Keeping water from freezing

[Bolt]

Quick question. My water always freezes during the night or during the day when I am away from camp. What is in my pack for the day is not the issue but when I return from my days hunt my water is always frozen and makes meal prep a pain. Last season I buried it and it was ok but messy. Any lightweight suggestions on keeping water from freezing in back country solo camp?

 

[Btaylor]

What kind of camp? Might help with appropriate suggestions.

 

[rayporter]

usually I cover my water with something like a piece of foam to keep it from getting hard.

if you leave your sleeping bag in camp just slide it under your bag. it does help to start with warm water. on occasion I have heated water before I cover it.

I remember a couple trips with single digit temps where the first thing I did was heat water to melt the ice and then made coffee.

 

[MTNRCHR]

put it in a soft sided cooler with a nalgene bottle of hot water.

 

[Bolt]

What kind of camp? Might help with appropriate suggestions.

This is a solo camp 3 miles in.


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[Btaylor]

No experience with your scenario but my first thought would be wrap it with an extra piece of clothing with a hot hand tucked in next to the bladder. Not sure if that would work well or not but if it does hot hands wouldn’t add much weight or take up much space in your pack.


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[rayporter]

if the ground is not frozen when you pitch camp you usually can get by for 2 days just covering it up.

if the ground is frozen lots more insulation and some heat is needed. the soft cooler sounds like a good idea but can you carry it in?

at altitude the hot hands can put out very little heat when wrapped up. but they sure do last a long time.

 

[tttoadman]

vodka

 

[Newtosavage]

I don't have a good answer for you, but I guess my approach is to hunt the warmer seasons if I plan to do an extended backcountry trip. After this past 1st rifle CO season, I'm not sure I would have wanted to be in the backcountry for 3-4 nights. But that's just me.

We still had some frozen water jugs after the first night, so I would keep enough water in the tent at night for everything we would need the next day.

 

[chindits]

I don’t understand why you need so much water to have to leave any at camp unless you are hunting an area with no water.

I carry a 2L water container that is usually half full while I’m hunting. On the way back to camp I top it off from creek,spring, or seep. That’s enough for supper and coffee the next morning. If it’s cold I warm up what ever water is left that night on my stove and back in the bottle it goes and then in my sleeping bag for the night. The next day that water is in my inner jacket pocket. I just half fill during the hunt at whatever creek crossings I come to. If it’s super cold I keep my aquamira drops in an inside pocket too because that will freeze up too.

I haven’t kept water at camp since my truck camping days. I usually backpack camp near water. The challenge is to make sure you have enough flow for sub zero weather or find a source near where it is coming out of the ground.

 

[johnhenry]

I don’t understand why you need so much water to have to leave any at camp unless you are hunting an area with no water.

I carry a 2L water container that is usually half full while I’m hunting. On the way back to camp I top it off from creek,spring, or seep. That’s enough for supper and coffee the next morning. If it’s cold I warm up what ever water is left that night on my stove and back in the bottle it goes and then in my sleeping bag for the night. The next day that water is in my inner jacket pocket. I just half fill during the hunt at whatever creek crossings I come to. If it’s super cold I keep my aquamira drops in an inside pocket too because that will freeze up too.

I haven’t kept water at camp since my truck camping days. I usually backpack camp near water. The challenge is to make sure you have enough flow for sub zero weather or find a source near where it is coming out of the ground.

I agree. Rarely is there a need to carry much water especially in the mountains. Hell, I used to regularly backpack in the deserts of southern Utah in early summer through late fall and carry 2 quarts at most.

One of the skills folks need to learn is how to find water. There is usually plenty out there.

To keep it from freezing - sleep with it or cover it with forest litter during the day.