Amount of water.

williaada

WKR
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Sep 24, 2018
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MI
My hunt buddies and I are discussing the amount of water each of us carries when hiking in the mountains. One guy does water bottles and takes 2 liters plus drinks another 40 oz. at camp. I take 3 liters using a bladder bag and drink between 40-60 oz. back at camp.
What do most people do?
 
Really depends on where I’m at. Most of the places I hunt water is pretty readily available, so I carry less and filter through the day. If I’m carrying it all, generally 2-3 liters depending on the day and the plan. I do bottles 99% of the time.


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Most places I hunt don't have serious water issues, so I typically carry a 32 oz Nalgene and a 2L Hyropak Seeker soft bladder. If I think I'm going to have issues, I take a 6L MSR Dromedary in addition to the above but will leave it in camp once I fill it.
 
I think it depends what season you're hunting. If it's early on and warm obviously more water will be needed. If it's below freezing bladder tubes tend to freeze and streams frozen so have to boiling snow or ice which requires you to bring extra fuel and is time consuming. But colder with heavier clothing means moving slower and less sweat so less water needed. I've gotten by with a liter bottle during the day.

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I have a 3l bladder. Always places to fill where I hunt. I'll go through 2.5 bladders per day.

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Depends also on how you hunt, availability/quality of water. If you have water availability and a filter/purification/treatment you can carry less. Else mule/cache the water you need.
 
It depends on water availability and how much time do you want to spend filtering water vs time spent hunting. Balance those two things with how far from camp you hunt and how much weight you want to carry.

I'll give you two examples for how I plan my water carries.

When I'm hiking, not hunting, I plan on carrying and drinking one liter per five miles. If it's 15 miles to the next water source, then I carry three liters.

When I'm hunting, it's more difficult to determine how many miles I'll hike. Instead of factoring per mile, I use a rule of thumb. That rule of thumb is two liters before lunch and two liters after lunch. I drink additional water with every meal.

I don't like to carry more water than I need, but I also don't consider it a hassle to filter water often.
 
During scouting missions I hike in water to use during my hunt. This has made the difference between filling a tag and going home more times than I can count.
 
I drink a lot...my one buddy drinks less than 1/2 of what I do.

I typically go through 100oz or more a day.

______

+1

I run a 3l bladder and a 32oz nalgene. And depending on my elevation throughout the day I will top both back off. If I'm not drinking 100oz per day when water is readily available then I feel behind.

Now if we are just sitting and glassing with a couple of moves between and not a lot of elevation change, I can get by with less and load up at camp.
 
During scouting missions I hike in water to use during my hunt. This has made the difference between filling a tag and going home more times than I can count.

If I get to hunt the same unit as last year we are hoping to do this. Water was far and few during our hunt. Many times we’d have to drop 2k to find a flowing creek. One day I had to dig a hole in a wet spot in the ground. Tried to filter it but it stopped up my filter. Ended up getting about five gallons and using water purification tablets. Just had to deal with the sand and silt. And one day we had a rain so we set out our emergency blankets to gather water. Was a real life saver. If not for how much time we wasted searching for water I feel there is a good chance we could’ve filled two tags instead of just one


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Averages out to about a gallon/day for me; that’s including water for rehydrating meals.


You can’t cheat the mountain
 
+1

I run a 3l bladder and a 32oz nalgene. And depending on my elevation throughout the day I will top both back off. If I'm not drinking 100oz per day when water is readily available then I feel behind.

Now if we are just sitting and glassing with a couple of moves between and not a lot of elevation change, I can get by with less and load up at camp.
This is pretty much what I do
 
Always plan on 1 gallon a day. This covers most guys for drinking water and water for instant meals.
 
I pack the amount I would need in worst case scenario, no sources in my hike to filter or treat and how much would I need if I knock something down towards the end of the day. This amount also depends on time of year, I drink way less in October when its cold than early September. Usually 3L for the full day
 
3L bladder and 32 nalgene for making mixes.

Also my dirty bladder for my Sawyer grav filter is another source 3L so if I'm making a climb or camping high I can bring up 7L to camp. At this point I'm rationing water.

Otherwise I will consume water constantly and keep my piss clear. It's really hard over hydrate in the mountains.

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I’ve always consumed less water than most people I hunt with. I drink more earlier in my hunt. About 2 of the 32 ounce Nalgene bottles. After about 4 days I only carry one. I keep a second one in the panniers where I tie off the horses. I’ll drink a second one in the evening at camp. That’s it.
 
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