Hydration Bladders

Evening all
Any advice on care, storage, use, cleaning etc of hydration bladders?
Thanks!

Drain it as soon as you get home. Get it as dry as possible. Story it dry (if its dry, the nasties can't grow). I've also heard to store it in the fridge. A tip I read a while ago, which I use now, don't fork out cash for branded cleaning tablets, use denture cleaning tablets from the supermarket (Corega), much cheaper and the same stuff. Just rinse properly after
I disassemble my bladders, pipes, valves etc and clean and dry them separately.

Just a tip regarding hydration bladders; I use practice plastic golf balls to help dry out the bladder. A pack is about R20.00 I think. Put them into the bladder after you've cleaned it and they prevent the bladder walls from sticking together. I store mine in the freezer after every cleaning. I don't use a hydration bladder for hiking, but only use them on trail runs.

I've always wondered about purchasing one of these. But have always thought of the time wasted taking it out of your hiking pack, filling and trying to get it back in there... Is there and easier way to fill bladders that are in your pack that I'm unaware of?

Hence I use my trusty energade bottles (once the purple liquid is consumed) and another 750ml bottle with spout.

Captain wrote: Just a tip regarding hydration bladders; I use practice plastic golf balls to help dry out the bladder. A pack is about R20.00 I think. Put them into the bladder after you've cleaned it and they prevent the bladder walls from sticking together.

Great tip, I shall definitely be using it!

Silverthorne, it can be a pain. For me it is worth it. Revolutionised my hydration while hiking. I used to not drink enough because it was such a pain getting a water bottle in and out. Now I sip all the time. I use 3l bladders, and usually fill them quite full (depending on the trail etc), so I don't have to refill that often. There are packs that have separate openings for the bladder which makes it much easier to take out and put back in. It also depends how you pack your pack. I also usually use a 750ml sports bottle filled with Game.

Silverthorne wrote: Is there and easier way to fill bladders that are in your pack that I'm unaware of?

Buy an Osprey backpack. Seriously. I doubt I'll look at any other brand of backpack again until they incorporate a similar hydration system.

My shower gel popped open in my daypack last weekend, and leaked all over the daypack.
Pack has been washed, but I used the bladder in the pack yesterday, left it in last night, filled it up this morning. Now my water tastes like Radox Shower Fresh
Any ideas?
Thanks

intrepid wrote: Use it as a hang-up solar shower bag instead?

Multi-use, I like that!!!

I tend to take a multi-use approach for my hydration requirements. I use both a 3L Source hydration bladder and a 1L Nalgene bottle. I only use water in the bladder so no problem cleaning it - Game etc. goes into the bottle. Problem for me is that I am a heavy water user so just using bottles would be a problem for me as I don't have space for 4 bottles +.

I use the Source hydration bladder which is a really neat piece of kit - easy to use, easy to clean, never had any fungi, mould etc in it even with leaving water in it for extended periods of time. Think it is treated with some anti-fungi stuff. Also, being fairly dark lets in less light which would slow down fungi growth in the water. The pipe connecting the bladder to the valve is also covered with some type of insolation material which helps quite a bit. Even if the water freezes it decouples very easily so you can just blow out the ice in the pipe.

I normally collect water with the bottle, sterilize it (Steripen or Salveo drops) and then dump it in the bladder. Should the water level in the stream be very low you'd actually be able to get it into the bladder (the top part opens up completely) whereas the bottle wouldn't work. However, should the bladder tear (pretty unlikely on this one as they used quite thick material) then I have a bottle to fall back on.

The Source bladder is made in Israel, used by their military so I reckon it should last me a long time and ensure my water stays in the bag and drinkable. Which, with the amount of rain we've been getting lately is becoming more important by the day.