Whereas there’ll all the time be a heated debate about what the perfect hydration system or water bottles for winter mountain climbing are, I believe we’d all agree that the minimal necessities for winter hydration are:
- The water you carry on a winter hike can’t freeze
- The hotter the water stays, the higher, as a result of consuming chilly water in chilly climate can chill you
- The bottle cap, hose, or mouthpiece can’t freeze and forestall you from consuming your water
- Your water container ought to be capable of stand up to sizzling liquids
Whereas there are a number of hydration programs that fulfill these necessities, every of them has professionals and cons in numerous climates.
Hydration Reservoirs and Ingesting Tubes
I do know many individuals who use hose-based hydration programs for 3 season mountain climbing and like to make use of them in winter as a result of they decrease the barrier to staying hydrated within the drier winter air. In the event you intend to make use of a system like this, it’s greatest to buy one with an built-in insulation sleeve just like the Camelbak Insulated Unbottle.
Along with reservoir insulation, you’ll wish to add consuming tube insulation to your hydration system to maintain the hose and mouthpiece from freezing. Whereas this insulation generally is a bit tough to slip onto a consuming tube, it tends to be interchangeable between hydration system manufacturers.
In principle, the physique warmth that radiates out of your again will preserve your hydration reservoir from freezing in winter. You may increase this by filling your reservoir with boiling sizzling water, surrounding it with insulating clothes inside your backpack, and even stuffing a Grabber handwarmer into your pack’s hydration pocket to warmth it if you are mountain climbing.
As well as, there’s a method generally used to maintain your consuming hose and mouthpiece from freezing. After taking a sip of water, blow into your consuming hose to push any remaining water within the hose again into the hydration reservoir so it doesn’t freeze in place. This takes some follow to turn into automated, however it does assist to maintain the hose clear, particularly whether it is wrapped utilizing consuming tube insulation.
If there’s a draw back to utilizing a hydration reservoir, it’s that they’re troublesome to refill with boiling snowmelt on in a single day journeys with out burning your arms or getting your gloves soaked. However supplied you aren’t mountain climbing in very chilly temperatures or taking extraordinarily lengthy day hikes, a hydration system might be tailored efficiently for chilly climate use.
Nalgene Bottles
Large-mouth Nalgene Bottles (32-ounce) are additionally a extremely popular selection for carrying water in winter as a result of they’ll safely maintain sizzling liquids, they’re straightforward to refill and clear, straightforward to drink from, and most hikers have a number of sitting round the home already. I want utilizing the milky white 32 oz. Ultralite Nalgene bottles as a result of they’re lighter weight than clear ones.
It’s greatest to insulate a Nalgene bottle with a neoprene or insulated sleeve in the event you carry it on the skin of your backpack, in a pocket, or clipped to a strap. In the event you fill the bottle with boiling water, it can stay heat for a number of hours. With all water bottles, it’s greatest to make use of wide-mouth ones in winter in order that ice doesn’t type of their neck and to retailer them the wrong way up to forestall the threads from freezing.
Alternatively, you possibly can carry your entire water bottles inside your pack and insulate them together with your further clothes. Doing so will preserve them a lot hotter and for for much longer, however it takes extra self-discipline to cease, open your pack, and have a drink periodically. Prehydrating earlier than a winter hike is an efficient approach to get a head begin on this and may cut back the quantity of water it’s essential carry.
I carried a Nalgene bottle in an insulation sleeve on the skin of my backpack for a few years and saved the remainder of my bottles in my pack, swapping them out throughout the day. It’s a purposeful strategy to winter hydration you probably have a backpack with pockets which are reachable and enormous sufficient to carry a one-liter Nalgene bottle in an insulated sleeve.
Nevertheless nowadays, I preserve all my water bottles inside my backpack as a result of they keep hotter longer. I’ve a drink each time I do a layer change, eat a snack, admire a view, seek the advice of my map, or take a brief break. After I do drink, I attempt to devour a half-liter at a time, which makes it straightforward to maintain monitor of how a lot water I’ve left.
If there’s a draw back to Nalgene bottles it’s that you simply usually have to take your gloves or mittens off to open them which might be clumsy as a result of lid-keeper strap until you chop it off. Additionally it is attainable to crack Nalgenes made out of arduous plastic, so it is best to use the white Nalgene bottles made out of high-density polyethylene, if attainable. They’re lots cheaper too.
Metallic Bottles
I’m not a fan of insulated steel bottles for winter mountain climbing and suppose they’re a nasty selection as a result of they’re too heavy to hold. This issues much less on a brief winter hike, but when you need to carry three liters of sizzling water on an all-day hike, the added weight could make a distinction. For instance, a 32 ouncesinsulted Hydroflask bottle weighs 19.2 ounces empty. Examine that to a 32 ouncesUltralite Nalgene Bottle that weighs 3.5 oz. That distinction provides up when you need to carry three liters of water for a hike that lasts eight hours or extra.
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