Whereas there’ll at all times be a heated debate about what one of the best hydration system or water bottles for winter climbing are, I feel we’d all agree that the minimal necessities for winter hydration are:
- The water you convey on a winter hike can’t freeze
- The hotter the water stays, the higher, as a result of ingesting chilly water in chilly climate can chill you
- The bottle cap, hose, or mouthpiece can’t freeze and forestall you from ingesting your water
- Your water container ought to have the ability to stand up to scorching liquids
Whereas there are a number of hydration techniques that fulfill these necessities, every of them has execs and cons in numerous climates.
Hydration Reservoirs and Ingesting Tubes
I do know many individuals who use hose-based hydration techniques for 3 season 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. If you happen to 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 need to add ingesting tube insulation to your hydration system to maintain the hose and mouthpiece from freezing. Whereas this insulation is usually a bit tough to slip onto a ingesting tube, it tends to be interchangeable between hydration system manufacturers.
In concept, 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 scorching water, surrounding it with insulating clothes inside your backpack, and even stuffing a Grabber handwarmer into your pack’s hydration pocket to warmth it when you are climbing.
As well as, there’s a approach generally used to maintain your ingesting hose and mouthpiece from freezing. After taking a sip of water, blow into your ingesting hose to push any remaining water within the hose again into the hydration reservoir so it doesn’t freeze in place. This takes some observe to grow to be computerized, nevertheless it does assist to maintain the hose clear, particularly whether it is wrapped utilizing ingesting 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 offered you aren’t climbing in very chilly temperatures or taking extraordinarily lengthy day hikes, a hydration system may be tailored efficiently for chilly climate use.
Nalgene Bottles
Extensive-mouth Nalgene Bottles (32-ounce) are additionally a highly regarded alternative for carrying water in winter as a result of they will safely maintain scorching liquids, they’re simple to refill and clear, simple to drink from, and most hikers have a couple of sitting round the home already. I favor 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 should you carry it on the surface of your backpack, in a pocket, or clipped to a strap. If you happen to fill the bottle with boiling water, it can stay heat for a couple of hours. With all water bottles, it’s greatest to make use of wide-mouth ones in winter in order that ice doesn’t kind of their neck and to retailer them the other way up to stop the threads from freezing.
Alternatively, you may carry all your water bottles inside your pack and insulate them along with your further clothes. Doing so will preserve them a lot hotter and for for much longer, nevertheless it takes extra self-discipline to cease, open your pack, and have a drink periodically. Prehydrating earlier than a winter hike is an efficient solution to get a head begin on this and may scale back the quantity of water you should carry.
I carried a Nalgene bottle in an insulation sleeve on the surface of my backpack for a few years and saved the remainder of my bottles in my pack, swapping them out through the day. It’s a purposeful method to winter hydration when you’ve got a backpack with pockets which can be reachable and enormous sufficient to carry a one-liter Nalgene bottle in an insulated sleeve.
Nonetheless as of late, 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 simple to maintain observe of how a lot water I’ve left.
If there’s a draw back to Nalgene bottles it’s that you just typically must take your gloves or mittens off to open them which may be clumsy as a result of lid-keeper strap except you narrow it off. It is usually doable to crack Nalgenes made out of exhausting plastic, so it’s best to use the white Nalgene bottles made out of high-density polyethylene, if doable. They’re rather a lot cheaper too.
Steel Bottles
I’m not a fan of insulated metallic bottles for winter climbing and suppose they’re a nasty alternative as a result of they’re too heavy to hold. This issues much less on a brief winter hike, but when you must carry three liters of scorching 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. Evaluate that to a 32 ouncesUltralite Nalgene Bottle that weighs 3.5 oz. That distinction provides up when you must carry three liters of water for a hike that lasts eight hours or extra.
SectionHiker is reader-supported. We solely earn cash if you buy a product by way of our affiliate hyperlinks. Assist us proceed to check and write unsponsored and impartial gear critiques, newbie FAQs, and free climbing guides.