What water bottle do you carry on climbs?

woodcraftwrote:

What I call "the leader bottle"- 8oz?.  For when you arrive parched at the belay and have a long wait for the follower to arrive with the pack.

You should try shortening the cord.  It will reduce the swing of the bottle which is nice on harder climbing.  That is one of the reasons I like the silicone flask bottles is because of the really short attachment .  They don’t swing around as much.

Having popped holes in silicone bottles or the roll-up flask style ones, I use a bike bottle on my harness and the former when safely inside a pack. Rather than cord on the bike bottle, I have it on some bungee that is thicker than tent pole bungee but not too bulky. I find that should it get briefly stuck on something it gives me a bit of a warning and give rather than being a static anchor pulling me backwards. 

I was short on collapsibles and reluctantly bought the wal mart versions and one leaked immediately on the first use a totally inopportune time last Spring. I prefer collapsible bladders...When I took it back to wal mart they told me I could do exchanges only for other shite outdoor goods, any way I tend to use the 1000 ml hydrapak clipped with a biner

Also, chugging as much water as possible right before starting a climb works pretty well.

You can only absorb 34 ounce of water per hour if it's really hot. In normal conditions about half of that. You'll just pee out what you can't absorb.

• Hydrate well the day before and the morning of. Drinking sips of water all day. So you're starting from a place of being well hydrated
• Drink a 20+ oz bottle over the course of an hour before the climb (e.g. on the approach)

A few jolly ranchers in your pocket is a trick I learned decades ago for when you run out of water.

Mikey Schaeferwrote:

You should try shortening the cord.  It will reduce the swing of the bottle which is nice on harder climbing.  That is one of the reasons I like the silicone flask bottles is because of the really short attachment .  They don’t swing around as much.

It's a trade off- shorter cord and it jams against other stuff on the harness, and can't be moved out of the way in tight spots- my experience anyway.  The double rack on shoulder sling is what swings around but I still prefer because you can swing it out of the way, as well as hand it off...

The common practice of putting really short loops on bottles for wall climbs is lame IMO, hard to carry, hard to clip.

Cheers, Jay

Gloweringwrote:

You can only absorb 34 ounce of water per hour if it's really hot. In normal conditions about half of that. You'll just pee out what you can't absorb.

• Hydrate well the day before and the morning of. Drinking sips of water all day. So you're starting from a place of being well hydrated
• Drink a 20+ oz bottle over the course of an hour before the climb (e.g. on the approach)

A few jolly ranchers in your pocket is a trick I learned decades ago for when you run out of water.

Why jolly ranchers?

Nick Niebuhrwrote:

Why jolly ranchers?

Because that's what Jules used to put in the box when she resoled shoes.

woodcraftwrote:

It's a trade off- shorter cord and it jams against other stuff on the harness, and can't be moved out of the way in tight spots- my experience anyway.  The double rack on shoulder sling is what swings around but I still prefer because you can swing it out of the way, as well as hand it off...

The common practice of putting really short loops on bottles for wall climbs is lame IMO, hard to carry, hard to clip.

Cheers, Jay

I agree Jay. The way I've done it is any ole plastic bottle will do in a pinch, though the tougher gatorade bottles are best. I just don't buy gatorade anymore (haven't for a couple of decades) and won't buy something "just for the plastic." 

Rather than the chicken choker tie-off, I prefer duct tape an older standard length sling over the entire bottle. I use a bit extra tape, so have some tape should I need it for something. Then I add a knot about at the top of the bottle. This way I can clip short, but also extend the water bottle for chimneys etc. Plus I have an extra sling should I need to use the water bottle as a runner. (I also use a full strength sling for my camera case for the same reason)

Try taping an old nut to any plastic water bottle you have on you. Works great. Never falls off. 

woodcraftwrote:

What I call "the leader bottle"- 8oz?.  For when you arrive parched at the belay and have a long wait for the follower to arrive with the pack.

I do the same but tie a "Constrictor Hitch" (ABoK 1188) around the neck and clip short. The Constrictor Hitch is similar to a clove but has an extra pass. It doesn't loosen at all.

That one has a clove hitch, but mostly I use an alpine butterfly.

Cosmic Hotdogwrote:

I like to carry the Hydrapak 0.5L or 1L soft pouches. I'm trad climbing 99% of the time so I often put it inside an Avant snack pack that I keep on the same strap as my chalk bag to give it some abrasion protection. But often times I'll just clip it to the back of my harness and it's worked great. If it's sport climbing, no need to even think about protecting it from abrasion. 

I think the question to weigh is do you prioritize tough (and generally bulky) or less tough but easy to be compressed and packed away when needed

You trust the hydra pack clip in point? I haven’t quite trusted it enough, wondering if people have used them enough to know if long-term it’ll rupture like the Nalgene bottles.

Ironically, I bought the avant- snack pack but I only use the phone tether it came with. The pack intrigued me enough to buy but I kept forgetting it. I’ll have to actually give it a try sometime.

I also like the idea of the small Nalgene Mikey S. mentioned, probably for 5 or less pitch climbs, I often pack it with cold brew when cragging or with electrolytes if I’m using a hydration pack. 

The .5 liter kids Nalgene bottle with cord tied below the lip of the threads, then reinforced with tape. 

Nick Niebuhrwrote:

Why jolly ranchers?

Any hard candy will do. Jolly ranchers are individually wrapped, last a long time, and really prevent dry mouth. 

On another note here's the solution!