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Tester Information:
Name: Jason Boyle
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 6"/ 1.68 m
Weight: 170 lb/ 77 kg
Email address: c4jc@hotmail.com
City, State, Country: Waldorf, Maryland, U.S.
Date reviewed: March 21, 2005 |  |
Backpacking Background:
I have been camping and backpacking for about 16 years. My introduction to the outdoors started with the BSA and has continued as an adult. I have hiked mostly in the Southeastern and Northeastern United States. I currently live near Washington D.C. and have made the mid-Atlantic mountains my playground. My shelter type varies by season; in the summer, I use a hammock or stay in lean-to type shelters, and as it gets colder I carry a lightweight two-person tent that I generally use just for me. The rest of my gear is lightweight, but I will carry most anything as long as I have a use for it.
Product Information:
Manufacturer: Cascade Designs
Model: Water Tank 2
Size: They make multiple size water tanks 2-liter/70 oz, 4-liter/140 oz, 6-liter/210 oz
Year of Manufacture: latest one was purchased in summer of 2004
URL:www.platypushydration.com
Listed weight: 2 oz/60g
Measured weight: 2 oz/60g
Listed Size: 9 x 11.5 in/23 x 29 cm
Listed Volume: 70 oz/ 2-liters
MSRP: 12.95 US dollars
Product Description:
The water tank is a typical hydration reservoir made of a thick clear plastic material with a pleated bottom that allows it to stand. It has two openings: a heavy-duty zippered top and a threaded spout with a cap. Additionally the water tank has two handles made of black nylon that are attached with grommets to the tank above the zipper.
Website Excerpts:
"Unconventional by design, flexible Platypus Bottles are everything that a hard bottle isn't."
-- 80% lighter than conventional bottles of the same size.
-- Solid plastic neck is easy to hold when filling.
Summary:
These reservoirs are the bomb! Is that out of style yet? These water tanks are great. When I get to camp at night, I take them to the local water source fill them (I have three) and I am done with my water chores. I then use this untreated water for all of my water needs without making multiple trips to the local water source. The handles also make them easy to carry even for distances over 1 mile (1.6 km). Nothing is perfect though, filling the bags can be hard from a shallow water source and the zipper is difficult to close in cold weather.
Field Information:
These bags have been dragged all over the mid-Atlantic Area for the last three years: from the Appalachian Trail in Maryland and Virginia, to the Dolly Sods in West Virginia. I have used them in the winter in sub freezing temperatures and in the summer, in rain, snow and sunshine!
Review:
I must say that I did not come up with the idea to use these tanks as in-camp reservoirs by myself. I usually just went and got water from the local source whenever I needed it, but during one early November backpacking trip a few years ago I had an epiphany. I was sharing a shelter with another hiker who had several water tanks that he filled and the next morning when I was going to go get water in the rain he offered me his extra water so that I did not have to get soaked filtering water. BAM! What a great idea; I was sold!
These bags look like large heavy-duty zip top bags with a spout and a pleat for standing. Normally I unzip the top and dip the top into the water source until the bag is full or mostly full. I normally do this with the spout cap on. Back at camp when I need water I unscrew the cap and pour into the desired container. Pretty simple. I am careful not to pour so fast that the water comes out of the zipper top that I normally don't zip up unless I have to carry the bags a great distance.
I always put untreated water in the bags and then treat the water from there. If I am using a filter, I filter directly from the bag into my drinking container. If using a chemical treatment, I pour water from the water tank into my drinking container then purify.
I think that the water tank makes filtering water much easier. If I am filtering from a stream, I am usually squatting precariously over slippery rocks and have nowhere to sit my drinking containers while filling them, but it is a much different story with the water tank. I can bring the untreated water back to a picnic table, shelter, or some other more comfortable place and leisurely fill my drinking containers without the likelihood of falling in a stream or causing bodily harm.
I am also happy with the carrying ability of the straps. On a recent trip to a dry camp I carried the tank over a mile and a half filled with water and experienced no problems.
The durability of the plastic has been great, I probably have close to 100 days of use with the bags and have had no leaks or creases in the bags. The zipper top shows no signs of wear either.
Another great feature of the water tank is the interchangeability with the Platypus hydration system. I also carry a Platypus hydration bladder while hiking, and though nothing has happened to my bladder, if something were to happen I can use a water tank as a back up bladder. The Platypus drinking tube cap will screw directly into the water tank spout and with that one change the water tank becomes a hydration bladder. Of course if I need to switch to the water tank as a back-up reservoir, I would treat the water with a chemical treatment before drinking.
The zipper top makes the bags easy to clean. I can easily fit my hand in to scrub down the bag. I haven't done this much though since I use the bags only for untreated water. After a backpacking trip, I usually just drain them and toss them in my gear closet until the next time I need them.
I also find that these tanks are extremely easy to carry. Once I have used all the water I need, I empty them and roll them up from bottom to top and stuff them in the side pocket of my pack.
All is not rosy though and there are some challenges that I have encountered while using these bags. The first is that they are extremely hard to fill from a stagnant or shallow water source. As I said earlier, I normally dip the unzipped top into the water source to fill the tank. If the water source is shallow and/or not moving this technique doesn't work well and usually results in a lot of foreign matter getting into my water. To overcome this issue, I take a small cup that I can fill the bags with if necessary. It also doubles as my measuring cup.
A second issue with the bag is how hard the zipper is to operate. This is really a catch 22, because I want the zipper to be tough so that when I zip the tank up it stays zipped. On the other hand I want to be able to zip the bag up easily. In cold weather, I usually resort to setting the zippered part of the bag against something flat and hard and hammer the zipper closed with my fist. That seems to be the only way that I can get it to fully zip closed, and it is also why I don't close the zipper most of the time.
PRO's
Easy to use
Serves as a back-up hydration bladder
Makes filtering water easier
Easy to carry handles
Great durability (3 years and still going)
Lightweight
CON's
Difficult to fill from a shallow or stagnant source
Hard to operate zipper
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