Camel Back Question

[montvm]

Anyone hike with the camel back water hydration systems in the winter? How prone are the tubes to freezing. Does the hose insulation that they sell work?

Thanks
Mike

[SKIQUATTRO]

i ski and snowshoe with my Camelbak (SNODAWG) ...the water in the bladder will not freeze, the trick to not having the water in the tube freeze is to blow the water back into the bladder when you are done taking a swig....

[montvm]

Snodawg,

Cool, that makes sense. Question though. Are you using the tube insulation, or not?

[Mike P.]

The few hikers I see in winter using it also carry a bottle in an insulated water holder, just in case the hose does freeze.

Pewrsonally I use bottles, I did use a camelback on a long Catskill hike in Spring 2006 with a couple of bottle to since there was no reliable water for much of the hike except at the very beginning & end.

[montvm]

Originally Posted by Mike P.

The few hikers I see in winter using it also carry a bottle in an insulated water holder, just in case the hose does freeze.

Good idea, i think that i will fill the Camel bak half -way ,and bring one water bottle too. That just makes too much sense.

[David Metsky]

I've never seen any insulated rig that hasn't frozen up at least once. All it takes is forgetting to blow the water back into the bladder once and you can be unable to get access to your water for the rest of the trip. On warmer days they can be great; on colder days I'd stick with nalgene bottles in jackets or at minimum carry one as a backup.

-dave-

[montvm]

Originally Posted by David Metsky

I've never seen any insulated rig that hasn't frozen up at least once. All it takes is forgetting to blow the water back into the bladder once and you can be unable to get access to your water for the rest of the trip. On warmer days they can be great; on colder days I'd stick with nalgene bottles in jackets or at minimum carry one as a backup.

-dave-

Thanks Dave,
Going to bring a back up. Going Thursday and the weather is for Waterville Valley currently is high of 40's. Low's in the 30's. So we shall see what happens. I'm wondering if GatorAid will freeze slower than water........

Mike

[Mike P.]

Not that it will help a Camel back but I put my heavy mittens over my wate rbottles in my pack to keep them insulated on winter day hikes. Maybe not as good as the OR (or other mfg.) insulated container, but I have not had a problem yet.... (knock, knock)

[montvm]

Originally Posted by Mike P.

Not that it will help a Camel back but I put my heavy mittens over my wate rbottles in my pack to keep them insulated on winter day hikes. Maybe not as good as the OR (or other mfg.) insulated container, but I have not had a problem yet.... (knock, knock)

Good advise, i will try this, i have some heavy wool mittens that would work just fine!

By the way, i have seen some pretty good pictures of the Chimney online, and it does look tricky, but i think i can handle it.....

I will upload trip report when we are done~
Thanks for the advise...

Mike

[czimborbryan]

I too use the camelback in winter. Blowing the ice from the tube works fairly well as described earlier, but when the tempts are below 20, the tube may freeze too fast.

Here is an alternative. Run the tube through the pit-zip of your jacket (hopefully you have a pit-zip). And then attach it to the collar of your jacket. The inside route will keep it from freezing.

For brutal cold, throw a small handwarmer directly under the bladder. Use the pouch kind made by Heatmax that uses iron powder and charcoal as a chemical reaction to make heat (Walmart). It'll generate warmth, but will not damage the bladder. You may also put the camelback on under your jacket.