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Water bottle projectiles. back them up.

Original Post
dale polen · · arivaca, az · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 95

Hello folks, I would like to say that when I went to cochise the other week I noticed a lot of folks carry their water bottles clipped to their harness. I also noticed that most of these water bottles were not backed up with any sort of device. I am here to tell you that those bottles, especially when full, are very deadly when they come hurling down the cliff after becoming detached from someones harness. I suggest that you use some duct tape and a little piece of cord and tape it on to your water bottle. Then you clip into the cord and the loop that is all ready supplied by the water bottle. Its easy and could save your belayer's life and yours. There is a lot more to climbing then clipping bolts. Make sure you are safe and think about what you are doing. Have a great day. If anyone else has a way to back up your stuff please continue. Camel backs work great.Peace

Charles Danforth · · L'ville, CO · Joined Aug 2003 · Points: 170

Amen to that, Dale. The plastic "handle" on Nalgenes is not actually a handle. It's there to keep the lid attached to the bottle and comes off pretty easily. The duct tape and loop of webbing solution is a much more secure way of doing it.

Of course, we all wear helmets at the crag anyway, right? ;-)

mkeown Keown · · Denver, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 35

How can you tell me its deadly? Have people been killed by water bottles? I assume you are saying its comparable to a rock or something but I haven't heard of an accident related to water bottles.

Marc Squiddo · · Mountain View, CA · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 15

Deadly or not I can pretty much say with 100% certainty that IF it hit you you would 1.)Not be better off and 2.) be pretty pissed off.

Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425

You don't need to know that someone got killed by a piece of falling rock to know that it's deadly do you? That's why they are called freak accidents...

A full nalgene bottle is about as heavy as a melon or softball sized rock, give or take. I would venture to guess that anything falling on your head, especially while climbing is potentially lethal. Dale is just bringing to our attention that although we carlessly swing these bottle around, they can break at anytime and injure other climbers and SHOULD probably be backed up if you are going to wear them on a harness.

I know at least one of my bottles is halfway broken through where it connects to the lid's O-ring.

Evan S · · Denver, Co · Joined Dec 2007 · Points: 510

Old-tiymee climbers used to duct tape a webbing loop to their nalgenes and clip that to their harness, I have not so fond memories of drinking plastic flavored water from my father's as a wee child.

B 2 · · SLC · Joined Oct 2008 · Points: 5
dale polen wrote:There is a lot more to climbing then clipping bolts.
Where does posting ridiculous threads on mp come into play? For what its worth, that nalgene o-ring girth hitches to the biner when it slips.
Dirty Gri Gri, or is it GiGi? · · Vegas · Joined May 2005 · Points: 4,115

I back up my amber Duffys with a cat o' nine tails, pardon my english, and cork it REAL good.

B 2 · · SLC · Joined Oct 2008 · Points: 5
Beached Nuts wrote: And the part attaching it to the lid breaks under very low force.
Low is a relative term when talking about the force required to lift one liter of water on a climbing forum.
Crag Dweller · · New York, NY · Joined Jul 2006 · Points: 125
brooks8970 wrote: Where does posting ridiculous threads on mp come into play? For what its worth, that nalgene o-ring girth hitches to the biner when it slips.
Not if it breaks at the point attaching it to the lid. I've had this happen to me as I was hiking along a trail with the bottle clipped to my backpack. The only force applied was that which resulted from the weight of the water and the acceleration of the bottle as it swung from side to side.

The OP makes a good, simple and potentially injuring preventing suggestion that many people (myself included) probably never considered.
chosspector · · San Juans, CO · Joined Oct 2008 · Points: 1,296
mkeown wrote:How can you tell me its deadly? Have people been killed by water bottles? I assume you are saying its comparable to a rock or something but I haven't heard of an accident related to water bottles.
Common sense? Got any, dude? A full water bottle is pretty heavy and hard and if it hits you from 400 feet up you might not walk away from it. I was climbing vision quest in the creek last month and on the last pitch watched my partner's nalgene, which I was following with on my harness, plummet to the base when I was squeezing through the slot. Would not have been fun to have it hit you on the head. But, I guess since there are no documented accidents involving them published in the AAC's accidents book it really isn't a hazard at all...
B 2 · · SLC · Joined Oct 2008 · Points: 5
chosspector wrote: Common sense? Got any, dude?
Its funny because that was my thought exactly when I read the OP. Apparently, this kind of thread is necessary. I apologize for breaking rule #1. I still dont think this thread is about nalgene bottles though.
dale polen · · arivaca, az · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 95

Wasnt trying to be smart or anything. I was just noticing a lot of these water bottles being carried this way. The new steel ones with screw on lids. Anyway I have had one wizzing buy me on a busy day at Cathedral and the gunks. I have seen it happen to others as well further down the way. Just a thing to pass on to your friends. Safety advise thats all.

Phil Lauffen · · Innsbruck, AT · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 3,098

here's mine. Only been doing it for a little bit. I tied some cordalette around the water bottle and duct-taped it down. I've only used it a few times but it seems to work pretty well. two redundant loops, then attached to the lid-loop just in case. most of the weight is not on the lid-loop though.

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England · · Colorado Springs · Joined Aug 2008 · Points: 270

A Nalgene bottle full of water HURTS BAD when someone above you drops it. I know this from experience many times over. Please secure your water bottle by more than the thin plastic retainer that it comes with. Thank you.

Woodchuck ATC · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 3,280

Water bottle: a few dozen grams. Liter/kilogram of water,duuh,,,1,000 grams. Most bottles are probably a liter or 1.5 at most. So you are talking maybe just under 2 kilograms. That's 4.4 pound folks. Then we get the acceleration and we are definately looking at some real force coming down on your face. Just because it doesn't have a sharp edge doesn't mean it won't hurt. I always wear a helmet when belaying a trad climber who is loaded full of possible falling gear; so goes for water bottles too.

koreo · · Denver, CO · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 85

Or, people can avoid this problem all together by simply leaving the water bottles on the ground. Unless you're doing a huge multi-pitch, I don't see why you would need a water bottle while climbing. Besides, i'd rather have a camel back on than a water bottle banging against my hip.

But I will agree, a nalgene bottle is definitely a hazard. I've had one dropped on my head down a two story spiral stair well, and like squiddo said, 1) I wasn't better off 2)I was really pissed off.

Daryl Allan · · Sierra Vista, AZ · Joined Sep 2006 · Points: 1,040
Beached Nuts wrote:That's about when I inadvertently pulled the valve off my camelback with my body against the rock. It started pissing all over my feet and soaking the the rock I was standing on. I didn't fall but it was epic.
I had to laugh, sorry, bc the same exact thing happened to me. It was awful. If you can find them, military stores (BXs or PXs) carry a slightly different version of the mouthpiece that comes in a tan/black color. The shut off valve is much more rugged, it has a dust cap and it holds up much better. I work on an Army base so if you can't find one, pm me and i can get you one.

d

edit:: Here's the valve, but they don't have the dustcap on it. There is a push button mechanism that allows you to quick-disconnect the mount piece for cleaning or whatever.
military bite valve
Woodchuck ATC · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 3,280

I'm fed up with Camelback-style water bota's. They don't suck water when you need it, they form permanent crimp in the hose, they always leak at the wrong time. I just had a 1.5 liter bag leak out on a 12 mile hike, and soak my shirt and ass while I remained thirsty. Nothing beats the rest time taken to open a water bottle up. And agree that most one-two pitch sport routes don't need water up on the wall.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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