Thread: Hydration on the Hill

interested to see what others do in terms of hydration and water on the hill,
how many Litres do you carry, hydration bladder vs bottles etc

what are the thoughts on drinking from streams?
if so does anyone filter it? what methods/products are used

what have people found from experience

mine are now day hunts always a can of coke back at side by side look foward to it do take a weak mix of an energy drink for on the hill vita sport

Depending on the day i will have a min of 1ltr, max 2.5ltrs, drink from a bladder and have Thorzt hydration sachet in it. Will drink from streams where needed, couple of handfulls here and there but not often and dont filter it.

Hamish

I carry at least 2l, probably 2.5l for each day in a camebak. Water not always available when you want it. I also carry water purification tabs in my first aid kit so when refilling, I just pop a tab in wait required time (about 30mins).

Originally Posted by HNTMAD

Depending on the day i will have a min of 1ltr, max 2.5ltrs, drink from a bladder and have Thorzt hydration sachet in it. Will drink from streams where needed, couple of handfulls here and there but not often and dont filter it.
Hamish

Pretty much same for me. Rely on my internal filtration system …. So far, no issues. Probably should look at some filter or tablets but never get round to it.

Always carry a Nalgene and a bladder, bladder is good for on the go and nalgene is good for cooking etc as easy to pour out of. Other great thing about nalgene is fill it with got water and use it as a hot water bottle or poke it in frozen boots for a few minutes each before throwing them on

Carry a 600ml bottle of water just in case. Usually just drink from streams etc if needed as and when I come across them.

I carry the 2L bushbuck bladder that comes with a filter. Depending on the bush I often just refill from a stream and don’t filter it, if the kids are with me I’ll filter theirs.

For a day hunt I take a couple of my wife’s running soft flasks about 500ml each in my waist pack

Originally Posted by HNTMAD

Depending on the day i will have a min of 1ltr, max 2.5ltrs, drink from a bladder and have Thorzt hydration sachet in it. Will drink from streams where needed, couple of handfulls here and there but not often and dont filter it.

Hamish

Yip same again, I have a 2 litre bladder and a squashable 750 bottle which helps with sorting out my freeze dried meals.

Hydrapak 1 litre flux + hydrapak filter (lockable twist cap), flexible bottle that packs down to nothing when not in use. Hydrapak Seeker 3l and 4l water reservoirs for the tops. Filter fits across all three.

Cheap 3l bladder for Ruahine tops day trip is usually sufficient. Seem to be more prone to cramps these days so also include some salt/hydration sachets.

When we were mustering in the Canterbury high country you soon got used to going all day without a drink, especially if you had a high beat, so I was used to going for extended periods without drinking, lots of other guys the same, in FO parties (I was a Sig so a big radio load in addition to the usual crap) much the same.

The modern fad of drinking every two minutes is complete bullshit, just a con by the bottled water people. Just the other day I happened to be working extremely hard in hot weather piling a house foundation. Helping me was a Doctor, once one of NZs high level athletes, he and I discussed hydration and he confirmed that there is nothing wrong with going extended periods without a drink. We both went about 5 hours before we got offsite and had a drink. To be fair I do find it a bit harder now I'm on the wrong side of 60, and 5-6 hours is about my limit.

So my approach is to take a drink from streams etc (treat it if there is a giardia risk) when the opportunity presents and plan to camp where there is water. If you are planning a dry camp then obviously this approach needs modification . . .

I carry a water bladder with about 1.5l of water, and an empty pump bottle with a Sawyer screw-on filter that weighs pretty much nothing. If it's a big walk I take some hydration sachets to prevent cramp. Plenty of water where I typically go, so no need to carry too much.

Originally Posted by Tentman

When we were mustering in the Canterbury high country you soon got used to going all day without a drink, especially if you had a high beat, so I was used to going for extended periods without drinking, lots of other guys the same, in FO parties (I was a Sig so a big radio load in addition to the usual crap) much the same.

The modern fad of drinking every two minutes is complete bullshit, just a con by the bottled water people. Just the other day I happened to be working extremely hard in hot weather piling a house foundation. Helping me was a Doctor, once one of NZs high level athletes, he and I discussed hydration and he confirmed that there is nothing wrong with going extended periods without a drink. We both went about 5 hours before we got offsite and had a drink. To be fair I do find it a bit harder now I'm on the wrong side of 60, and 5-6 hours is about my limit.

So my approach is to take a drink from streams etc (treat it if there is a giardia risk) when the opportunity presents and plan to camp where there is water. If you are planning a dry camp then obviously this approach needs modification . . .

That is super interesting. Thanks for sharing that. No wonder some people end up in trouble over hydrating (without electrolytes). Literally flushing their system.

I use a 2L bladder, I actually find I drink less than when using a bottle. Just last week 2L lasted me 12 hours with an 1100m climb thrown in, it was 28c temperature. Just water too and if I do run out top up from streams in the back country without filtering (not something I do in the front country though)