Lightweight water bottle for Kifaru pouch

Joined
Oct 13, 2017
Messages
317
Location
Rockies
I'm running a 32oz gatorade bottle in my Kifaru bottle pouch. My issue is that the molded shape of the bottle really grabs the material tightly. Its hard to quickly pull the bottle, drink, and replace. I'm thinking a bottle with smooth sides (like a Nalgene or plastic mayo bottle) would work better.

Does anyone have a good alternative to a gatorade bottle?

Criteria
-lightweight (Nalgene = too heavy compared to gatorade bottle)
-smooth sides to get in/out pouch relatively easily
-32oz or larger
-maybe threads that would match the prefilter from my steripen?

-maybe i should look at cycling water bottles? other ideas?
 

JD619er

WKR
Joined
Dec 16, 2016
Messages
844
Nalgene has other bottles that are half the weight of their regular bottles. For some reason I think they're the hdpe version? I have like four of them
 

zloomis

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 22, 2017
Messages
107
Location
Pennsylvania
40 Below makes a bottle that is around half the weight of most Nalgenes. Similar in weight to the one JD619er is talking about. Still heavier than a Gatorade bottle but a good compromise. Also a good option if you do a lot of cold weather activities.
 
Joined
Sep 9, 2012
Messages
1,979
Location
BC
1 liter container salvaged off a pre-filled water bottle may be what you are looking for. I use the same Gatorade container in my Kifaru bottle holder and am planning to find a better large option this year as well. Keep us posted if you find the right one.
 
OP
shoeshineman
Joined
Oct 13, 2017
Messages
317
Location
Rockies
I ended up going with a 48oz hdpe Nalgene "silo" model. I ran it full of water in the Kifaru bottle holder on the standard Lite frame belt this weekend and it was great! I did some side-hilling/up&down/and rock scrambling at it is a champ! I was worried that the weight would pull on my belt and/or I would hit my arm on the extended height during my stride. Neither of those happened. It is very easy to get in/out of the holder. I'm thinking this is my ideal setup (except for the weight diff over the Gatorade).
Wide mouth = easy to fill / easy to steripen / easy to drink
Tall = extra capacity
Durable = can run as a hot water bottle in the bag at night, drop into rocks and survive, etc
 

micus

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 27, 2016
Messages
237
the 1.5L evian gas station plastic water bottle fits well. You can crinkle it up and flatten it out/fold it into your pack for later if you wanna refil it in a lake or stream. Weighs nothing, lasts years (450 years to biodegrade?) and costs about $1.50 filled with purified water.
 

fishslap

WKR
Joined
Jan 8, 2017
Messages
892
Location
Longmont, CO
I use the light weight version of the nalgene. I don’t want something crinkly and I like the wide mouth. The light weight one is opaque/white vs clear. You could cut the lid strap off to save a fraction of an ounce if you wanted to.
 

KevinDTX

FNG
Joined
Mar 17, 2019
Messages
28
1 L Aquafina 1.25 oz. stored in gonex brand holder on pack. like Has been 71E6D4CD-B372-494A-8929-2D78D9C8893F.jpeg519BDEAE-58A3-4879-9769-4392FC68812B.jpeg5702989D-D0F7-4FDC-B3C2-B9BD39FCF706.jpegmentioned before I like to just pick whatever works from the convenience store water or Gatorade. Just not the light crinkly bottles. Rest of water in collapsible bags. I Personally hate bladders. I like knowing exactly how much water I have at all times and like to be able to monitor consumption. I’ve also been burned more than once by a leaky bladder.
 

Wolf13

FNG
Joined
Mar 24, 2020
Messages
66
Location
Northern California
I use smart water bottles due to their height and ability to work well with a sawyer squeeze. Anything with design is both effective and cheap!
 

TheRambler

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 13, 2013
Messages
290
Location
NW Connecticut
Ditch the kifaru pouch entirely imo. I really like the maxpedition xbp. Can fit anything from a slim bottle like a smartwater bottle all the way up to a regular nalgene.
 

Clarence

WKR
Joined
Apr 7, 2018
Messages
567
I had been seeing thru hikers on the a/t using smart water bottles for a few years...there is a reason, slim profile easy to grab, durable, compatible with Sawyer's (if that matters to you), lightweight, and come filled!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

WTFJohn

WKR
Joined
May 1, 2018
Messages
358
Location
CO
Josh, check out the HDPE Nalgene & the HydraPak bladders, they are what I switched to a while back and have been really happy with. You're welcome to check them out sometime if you want to before ordering.

Just a heads up on your current setup; the Steripen won't technically sterilize 1.5L of water on a single cycle. Augment the below setup with a MSR Dromedary/similar at camp and you'll have all the water you need.


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