I like the convenience of a water bladder for drinking on the go but boy do I hate filling and refilling it and having to take it out and stuff it into a pack, especially a full pack.
I researched silicone tubing sizes that would fit the sports caps and I bought :
- 9 ft of food grade silicone tubing
- This water pouch for the front of my pack from Etsy
- A few 1L smart water /life wtr bottles with the sports cap
I have now rigged a water system that gives me the convenience of sipping on the go with the ease of bottles for filtering, etc during water stops.
This front water pouch attached to my shoulder strap holds a 1L bottle comfortably. I have not field tested this to see if it will impede my natural movement but it wouldn’t seem so based on how my arms swing with hiking poles.
Once I open the cap, the tubing slides up really easily so I can sip on the go.
I measured enough tubing so that I could still use this with the bottle in the side of my pack (about 40 inches for me).
If I end up doing the bottle on the side pocket of the pack, I worry about how clean I can keep the tip of the tubing seeing I cannot stick it back inside the bottle easily.
I think I’m going to need to research something I can use to attach to the end of this tube in this setup.
I am excited about field testing this one this weekend!
May the winter weather odds ever be in my favor.