I've got a few trips in mind this summer that will involve having to carry all my water for 2-3 days. Right now, I've got one CamelBak and a few Nalgenes, and then since six-gallon jugs.

While carrying 50# of water would make a good story and I probably need the exercise, it seems like a little much. Once upon a time I had an MSR Dromedary which worked pretty well until I lost it.

Are the new production bags still as good, or is there a new hotness for carrying two gallons at once on your back?

Normally I carry a couple of Smartwater or Gatorade bottles.
For larger capacity a Hydrapak like I linked below.
Or a plastic gallon of bottled water with a screw top picked up from a grocery store. Downside is it does not compact when empty but the container is light.

If I was worried about the container getting  punctured, being dragged across rocks, dropped over a cliff, and it being a life and death situation then I'd have a Dromedary as my reserve container.

Sea to Summit has a large capacity water bag thar is slightly lighter than the Dromedary. I have not tried it.

You will be in a place with no access to water that you can filter? A 3 day water carry will not be fun.

If there is any water I'd just use a Sawyer Squeeze with 2 Smart Water bottles. Maybe one Hydropak bladder for the dirty water.

love my red drom bag.

i bought it out of CampMor catalog for beach camp in costarica in 1997ish.


I’d go with

integrated 1.5? liter camel back and nalgenes that make the good ‘ole “tonk” sound when clipped empty on outside of pack when moving…

but i transport water here in AZ by the 4 or 5 gallon pichinga in truck or trailer.

I have taken the box wine bags out of the box when empty and thrown into a denier cover…for water carry.

I'm not getting the math, here.  2-3 days should be around 18-25 pounds for one person.

For 3 days, you are looking at 12L.  It's doable, but that's on the order of a 50# pack at step-off.

I'd consider a 6L MSR Drom Lite, and 2 3L Platypus bladders.  I'd put the 6L centerline of the pack, mouth at the top, and drink via hydration hose from one of the 3L bladders during the day.  3 bladders.  This allows for a degree of redundancy - because as proven as these products are, stuff happens.  Especially with mountain or desert rodents.

And, that's all with 0 reserves, if we are counting full days.  And ignoring high temperature conditions that would only translate into greater water needs.

Used a 4 liter dromedary (black version) on a 5 week hike.  I had that and a water bottle.  There are lighter options but it is really nice to be able to hang a water bag and have flowing water.  Also I think that something like that is nice just to have.  If you can get water along the way though, a couple big smart water bottles are the way to go

Sorry, I didn't mean to ghost my own thread.

Anyway, the tentative trip plan is a loop hike: step off and 2-3 miles the first night. About six miles the second day. And 2-3 miles back to the car on the last morning, so calling it 3 days is a stretch. Altitude 8500' and daytime highs that time of year may or may not reach 90. Unfortunately, I reconfirmed that there's no water here aside from the off chance of rain.

Fifty pounds (6L dromedary, plus my preexisting 3L CamelBak and nalgenes) at step-off is feasible for me, I'm not exactly small. I have to rethink that for the other people involved, since they're kids.

The more I think about it, though, the more I think that I can stop at my car to refill on Day Two and only add less than two miles to the day, and just turn the loop into a sort of Figure Eight.

I'd break up the water load into 2 liter soda jugs. They are lightweight, pretty tough and it compartmentalizes the water so that a single fall (or puncture or contamination) can't take out the majority or your water supply.

The other consideration would be to cache some water or have a volunteer do it. If you are on any hiking forums, you might find someone willing to do a kindness and stash a few bottles for you.

The 2L soda bottles, while exceedingly durable, don't have a great form factor for packing.  I'd go with a couple of bladders, as it will be easier to get into a pack.

This bag, or one of the other two similar to it, held 63L of water when we left the ground.  It was mostly 2L soda bottles, though I can't say where that extra 1L came from, but that's the number in my notes.

[And, let me tell you, walking out of a grocery store with a shopping cart full of soda, and then opening up all those bottles and pouring the contents on the ground will certainly garner some attention.]

These loads were not fun to ferry up to the cliff face, and were brutal to haul up the face, especially in the couple of sections that were less than vertical.  When we got back on the ground, I think we only had something like 2L remaining.



Days without access to water?  Yeah, not fun.  I don't envy you, OP.