I've been trimming weight and one thing on my list to trim is my water system. What is the best and lightest system?

So far I'm using a Camelbak and one small Gatorade bottle. I like being able to drink out of a tube while hiking to free up my hands. It also makes filling easier if I go to a gravity system. The Gatorade bottle is great for around camp to drink out of and to make tea. I guess I could drink out of my pot though because I FBC. I'll have to debate that 1.5 oz. savings.

I'm looking for the lightest 3L bladder and tubing. So far I've found the Platypus to be the lightest. Any recommendations?

A 3L Platypus is pretty light (1.5oz).
Me--- I would be wary of just taking that. I use one 2L platy and two 1L platy’s. Most of the time the 2L is empty. I use it at camp though. If one bottle leaks, no problem; I still have a fall back. This principal came in handy during Easter vacation as I backpacked Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine South Forest. One of my platys leaked all over inside my backpack. At least I still had 2 more containers to carry water.

In another situation, my hiking partner had his 3L bladder filled. Unbeknownst to him, the drinking tube came unscrewed at the platy. He thought he was just sweating on the back. No, he was leaking his whole water supply! That hurt. Us other two shared water with him and we didn’t make it to a stream that day. So we were all a little dehydrated. Miraculously it rained during the night of which we collected rain off our tents.

I may be overdoing it, but my mind is at ease with at least 3 water bottles.

-Barry

Very much along the line of Barry's approach, I typically carry four water vessels. Two platypus's, perhaps one two-liter, one one-liter, because I use Aqua Mira and it's nice to have some water left in one when I fill and treat the other, plus extra capacity for those longer waterless stretches. A 20 oz gatorade plastic bottle for flavored liquids and general use. And a 16 oz or 20 oz plastic soda bottle, partly sometimes to help fill a platypus depending on water source, partly as something to keep with me to drink from at night. I could get by without this one, but at about half an ounce it's not a major hit.

Same here--I prefer several smaller Platys to one large bladder. If you want a hydration system for drinking as you go instead of at rest stops (I prefer the latter--gives me an excuse for regular rest stops!), you can use the Platy hydration tube/mouthpiece with a 1 L or 2.5 L Platy bottle.

For me it's a case of not wanting all my eggs in one basket, or rather not all my water in one container!

Like many others here I carry several platypus containers, generally two of the 2L and one of the 1L, along with the drinking tube and bite valve.

It isn't just a matter of whether one water container springs a leak -- although I did have one platypus develop a pinhole-sized leak, once. There are other things that can happen.

Like being fumble fingered and dropping a cap into a river, or even a whole water bottle. Or stepping on the cap where you set it down for "just a second" on some river rocks. Or leaning your pack against a tree and accidentally squashing the bite valve open, out of sight, so half your water siphons off as you sit and take in the scenery.

Having 5L of capacity also gives me more flexibility in making a dry camp.

But this is just my way of doing it. You don't have to do it the same as me.

aimless said "Like being fumble fingered and dropping a cap into a river, or even a whole water bottle. Or stepping on the cap where you set it down for "just a second" on some river rocks."

That is why I carry an extra cap for my platypus. Actually it is a cap from a pop bottle or such but it fits just fine. It doesn't take up much room in my kit either.

Howie

Thanks for all of the advice. I hadn't really thought too much about having some backup. I will now.

KY Chris

Aimless, boy do you have a vivid imagination when it comes water carrying failures. Those things couldn't have possibly all happened to you!

Well maybe not him.. but:



Done it. Myself. The water bag. Had to go wading for it.



Done it. Actually not the cap, but the mouth of bottle that I set down..



I have done this - *repeatedly* - I am now very careful about where the bite valve ends up


None of that will make me carry 5 litres of water (unless I'm
going to be a day without water sources) but I usually carry two platties - a 2 and a 3, alternatively a (tough) 4l MSR bag. I hardly ever fill 'em full except in camp. I usually carry a litre or so while hiking as long as I can expect to find more.

Just to be a bit clearer, I carry most of that 5L capacity empty more than 95% of the time, but I am willing to carry the extra two ounces or so of empty containers, just so I can load up on water when making a dry camp makes more sense than plopping down next to the water source.

As for the "backup insurance" aspect of having three containers, I am probably way more paranoid about water than I need to be.

Then again, Oregon's mountains are (rather surprisingly) much drier than you would think from our reputation. We have volcanic mountains, mostly, and their slopes are often very porous. Snowmelt oftentimes goes straight into the soil instead of running off as surface water.