Properly caring for your hydration pack bladder.

[Troy T. Moore]

I just got a box of happiness from eHaobby today

Inside were the King Arms 3L hydration packs I ordered, in addition to a few other things. Very impressive for the price, nice materials and well put together.

I have never had a hydration pack before and so do not know what the proper care for the bladder is. Obviously water only in the bladder. What about between usse? Is draining it enough or do i have to dry the inside of the bladder?

Any and all help in this matter is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Dracheous]

Google... it CAN be your friend ... for others its a bitchy mistress on her rag for the 32nd week in a row...


http://www.outdooreyes.com/takecarehydration.php3

[Darklen]

I rinse mine out with just plain water, maybe some Sunlight soap once and a while, rinsing throughly. Hang inverted to dry out and once it's completely dry (a day or so) I lightly cap the bladder so nothing can get inside but it can still breathe.

[SHÖCK]

For long term storage, some people put them in the freezer so microorganisms can't grow.

That said, before every single game I play, I will run a cycle of boiling hot water through the bladder. I'll fill with boiling water, leave the bladder in the sink, squeeze the nozzle with my fingers, and suck on the end to get flow going (like siphoning gas) and then empty out the contents of the hot water through the bladder and the entire tube into a metal pot on the ground.

[ThunderCactus]

+1 on the boiling hot water rinse
For long term I'll dry mine out and let them hang, but If I'm too lazy to clean them I throw them in the fridge.
FYI don't put anything with lots of sugar in your hydrapack. And especially not beer (friend learned that one the hard way lol)
And camelbak bladders have the most effective anti-microbial coating I've seen. Blackhawk bladders are crap.

[Danke]

I keep mine half filled in the fridge in the off time. If its been out for more than a few hours I'll rinse it, hang it to dry, and then refill and put it back in.

At the end of the season I'll run a cleaning tab through it, hang it to dry, and put it away. Then I'll wash it again when I bring it out.

Nothing but water goes in it!

The Camelback cleaning kits come with a frame to hang it open when it dries, cleaning tabs, and brushes, they're a great package.

[Oborous]

Read the instructions for the effects of boiling water. It all depends on who made your bladder (I know the Original Poster was talking King Arms, which I don't have experience with; but other people are talking different manufacturers).

My Source bladder -cannot- handle boiling water, it destroys the anti-microbial coating. My Gerber can handle it for short periods of time, but deforms, so while it's cooling, I gotta be careful of letting it 'reset' to it's original shape.

The NSW group did a study on hydration bladders, found compliance with cleaning was abysmal, so did a study on which bladders were best at just naturally resisting baterial build up. Gerber and Playtapus were the most recommended; this was done about two years ago, so some new technology might surpass this.

[Azathoth]

+1 to oborous. I have a platypus 3L

Read the instructions on your bladder!

Some bladders cannot have boiling water put into them period. In some bladders this may either damage / remove the anti microbial layer or cause the plastics to degrade. I highly recommend the Platypus 3L if you can find it, demand for them has made them almost impossible to find due to their performance in the anti microbe Navy study.

Generic cleaning can be done with the camel back tabs that are sold in all camping and adventure supply stores. Make sure to rinse the bladder 2-3 times with fresh water after using the tablets to remove residual taste.

Some people also use a little bit of brine water or lemon juice added to water to clean.