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Storing and Carrying Water

• Cycling Water Bottles: The squeeze type with the pop-top opening for drinking. These work, but they are not reliably water tight if you squeeze them in your pack. Use them only if you have a means of attaching them or carrying them outside the main compartment of your pack.  As a general guideline, we do not recommend these.
• Canteens: As a general guideline, we do not recommend canteens for backpacking. Canteens are generally water tight (although the cheaper ones aren't), but the one problem is: where do you put them? Remember that you will be wearing your pack on the trail. Put a canteen around your neck, and you will have a sore neck within the first km of hiking. Hang it off your pack, and it will slosh around, catch on branches and fall off. If you do choose a canteen, we recommend that you put it inside your pack and live with the inconvenience of having to pull it out when you stop for a break.

• Plastic Pop Bottles: Don’t sneer; 1 L or 650 ml pop bottles have a lot going for them. They pass all the litmus tests for the ideal backpacking accessory:

  	Cost: They are free; assuming that at least once in your life you or a member of your family has indulged in a Big Slam, you have already paid for them. And once they are too beaten up to use any more (this can take several trips) you can redeem them for the twenty cents you paid for them in the first place. Talk about cheap!
  	Weight: They weigh next to nothing.
  	Bulk: They fit quite easily inside a pack. They add no bulk to the product they are carrying. Once they are empty, if you don’t care about re-using them, they can be crushed part-way through the trip to reduce bulk. And you can still get your twenty cents back.
  	Utility: They don’t leak. The caps reliably reseal for many usages. The one litre models will fit into the water bottle holders built into many packs and into water bottle holsters, although they may be somewhat loose.

   

  Consider using a wide-mouth bottle (Big Slam, Powerade) as these are easier to re-fill. The disadvantages? If you don’t have a suitable compartment on the outside of your pack, you will have to carry them inside the main compartment. 
•   Water Bladders:  These soft-sided plastic containers are becoming more popular and more reliable all the time.  Their primary advantages are their space-saving crushability and the optional drinking tubes which allow you to re-hydrate on the trail without even having to stop hiking.  Their disadvantages?  They are susceptible to punctures if you do not protect them from sharp objects in your pack, and they are the most expensive type of water container if you go for the drinking hose and bite valve.
• Commercial Water Bottles: Nalgene and other companies make very sturdy, leak-proof bottles. If you must spend money on a water bottle, they are a good investment for long-term use. ($4-$8)