[pct-l] Water Capacity in Desert

[Scott Bryce]

Blake Robinson wrote:
> Hello, I'm looking forward to my thru hike in April 2009 and had a
> question :  how much water do I need to carry?  I'll be honest, I'm
> somewhat paranoid about having enough water, so I'd want to have
> extra and definitely would not be relying on any caches.  I was
> thinking along the lines of 8 liters, what kind of capacity do others
> carry?

On my section hike from the border to Idylwild (OK, it was an aborted
through hike attempt.) I was able to carry 7 liters at a time. I carried
1 liter for every 3 miles to the next reliable water source, plus 1 for
a dry camp, but never more than 7 liters. I think I was carrying more
water than most hikers. Even with that, I was having trouble staying
hydrated.

> Also, I was thinking about only bringing 1 liter soda bottle because
> they're cheap, replaceable, and indestructible,

I used 1 liter Gatorade bottles. Another reason to use 1 liter bottles
is that if something happens to one of them, you only lose 1 liter of water.

7 or 8 1-liter bottles take up a LOT of space in your pack.

I drilled a hole in one of the caps so I could run a hydration tube out
of it. That also meant that I had to stop every 3 miles and switch
bottles. I would rather have a hydration tube running out of something
with a larger capacity. An advantage of this system is that it gave me a
way to gauge how much water I was drinking.

> and maybe a sierra cup to use as a dipper for shallow
> springs/sources.

I don't know how often you will actually use it.

-- 
Scott Bryce
http://TheMathWorksheetSite.com
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