View Full Version : Pillows & Water carriers
The silver plastic inners of 3ltr wine boxes make a small yet serviceable water carrier and also double as a pillow if you blow them up. Have fun drinking the wine first of course :uu:
i have carrier a US 5 quarter canteen with me as a pillow and watercarrier... it supported mine head the first day, the second day it leaked ! and it still does ! haven't used it for watercarry... so i guess that was a very expensive one day pillow.... :-(
The silver plastic inners of 3ltr wine boxes make a small yet serviceable water carrier and also double as a pillow if you blow them up. Have fun drinking the wine first of course :uu:
We've done the pillow thing, but I can't visualise how to get the water into the bag - we've got a box that we're just about to finish so I'll have to give it a go!
I've tried to get the nozzle off one of the wine bags before because I thought it would be good to reuse.
But could I get it off? Could I buggery! Ended up breaking it and having to throw it away!
So how do you refill it?
I'm sure I recall seeing an adaptor thingy for sale somewhere so you could change the tap bit into a screw cap to use it as a water bag.
Has any one else come across them? I'm sure it was one of the big retailers like field and trek or someone?
George
I think the one I have is from a box of "Banrock station" It has a simple twist tap that you can pop off with the edge of your knife. I suppose its just a matter of checking out the tap when you finish a box. Hell if nothing else it will be fun finding the right one :-D
The pillow I use, is articles of clothing stuffed in my sleeping bag's container bag.
My water carrier is one (or more) of those 1.5 or 2 litre plastic softdrink bottles - they're indestructable, (fill one with water and try jumping on it!) never leak, weightless when empty, and can be flattened to save pack space.
And they're cheap! :wink:
in my experience "you win some you lose some" some of the bags you can get the black nozzle out in such a state that you may fill the bladder with water and then get the nozzle back in so as it is servicable as a water dispenser, but the ones where it is possible to do this are fairly few and far between, and im not talking different brands of wine work, you can have 5 which are from the same wine brands and perhaps only 1 is possible to do it with.
I've never had much luck with those wine bladders. I like a dedicated "bombproof" container for my water, expecially if there's a chance I won't find any more.
For a pillow, you can go ultraligh & ultracheap: :shock:
http://www.datasync.com/~wksmith/pillow.html
I used to carry a couple in my bergen which I used for what you've described! It took me ages to get the taps off, I think a vice is the best way. Discard the crushed tap and then cut the bag of another tap. I know this is a bit wasteful but you'll have fun collecting enough material to make an un damaged one!
They were also useful for that extra bit of bouyancy if blown up and placed in a flotation pack, or as a bouy/marker (air & sea). Does anyone know if the platypus gear will fit them?
PLATY 3LTR OR 2LTR MAKE GOOD PILLOWS PLUS YA CAN GET PATCHES FOR THEM .....TA DA.. :wave: :wave:
Carcajou Garou
11-10-2004, 01:17
We carry MSR's Dromedary water bags 6 & 10 ltr that could be used as a pillow with water in or not?
just a thought
i guess it could, but you wouldnt want to risk popping it, thats expencive kit!
Camelbak's make good pillows too and there is little risk of popping them - there is video on the Camelbak site of a truck being driven over one. Their military versions also have very good tap on them too, eliminating leakage.
but nojn of them insulated very well. I use my "pillow" ( read spare clothing) as a pillow, which doubles as insulation, because i got a 3/4 pad and like to cover sleep with my upper legs inslulated too.
Their military versions also have very good tap on them too, eliminating leakage.
whats the difference between the military ones and the civvi ones?
I've only ever heard good things about camelbak, the bite valves are far better then platypus as well
the best water bags are the PRI ones
far far better than camelbaks
Swampy Matt
11-10-2004, 16:20
I carry a couple of small dry bags/canoe sacs made by Exped. these make a pretty good pillow and excellent emergency water collectors/carriers.
One will carry around a litre the other around 5 litres.
They don't even need anything in them to make a pillow - just fill them with air and roll the top.
Matt.
That's not a bad idea Matt, I have been using water bags and dry bags for pillows for years (when not in a hammock), at one stage I had a 7 litre water bag made by a company called Liquipack, they originated in Israel, the bag was foilised and as a result kept the liquids in the bag cold, but due to its size it was also very good as a pillow. :o):