Water storage on walls

Doing my first wall next month with my mentor (who has successfully done many walls. Many of them he does solo). We were talking yesterday about water storage. I knew most people do 2L soda bottles filled with water. He says he uses big water storage bags such as the MSR Dromedary because they collapse down so nicely and have built in lash points. He said I can bring the 2L bottles but they're a pain. Anyone here used both methods and can attest to pros and cons of each system? I don't own a big 10L water storage bag and would rather save money where I can, but if it's worth it I'd shell out the cash.

I haven't used a Drom on a wall, but I've used both 2L bottles and gallon jugs. I think the packability and reusability of the Drom sounds great. Two issues I can think of are lifting/pouring and leaks/punctures. Lifting a 2L bottle and getting the water into your mouth or smaller bottle is way easier than something heavier. Plus I can grip a 2L with just one hand. The more important reason not to use a Drom is you could lose a significant amount of water if you break the container in some way. Pigs get knocked around a lot on the wall and I would worry about exploding a nearly full Drom. Less filled ones would be less likely to split, but they could still break at the nozzle or otherwise leak. If that happens you might need to bail. 

Cool idea. I might try it myself. But I think it carries more risk than what most people do and there's also some slight inconvenience. 

Adam Flemingwrote:

I haven't used a Drom on a wall, but I've used both 2L bottles and gallon jugs. I think the packability and reusability of the Drom sounds great. Two issues I can think of are lifting/pouring and leaks/punctures. Lifting a 2L bottle and getting the water into your mouth or smaller bottle is way easier than something heavier. Plus I can grip a 2L with just one hand. The more important reason not to use a Drom is you could lose a significant amount of water if you break the container in some way. Pigs get knocked around a lot on the wall and I would worry about exploding a nearly full Drom. Less filled ones would be less likely to split, but they could still break at the nozzle or otherwise leak. If that happens you might need to bail. 

Cool idea. I might try it myself. But I think it carries more risk than what most people do and there's also some slight inconvenience. 

Good points! I should clarify that he says he uses 3 separate 3L Droms. I was naïvely thinking I should get 1 big one, but with the points you brought up I can see why having your water stored in different containers can be beneficial. 

Carrying enough water for 2 on a 4-5 day wall would require a lot of Drom bags... Not sure how much of an advantage the packability is since you can crush plastic bottles pretty good by standing on them. Also some cord + tape fixes the lash point issue.

Just curious where people are getting the 2L bottles…dumpster diving?  Or can you order fresh empties directly from somewhere 

To give the alternate approach, I exclusively use 1L smart water bottles.  They are tall, skinny, and smooth-sided.  This makes them ideal for making a tightly-packed layer of them at the bottom of the haulbag. Each bottle gets a paracord loop girth hitched to the neck (super secure).  No water transferring required, just grab a bottle and clip it to your harness.  It is a bit of a pain to carry around all those empties, but they weigh essentially nothing, but they are bulky.  I have a large stuff sack I just clip to the outside of the backpack for the walk out.

Mark Pilatewrote:

Just curious where people are getting the 2L bottles…dumpster diving?  Or can you order fresh empties directly from somewhere 

Some of us have unhealthy habits and if you give us a month we can get you 4 bottles

1.5L grocery store water bottles. I bring 2xday if it’s cold or 3xday if it’s hot. Easy to handle and drink from. They crush down small and make it easy to budget water. Easy to pour water into a 0.5L nalgene if you want but I personally almost never bring water on lead.

I have found that the simplest solutions are always the best on big walls. Not having to think about it outweighs comfort/elegance for me every time.

2l seltzer water (no minerals added, just bubbles). Add Gatorade (or whatever) powder to your drinking (not cooking, obviously) supply and it's fantastic.

small bottle keep on top / on harness for drinking, big disposable plastic 1gal jugs on bottom of bag.  

Why disposable vs the msr...well http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/17349/Bigwall-urine-etiquette http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1217614/Urine-El-Cap-and-YOU

if you climb on popular walls like yose, consider packing your urine out or at least away from the climb.  Your nose will tell you why once youre on a ledge and the famous el cap afternoon wind stops blowing.  Sparking containers are known to be of better quality plastic due to pressure, the crux is finding a large enough bottle opening for your high altitude refill.  I like Gatorade bottles.

Kevin Crumwrote:

if you climb on popular walls like yose, consider packing your urine out or at least away from the climb.  Your nose will tell you why once youre on a ledge and the famous el cap afternoon wind stops blowing.

I agree. As a female, I've always peed in to a wag bag when I do long multipitch routes or if I'm climbing in an area where human waste is specifically prohibited. It solidifies and all is good in the world. I've also considered using a pee funnel and having a designated pee bottle. Ladies, can you chime in?

People peeing off the side of a portaledge is gross. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

One can easily crush 2l bottles. Not as compact as an empty dromedary bag but less apt to explode when crushed. Some of the bottled water bottles are made of even thinner plastic because they are not under pressure. 

Plastic bottles can also be used as a pee bottle. And if cut in half they can be used to hold poop (cut in half and slide open ends together).

I use dromedary bags for climbs where I will be getting water along the way to a high camp/bivy for a night. They work great for that. On one occasion it leaked. Fortunately what got wet was not critical.

Finn Lanverswrote:

Some of us have unhealthy habits and if you give us a month we can get you 4 bottles

Lol. That shit’ll kill ya..