Soft Flask/bottle

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March 25, 2019 at 6:04 pm #19098

alpinist75
Participant

Steve,
I’ve seen that you along with several other experienced alpinists are turning to the soft flask/water bottles. Many of the ones I’ve seen used are designed for trail runnin and have quick use nossle/valves/flip lids to dispense the water quickly. Have you heard of any bad experiences with water leakage inside the pack?
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Posted In: Alpinism

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hafjell on March 26, 2019 at 7:29 am #19118

Just used Hydrapak as my main water bottle for a two week trip. No leakage but you do have to make sure you’re not packing something hard on the bite valve. I bought this one and will be purchasing more. Cool that it comes with two caps.
I did break the extended straw from the cap on the way home but I foolishly packed it between a shovel and axe. Operator error.

Participant

Land on March 27, 2019 at 8:56 am #19169

Ultimate direction sells some that have a twist lock cap under the bite valve to prevent leakage. I’ve used it in a ski pack with no issues.

They make or made another model in which you pull the bite valve out to unlock it, which did not work very well in my experience. Had to bite so hard to pull it out that I basically destroyed the bite valve.

Participant

Jan on March 28, 2019 at 1:03 am #19211

Decathlon also has soft flasks with twist locks under the bite valves (probably only interesting for the Europeans in here).

Keymaster

Steve House on March 28, 2019 at 10:06 am #19228

I’ve tried a few different ones. My two favorites are a Saloman branded one (not sure if they manufacture them or not) and a hydroflask.

I keep mine zipped into a chest pocket iwth the bite-valve poking out. If i’m wearing any kind of a shell over that I don’t see any freezing. If that’s my outer layer you have to blow back into the bottle to clear the water from the valve.

For wearing a pack when that isn’t workable I do one of two things. One I use a little flask-holder pouch that I attach to my left shoulder strap. I have this set up on my ski-mo racing pack and it works well for that. it’s neoprene and I start the race with the liquid pretty hot.

For technical climbing I tie a small but strong cord around the base of where the bite-valve screws on and I use a carabiner to clip it to the base of my shoulder strap or the back of my harness. Obviously these flasks are fragile so you have to manage that, move them around. This isn’t much of a problem for some types of routes. For routes that have more ‘full-contact’ style climbing I use a recycled half liter soda-pop bottle with a small piece of string taped to the neck of the bottle. These are amazingingly tough. I have one I’ve been using in the black canyon for at least 5-6 seasons and it hasn’t sprung a leak yet.

Participant

Gabe on March 28, 2019 at 11:27 am #19236

I have the UD Scram pack and was simul-climbing with a soft flask in the chest pocket. I did squirt myself in the face a couple of times when I accidentally bumped the bit valve. When the flask is in the pocket it’s under pressure, but in the back of a pack it’s not. I didn’t have any problems inside the pack, even when throwing it around. Another option is to keep the flask only for water outside the pack and keep a platypus water bottle (sealed with a screw cap) inside. Refill as necessary.

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