The Evolution of my Hydration System (HS)

Early on in my Pre-Camino training I realised the importance of keeping hydrated while stacking on the kilometres. And while there are many opportunities to fill up your water bottles at potable water fountains all along the Camino-Frances, or to simply purchase a bottle of water at a shop or cafe, training in the harsh conditions of Australia is another matter altogether.

First I had to decide if I wanted to carry a water bladder (a la Camelback etc) or carry multiple water bottles. Although I already had a couple of water bladders and have used them to affect in the past, I decided to go with individual bottles for the following reasons:

• The bladder would occupy more space than I would like in my 34L backpack
• The bladder is out of sight and therefore you would never know for sure how much water you have remaining and would risk running out before you could refill
• It’s harder to apportion the water in a bladder e.g. you may want to carry less or more water (thus reducing your pack weight) from one day to the next depending on the distance of that day’s stage
• It’s probably not recommended to carry electrolyte drinks in a bladder, so it’s somewhat limited in its use as a “water only” carriage solution

So individual bottles it was going to be.

HS Mk I

My first version of the Hydration System (HS), let’s call it HS Mk I, was simply two 600ml plastic water bottles, each carried in the side pockets of my Osprey Stratos 34 backpack. At that stage of my training I was simply doing laps of an airfield so the quantity (1.2L total) was acceptable, but the inconvenience of having to stop and remove my pack whenever I needed a drink was certainly cumbersome to say the least.

Furthermore, my first attempt at a proper wilderness hike, running out of water halfway through, and having to buy a couple of really expensive drinks at the only shop along the route, soon had me searching for what would become the next, new-improved version.

HS Mk II

A little research on the interwebs led me to many DIY hacks to fasten otherwise disposable plastic water bottles to your backpack’s shoulder straps. You can check out the main video I took inspiration from on the Vista Ventures Youtube channel and, specifically in his video Cheap DIY Backpack Water Bottle Holder. Here all you needed for each bottle was two zip ties, some shock (elastic) cord, and a carabiner.

So my Mk II version consisted of 4 x 600ml Gatorade bottles with zip tie loops as assembled in the aforementioned video. I bought a couple of S-Biners to clip a single bottle to each shoulder strap, and the other two bottles were carried in the side pockets and were “zip tie ready” to enable easy exchangeability. I taped up my loose straps on the backpack which helped secure the elastic shock cord in place and, in turn that kept the bottles from swinging wildly around as I walked.

With this system I not only knew exactly how much water I had left at any one time but I could easily unclip the bottle, have a drink and re-secure it, all without stopping. It was balanced and within easy reach and I could carry 2.4L or less at any one time. It was working a treat until the electrical tape holding the elastic shock cord in place came loose halfway through the Long Bloody Walk (35km) and I was forced to walk a good 15km with my bottles bashing around annoyingly. This wasn’t gonna do so, I set about finding a solution to that problem.

HS Mk III

So my third iteration involved making a small but significant change. I re-taped the adjustment straps and then secured them with small zip ties (see the yellow electrical tape and black zip ties in the image below). The elastic shock cord would no longer come loose and the excess of my adjustment straps were also secured, neat and tidy.

And this system was working just peachy for awhile until, that is, I started setting out on my training hikes with one 600mL bottle containing an electrolyte solution and the other three containing plain water. That in itself was fine but I noticed after a couple of hikes that my water bottles started to grow some nasty black mould inside them in between hikes. Given the somewhat permanent nature of the zip tie loop technique (specifically the one around the bottle’s neck) I once again had to come up with a better solution that could economically cater for the possibility of throwing out and replacing a water bottle over the course of my journey. That’s when I developed the fourth (and hopefully final) iteration.

HS Mk IV

Once again, another minor adjustment was made to achieve the desired effect. I simply replaced the zip tie that was secured around the bottle’s neck with a stainless steel hose clamp. Additionally, I chose the type that have a solid butterfly adjustment screw so that I wouldn’t need a screwdriver or any other tool to tighten or loosen the loops. Ultimately, this simple hack will allow me to re-use the zip tie loop apparatus time and again should I need to throw away and replace the water bottle for whatever reason. It has the added bonus of being able to adjust to fit different sized disposable water bottles.

In Summary

I now have a Hydration System that consists of four replaceable, disposable water bottles that require no tools other than my fingers to maintain. I can unclip, drink, and re-clip the bottle without stopping should I need to do so on the go, and all parts of the system are secure. I can easily monitor my water levels and when I might need to replace the bottles. And the system is adjustable to cater for different sized water vessels.

Only more test runs will truly expose any potential weaknesses, but I’m reasonably confident the HS Mk IV is gonna perform just fine for what I need during my entire Camino journey.

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