my bladder. The heat from thoes seems to keep the water in my bladder warm enough to melt out any ice jams in my hose. I just hope the baggies and heat packets never break…works good thus far though.
Nice one! Though it increases fiddle-factor, since your doing it in the warmth of your house…it’s probably worth.
I am with Grant – have been using the “blow back” trick : after drinking I just exhale into the tube to push the liquid back into the bladder and out of the drinking tube…has worked well for me….
If your hose freezes you’re not drinking fast enough! But seriously, I fill my Camelback up the night before and leave it out overnight to get it up to room temperature. Only time I had problems with freezing was when I filled it with cold water and threw the pack into the back of a pickup on the drive to the trailhead. I do drink a lot of water though, and that also helps keeps it from freezing.
Steve
I use the blowback method as well, works great for me!
Got any tips for drying out the MSR bags? I have a hell of a time getting mine to dry out…
No advice here…I’ve given up on bladder hydration due to fiddle factor and a few other reasons (even for mtn biking). Since I don’t race, taking the extra 15 seconds per hour to hydrate doesn’t really matter to me. Since you do race, I don’t expect to convert you or any other speed ascenders but here are some of the other reasons I prefer bottles. Easier to add some snow to stretch out the supply. Needless to say, cold water tastes better than hot water. Sharing water with someone (or someone’s dog) is kind of groty with a camelback. Much easier to clean bottles than bladders.
Mainly though, I like to know how much water I’m drinking and have left. While I think metabolically it doesn’t matter if you drink all your water in the first hour, it sure seems to add comfort (physical and mental) to stretch that last quarter bottle or so out a bit. And if you go dry, stretching with snow doesn’t really work.
Sorry for the threadjack! Peace.
To dry out a camelback/dromedary.
Take a coat hanger, pull it down so it is deformed into an odd diamond, stuff that down inside the camelback mouth, and hang it in a dry place. You’ll need to fiddle some with the bend of the wire to get it so it stays inside the bladder, but also keeps the walls apart.
A bike shop down in Atlanta used to sell these odd 3d wire sculptures that were good for that, but were basically just bent coat hangers. haven’t seen anything like that on the market since.
Adam…I just pooch the MSR bag open and hang it upside down until the next time I use it.
nice skis in the back of the last picture…..
All these ideas are adequate but the one I’ve been using lately kicks ass. Brian W. from CB gave this to me, mainly as a race ready idea but I’ve been using it in the bc to great success. It is definitely a fiddle to start but WILL NOT freeze. I had a friend make a super light bladder carrier that I wear under most of my layers. I thread the lightly insulated hose over my shoulder to my collar. I put my pack over it all. I keep the valve tucked in until I need it. No blow back or drain necessary and the water is always warm. I use a 2 liter bladder and the pack rides fine for day tour loads. Might be a pain for a heavy pack.
BTW, Camelback is coming out with a undergarment that has a bladder pocket built in. This is mainly for cyclists but would work nicely for rando racers and tourers.
Saw the CamelBak thing at OR. Looks cool for racing…training…but I think it makes me look fat.
Don’t know…but something about wearing my bladder under my backpack just seems wired…maybe kinda bulky???
Yeah, I know. When you first put on your pack it feels weird but you forget about it as soon as you start skinning. The deal is, freeze issues can really ruin a race or tour so the extra hassle is worth it to me if I have no worries.
BTW, you only look fat with the pack off.
I put a wooden spoon in the bladder and lean it up against the backsplash…dries it out nicely.
Blowback method. Then tip the mouthpiece down and pinch the opening. Last of the water dribbles out and the tube is liquid free.
I’m using a front-bottle setup like those guys:
http://www.dynafit.at/images/kalender2009/kalender_1024x768-5.jpg
The rucksack’s chest strap is laced through the holster’s top loop, the bottom loop is held to the shoulder strap by a small carabiner. For drinking the top stays attached, I just undo the carabiner. For descents it goes into the pack completely.
Easy to use and clean, never freezes.
Like Brian said …put the bladder in an original, bare bones camelback pack and then put the camelback on under your outter layer/jacket and have the hose internally routed under that layer and your tube will never freeze. Or mayube chekc out the new camelback base layer thats coming out…sounds like it may accomplish the same idea for winter use.
I’ve never had it feel uncomfortable with another pack on the outside. Thanks for the acknowledgement Brian!
has anyone tried duct taping heat packs around the hose?maybe like at a few different pints to maximize hot spots on the hose?
rob…i’ve heard of people putting some heat packs in their hydration sleeve on their packpacks shoulder straps. mostly at the end…where the mouth piece is.
To dry my packs, I use a plastic hanger and cut off half of it, leaving the hook, one angle side and the bottom long straight part. I place the long end inside my bladder and hand the hose from the dress strap notch or hook on the hanger then leave hanging this way for storage. Do the neoprene or foam tube insulators made by camelback or platypus (respectively) do any good to prevent freeze ups?
mike…thanks for the drying tip. the neoprene insulators help…but they aren’t the end all savior against freezing. hydration tube sleeves in backpacks help too…but again…-20F can freeze just about anything.
I have a new product coming out in September 2010. We have a sleeve that wraps over your tube, and with a push of a button will defrost a completely frozen tube in five minutes or less. This system will give you up to eight defrost cycles on a small lithium powersupply. To order one or for more information, please email me at keith.powers@nltenterprises.us now we can have the hands free use of our tube and bladder system without worry or a bunch of tricks to keep hydrated.
i just spoke with keith….and this sounds like kinda/sorta an interesting product. he also has some other ideas that sound write applicable to living and playing in the cold. more…later.
[…] up and left you drinking out of the bladder on those super-cold winter days (some avoidance tips here). Well, I don’t really have a solution for the first issue, but the second might be a thing of […]