TimothyH

What bike specific solutions are people using for water in the backcountry or wilderness?

I'm starting to do more longer rides, 40 to 60 miles in areas where there are no facilities and may eventually give bikepacking a shot.

I could carry two large bottles on fork mounts in addition to the bottles in the triangle. This isn't scalable to longer rides and I also have 70 and 100 oz hydration packs.

Is anyone filtering/treating? I'm thinking of a bag and gravity filter and can carry Aquamira.

Ultimately it will likely be a combination of all or some of these depending on the ride but I'd be interested in hearing about solutions used by those more experienced than I.


-Tim-

Seattle Forrest

Sawyer Mini. It's 2.5 oz and fits in your pocket. I've been backpacking with one for years. Works fine on a bike too.

https://sawyer.com/products/sawyer-mini-filter/

The bag that comes with it will fail pretty soon, so get a Platypus one, or bring a coke bottle.

This is the best answer if water is available.

TimothyH

Interesting. Thanks for pointing this out.



Do you filter as you drink or do you stop and gravity feed into your bottles/pack?


-Tim-

john_mct

With the Sawyers you can either gravity feed (nice because you can do other stuff like eat or swim or look at maps during the break) or just squeeze water through them if you're in a hurry. I've never done the filter as I drink thing...

Unless it's really hot, two bottles and a camelback should get you through a 60 mile ride but I will readily acknowledge that water consumption is highly variable person to person and also terrain dependent. I wouldn't have any qualms about setting out for a 60 mile ride with just two bottles given moderate temps and moderate hilliness. Steep long climbs, high heat, and rougher terrain mean slower going and more water is necessary.

dgodave

(4) 26 oz bottles on the bike plus 2 liters on my back got me through 90 hot hilly miles of natl forest roads.

I like seattle's idea as a backup.

Seattle Forrest

You can set up a gravity filter with a Sawyer, but it's much quicker to just squeeze the water through. (Gravity filter comes into its own when you want to deal with several liters for a night in camp.) You can also set it up "inline" if you wear a hydration pack, but I don't like wearing a pack on the bike. I just fill a small bag from a creek, roll/squeeze it through the filter (like tooth paste) into my water bottle.

This is the best solution. It doesn't require batteries, you don't change the filter out (backwash occasionally), it's light weight, reliable, cheap, mechanically simple, reasonably quick, and works against everything in the water here. Just don't let it freeze.

Here are two pictures of one in operation.



^ Works better to roll the bag from the bottom, like tooth paste.



^ I've never used on this way - the idea is you fill your Camelback bladder from a creek, and it's filtered as you drink it.

TimothyH

I understand how they work but was wondering how you use it specifically. Thanks for the info.

The above adjectives have me tending toward using this method. Two bottles in the triangle with Gu/NUUN tabs, 70 or 100 oz hydration bladder and bag/filter for refilling. Aquamira for backup. The filter/bag method seems like the best setup for the bike.

I'll probably get a Frontier Pro Ultralight and a Geigerrig bag. The description of the bag indicates that it is pretty durable.


-Tim-

Seattle Forrest

Those are pricey!

I've done very well with Platypus bags. I like that I can pick them up locally in a pinch, but they're also tough and durable. I've dropped full bags on rocky trails without issue. I have a few like this for overnight use and a few 1L bags like this for hiking and on the bike. The smaller bags are very tough. I put mine in the freezer for a couple days after I use it, the temp kills most nasties around here.

Personally I've never heard of the Frontier filter but know people who've hiked the (2,660 mile) PCT using Sawyer filters.

Two great sources of info for outdoor gear are nwh and bpl.

TimothyH

We are on the same page. Thank you for your sanity.


-Tim-

Seattle Forrest

I've been meaning to start a thread about water on long rides on remote dirt and gravel roads. Glad you beat me to it.

andr0id

You'll want to use the cleanest flowing water you can find with a filter. Sometimes it is hard to find water that isn't tannin stained from flowing through leaves. It will look like weak tea. That is OK to drink after filtering, it might taste a bit bitter.

dgodave

In desert canyons I've drank the murkiest stagnant pools in the fall... treated with iodide.

Seattle Forrest

Gmap4 is an excellent planning tool. Most of the base maps show water sources. The cross hair tool makes it easy to grab waypoints. (If you use CalTopo, terrain shading is incredibly useful too.) For example, here's where Soldier Boy Creek crosses Cascade River Road:

https://mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.p...1851&z=15&t=t4

When I'm going to do a long ride in a hot and thirsty place, I'll build out a short GPX file with waypoints marking water sources along the route. That way I know how long to make what's in my bottles last.

Sometimes I'll even have my Garmin do proximity alerts to make sure I don't miss a chance to fill up.

Spoonrobot 

I use a lifestraw. There are probably better options but my partner got it for me after I ran out of water on a very long ride and drank from a contaminated tap. Most of the water where I ride is clear and flowing so I just fill up my bottles and stop to use the lifestraw to drink from them as needed.

I've gotten more skilled at riding in remote areas so really it's more to assuage my mental state than any sort of emergency life-saver.

When I roll out to the middle of nowhere I usually take a 3L camelback and two 0.8L water bottles. This will last about 4 hours during the hottest time of the year. After that I'm almost always near a store or other source of water.

Begging from passing local residents, passing motorists, hikers, other cyclists and equestrians is another option that you should be aware of. I don't do it that often but I've yet to be turned down.

john_mct

Yep this saved our butts the one time we ran out of water on our coast to coast tour between El Paso and Van Horn, middle of nowhere west Texas. A friendly retired couple in a small RV hooked us up with a couple of bottles to get us the last ~35 hot miles into Van Horn. Would have been seriously suffering without it. We a filter but there was no water to be found and most of the cattle tanks we could see (we were keeping a keen eye out for about two hours) were well over a mile into private ranch land.

gsa103

I got a Sawyer for emergency use. Seems ideal for lightweight backcountry usage.

The other good option is a Steripen.
https://www.rei.com/product/884055/s...water-purifier

TimothyH

Went up to Cabelas at lunchtime.

They had a couple of nice kits including a Platypus and Sawyer, both with tubes, hanging bags and filters with similar form factor.

The Platypus kit seems well made but expensive. I might pick up one of the kits and give it a try this weekend.

Seattle Forrest

That's a great price! $25. Thanks for posting this.

These work. I've drank lots of water after purifying it with a Steripen that I wouldn't have trusted otherwise.

The downside here is they rely on battery power. So it's a good idea to have a plan b. Iodine, a stove, etc.

TimothyH

Lots of people write about what they heard or read or what they think might make sense.

Your direct experience however, means more to me than you know.

Thank you as well for your sanity.


-Tim-

msbiker

I used a platypus gravity for a tour on the Idaho Hot Springs Route for me and a buddy last summer. It provided all the water we needed at a very fast flow rate and would have provided enough water for a group of 6. One thing I like about gravity filters (particularly with the charcoal secondary filter for color and taste) is that you can use water that might look a bit unappealing if using a steripen. Of course, if can't find some water to filter it doesn't matter what kind of filter you have.

TimothyH

Thought about this last night and I'm not sure that this is the case. Please verify.

My understanding is that freeing temps will not kill all pathogens but only inhibit their growth to a greater or lesser extent. Filling the bags with boiling water and letting them sit for a few minutes will surely kill most if not all pathogens. Another option is hot water and a little bleach, let it sit for 30 minutes.

You actually reminded me to clean my Camelbak bladders as they sat in my closet all winter. I put them in the freezer after they cooled down and dried.


-Tim-

Seattle Forrest

@TimothyH

I know for sure that freezing a bag won't kill all pathogens that you might find in North American water. But it will kill many and that's better than killing none.

I'm not very comfortable with boiling water, I was raised by hippies to believe carcinogenic chemicals can leach out of plastic at high temperatures. If you don't have similar qualms, boiling should be very effective. People boil water to treat it.

Found an old picture of me purifying water on Mt Baker, using a Steripen:



Don't get a Steripen, especially for occasional bike use. Batteries die. Gravity will be there every time you get on the bike.

TimothyH

Belief is a choice. Choose to believe otherwise and you will be fine.

Or use a bit of bleach, or baking soda.

gsa103

I would disagree with that statement. It's easy (and prudent) to carry a spare set of batteries.
The Steripen has one significant advantage in cold conditions (see above). It won't freeze, like filter systems.

Having said that, ALWAYS have an independent back-up water supply, like Sawyer + Steri-Pen, or Steripen as a backup to planned clean water sources.

kuroba

I hate using a backpack when riding but I use one with an hydration bag for long gravel rides. I live in a desert area so I won't find any streams or rivers out there to refill lol.

I find my small bag it's not as annoying during rides as a 'regular' backpack.