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Reviews > Food > Energy Bars and Drinks > NUUN - Electrolyte Tablets > Test Report by Josh Cormiernuun Electrolyte Tablets Test series by Josh Cormier
Initial report:31-May-07
Field report:16-Oct-07
Personal biographical
information: ·
Name: Josh Cormier ·
Age: 27 ·
Gender: Male ·
Height: 5’ 11” (1.80
m) ·
Weight: 162 lb (73
kg) ·
Email address: swifteagle1 at hotmail dot com
City: Los Gatos, California Backpacking background: I joined the Boy Scouts when I was 11 and have been
camping and backpacking ever since. I like to do challenging trips ranging from
week long to weekend in mountainous areas. I would classify my gear as mid
weight although now I am trying to move more toward lightweight. I now go
backpacking at least once a year in the Sierra Nevada Mountains as well as monthly car camping
trips with the Scouts. Initial Report -
31-May-07 Product
Information: (information taken from nuun website) - Item Description: nuun Electrolyte Tablets - Listed tube weight (full): ~
2oz (57 g) - Measured tube weight (full): 2.5 oz (71 g) - Measured tablet weight: 0.2 oz (5.7 g) - Measured Dimensions:—3 7/8" L x 1 1/8" D (98 mm L x 28.5 mm D)
*Note: Kona cola also contains 40 mg of caffeine per tablet
- Manufactures web site: http://www.nuun.com - Year of Manufacture: 2007 - MSRP: $6.50
(tube) -
Item Received: 23-May-07 - Initial Condition: The product arrived in new,
sealed tubes, and included one tube
of each flavor. Also included in the packaging as a bonus was a sporty nuun
water bottle included for testing purposes. Packaging: I received four tubes of nuun, one of each flavor and a blue nuun water bottle included for
testing purposes. On opening two of the tubes and checking the tablets I found
no cracking or excess powder due to storage or
shipment.
Initial Impressions: The
tubes that the nuun tablets come in, seem to be pretty sturdy. The website
claims that they are water resistant and will protect the tablets from being
crushed. I will be revisiting this claim in my final report to determine how
durable this tube is and how well it protects the tablets from damage in my
final report. The
design and color scheme of the tubes makes it seem like a candy container and
makes it easy to pick out what flavor I want without needing to read the
writing. Looking for Kona cola, grab the brown one, Citrus – yellow, Lemon+Lime
– green, Tri-berry – purple. The outside of the tube has a “freshness” ring just
under the lid that will break when I first open the tube. The lid is easy to
open and just as easy to snap closed, however I don not think I will need to
worry about the lid opening on its own. On opening the tube I saw a plastic
“spring” that is connected to the lid and hold the tablets tight without
crushing them. This “spring” only works until the first two or so tablets are
removed. Now I should say
here that the serving size information is confusing if I compare the tube to
their website. Each tablet makes up two 8oz (.24L) servings so if I drop one
tablet into water I should use 16oz (.48L) of water and double the count of all
the active ingredients on the tube. If I go to the website it states the active
ingredients contained in 16oz
(.48L) of water which equals two servings one tablet. The tablets themselves
have a line down the middle that should make it easy to split a tablet in half
if I don’t want to make a 16oz batch. Each tablet has a slight scent to it, and
only a light coloring. I can easily fit one tube in my pocket and can fit more
without too much effort.
First Time Use: The
day after I received these tablets I decided to go ahead and use one on my daily
walk over lunch. It was a sunny 78 F (25.5 C) at an elevation of 53ft (16m) in
Fremont, California. I filled up the water bottle with
16oz of water and dropped a Citrus Fruit flavored tablet in. Immediately the
tablet started bubbling and dissolving. Within 1.5 min the tablet was completely
gone, I did not have to shake the bottle to dissolve any leftover. When I opened
the bottle to take the first drink I was rewarded with a small spray of fluid
that was around the nozzle. When the tablet dissolves it does pressurize the
bottle a little but pressure will dissipate soon after opening the valve.
When I started walking my calves and lower leg muscles
and ligaments were aching as I was stretching out at a brisk walk to catch up.
As I walked I drank some of the nuun and noticed no ill effects on my stomach.
The taste will take a while for me to get used to as I’m not a sports energy
drink drinker, I prefer water straight up. The taste was not a bad one, but it
did leave me with a somewhat hard, mineral taste at the end of each drink. I
know this will be subjective for each user so I do not recommend worrying about
the taste to much. By the end of the test I will see if I have become accustomed
to the taste of the tablets and what my favorite flavor has become. I finished
the bottle in 15 min and in another 15 min my aches were gone.
I
will need more time testing to determine if this was due to the nuun, warming up
or both. For an initial trial I liked the ease at which I could mix up a nuun,
it sat well on my stomach and seemed to work well. I will continue testing the
nuun tablets as I backpack and am involved in outdoor activities that require
staying hydrated. I look forward to getting out there and giving these
electrolyte tablets a try. Field
Report – 16-Oct-07 Field Conditions: I used several of these tablets at a 3 day horse show where we were
camping down at Salinas. I was judging the event so I was on my
feet in the sun for most of the day. The temperature during the day was from
75-85 F (25-29 C) not too hot, but there was no shade except what my hat could
provide. During this trip I used nuun everyday to keep my self hydrated. At
night sometimes I would have a headache but then I drank some more nuun and
eventually my headache went away. I was also able to use many of these tablets on 3 day two night trip to
Henry Coe State
Park, in Morgan
Hill California. The
elevation ranged from 1000 – 2600 ft (305 – 792 m) and the temperature ranged
from 60 – 95 F (16 – 35 C). It was nice weather with a little wind but warm with
few clouds and no precipitation. The hills in the area a mostly grass covered
with few oak trees interspersed here and there. Being the end of July all the
grass was dead making the hills a kind of brown color, or what those around here
call California Gold. It was hot for most of the hike on this trip and so I was mixing nuun
with my water for most of the time I was hiking. I did not want to mix it in my
1 quart (1L) water bottle because I had mixed all the flavors into one tube. So
instead I broke a tablet in half and used my Nalgene lid to make it really
strong. Then I took a sip of the nuun from the lid and a big swig of water from
the Nalgene and allowed them to mix in my mouth. This worked out pretty well
because I knew ˝ a tablet should make about 8 oz. If this had been powder I
would have been guessing on the amount to add and been left with a bunch of
empty packets at the end of the day. Usually on hot trips like this I will drink 2-3 quarts (2-3 L) of water
without taking in any electrolytes except for the salt in my food. I had
experimented with salt tablets but all I can say is yuck, and they usually made
me feel nauseated. The nuun helped to keep me from getting dehydrated and kept
my electrolyte intake up without making me feel sick. I used the nuun electrolyte tables any time I was going to be outside in
the sun all day or during strenuous activities. Doing this I felt less tired at
the end of the day and seemed to recover faster. It has been a pleasure to use
nuun, they are easy to drop into container of water and leave no mess. I feel
nuun is a valuable addition to my pack and will continue to use it on my
travels. Below you will find the answers to the
questions I was asking throughout the test. What I
liked: Small convenient packaging, easy to grab on
the go Tablets, not
powder What I did not
like: Nothing that comes to mind, except my least
favorite flavor – Citrus Fruit The
tube: The
website has a lot of claims about the packaging for the
tablets. Is the tube really
waterproof? While I did not test this underwater, I did place it in
the shower for several minutes and no water got
inside. Does the tube keep the tablets from getting crushed when
gear is pressing or lying on the tube? Yes
– The tube does protect the tablets fairly
well. If the tube has empty space in it, will the tablets slide
around and break if the tube is moving around in my
pack? No
– I had no problems with the tablets breaking while in the tube, whether tossed
in my pack or rolling around with the rest of my
gear. How easy it to get the cap off the
tube? Once I remove the sealing ring for the first use, the cap
comes off with some light to medium
pressure. How easy is it to get the tablets out of the
tube? Easy – simply open the tube, and shake a tablet out into my
hand. The
tablets: How long does it take the tablet to completely
dissolve? About 2 minutes Does the nuun drink leave a hard to remove
aftertaste/smell in my bottle after it’s gone? After using many tablets – there is a definite faint nuun
odor in my water bottle, however there is no real lingering taste.
Is the flavor easily palatable for
me? It
takes some getting used to but I found two things: it tastes better if I make it
a little stronger than recommended, and Tri Berry is my favorite
flavor. Is the flavor hard to get used
to? Some more than others – Now that I found my favorite
flavor I’ll stick with that Does the drink leave an unpleasant after taste in my
mouth? No
– Once I drank it, the taste disappears pretty quickly
Does the drink leave me feeling refreshed or
thirsty? Refreshed Did I have any experiences where I feel the nuun
electrolyte drink directly affected my
performance? Several times I drank some nuun because I was feeling the
effects of dehydration, headaches, nausea, cramps … After drinking nuun I tended
to feel better quicker. This concludes my testing series, thanks to nuun
and BackpackGearTest for letting me test this
product. Read more gear reviews by Josh Cormier Reviews > Food > Energy Bars and Drinks > NUUN - Electrolyte Tablets > Test Report by Josh Cormier |