Top reasons why “hydration systems” are Less Than Ideal
Everyone agrees that keeping properly hydrated is important in any endurance sport. But do you really need a so-called “hydration system” to do this? While water bladder / reservoirs can work for mountain biking and day hiking, they have a host of downsides you may want to consider before you take one on your next long hike, trek or alpine climb.
The tubes can freeze.
There are many delicate parts (tubes, bladders, mouthpiece bite valves) that can easily break or malfunction, and they’re hard to repair in the field.
They have lots of hard to clean cracks and crevices where funky microorganisms can grow.
They’re hard to fill, either from streams or with snow.
It’s difficult to monitor your water consumption and see how much you have left.
It’s hard to share water with others.
Depending on the design of your pack, you may have to empty out a good chunk of it to remove and refill the reservoir.
The mouthpiece can easily drag in the dirt when you put your pack on the ground, yuck.
You can’t use a reservoir in camp as a cup for hot drinks.
You can’t put hot water in a reservoir and put a sock over it at night, to help dry out wet socks.
They’re very expensive compared to a simple water bottle.
Bonus reason: Unless you’re in some sort of a race/competition, are you REALLY in that much of a hurry that you can’t stop for a minute or two and drink some water?
So, how to stay well watered on the go? A simple water bottle.
Get a small ultralight mesh bag and attach it to your pack shoulder strap. (Search Etsy for “backpack water bottle holder”, or try this Etsy store.
Put a water bottle in one of the stretchy mesh pockets on the side of your pack, a feature of many packs designed for backpacking. If it's hot, start your trip with larger bottle(s) inside your pack, and refill the small bottle at breaks. This lets you drink on the move as effectively as a bladder system, with none of the cost and hassles.
Don't get a Nalgene bottle, those are too heavy (about 7 ounces empty). Simply re-purpose most any empty water or juice bottle. Smart water bottles are popular, they are tall, skinny, and have fairly sturdy plastic. Personally, I am a fan of the 20 ounce Gatorade bottle.
Oh, and, check the water bottle aisle next time you’re in REI. Camelback sells, you guessed, it, a simple water bottle (complete with large Camelback logo.) A tad ironic, no?
Related story: A friend of mine went on a trekking expedition to Tibet. The trekking company explicitly told everyone on the trip NOT to bring water reservoirs with a tube. Reason: The trails were also used by pack animals such as yaks. Yaks poop everywhere. The sun and low humidity dries out the yak poop, and then the poop pulverizes into tiny particles from the feet of people and animals. The floating yak poop powder then settles on, you guessed it, your drinking tube, YUCK! They found that many Westerners were getting sick on their trips. When they had guests change to a simple water bottle, the illness rate went way down.
Finally, here's what world-class alpinist Steve House thinks about water bladders.
(Can you imagine planning and saving money for months for an expedition, traveling halfway around the world to a remote serious mountain, and then bailing because your water bladder leaked all over?!)
