Best Water Bladder for Dry Camping?

otrfun wrote:
I received the Aquatank2 60 gallon bladder today. It seems very well made. This thing couldn't weigh more than 1 or 2 pounds and could probably be squeezed inside a USPS Priority Mail 8x11 envelope!

Anyhow, got a question for you folks that have used these bladders before. The Aquatank2 has two garden-hose type connectors, one on each each end, both on the same side, that extend out about 3 or 4 inches. Called the manufacturer and they told me it's designed to be used with these connectors facing up. How does this thing gravity feed with the drains on the top side? FWIW, I'll be using a 12 vdc water pump, so gravity feed is not a big issue. Can you empty a bladder with a pump pulling water out of the top side of the bladder? It would seem the best position for draining would be with these connectors on the bottom. However, with the Aquatank2--the weight of a full bladder bearing down on these connectors could damage the hose connectors or the fabric area where they are attached.

Here's a pic. The ruler is 36" long.



I'd love to fill this thing up and give it a shot, but don't want to risk tearing it up and not being able to return it (cost $140).

Anybody with some realworld experience with the Aquatank2 or a similar bladder that could chime in?

Thanks!

Bump!

Tossing the leftovers out the back window to the pig has been a tradition for 500 years.

But you are cherry-picking your coves. I know of 10 dozen places where there are 50 miles between any sign of habitation. Remedios to San Francisquito and beyond, then south all the way to Sta Rosalia. Pull of Mex 1 a couple of miles and you're back in the Baja California of 10,000 years ago. The midriffs, Sta Catalan and almost all the other islands (With the exception of Cedros and San Marcos) are uninhabited. Cry for the marine life in the Gulf of California - they are dredging it all sterile.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Yeah, I'm crabby today.

Yes, you are :)...
There is no such thing as "Baja". Living there, you sure know that the word is meaningless without a noun. There are states BC and BCS. Local gringos call it Baja for simplicity, though many of them don't know how it translates, even if they live there most of the time.

"Pristine"?... The coves where 10 years ago was nothing, now have cottages. Those where there is still nothing due to lack of road, are trashed with all kind of garbage, mostly after local fishermen. About 5 years ago, to my observations, locals began using toilet paper :), and now you can see cacti and mesquito trees all decorated like Christmas fake snow. Though garbage bothers me less than cottages.

I received the Aquatank2 60 gallon bladder today. It seems very well made. This thing couldn't weigh more than 1 or 2 pounds and could probably be squeezed inside a USPS Priority Mail 8x11 envelope!

Anyhow, got a question for you folks that have used these bladders before. The Aquatank2 has two garden-hose type connectors, one on each each end, both on the same side, that extend out about 3 or 4 inches. Called the manufacturer and they told me it's designed to be used with these connectors facing up. How does this thing gravity feed with the drains on the top side? FWIW, I'll be using a 12 vdc water pump, so gravity feed is not a big issue. Can you empty a bladder with a pump pulling water out of the top side of the bladder? It would seem the best position for draining would be with these connectors on the bottom. However, with the Aquatank2--the weight of a full bladder bearing down on these connectors could damage the hose connectors or the fabric area where they are attached.

Here's a pic. The ruler is 36" long.



I'd love to fill this thing up and give it a shot, but don't want to risk tearing it up and not being able to return it (cost $140).

Anybody with some realworld experience with the Aquatank2 or a similar bladder that could chime in?

Thanks!

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

Almot wrote:

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
The nearest water was a 27 mile drive. Washed dishes in seawater then rinsed in fresh. It's nice having "enough" water :)

In multiday kayaking trips - back in the day when there really was a wilderness in Baja - my freshwater consumption was about 1 gallon a day. Asked other guys, this seems to be typical norm for potable water for one person. Including washing face and brushing teeth. 65 gallons would last 65 days, but I never carried more than 10 gallons, enough for 7-8 days between re-fills.

Human body doesn't need more than a gallon a day. Most of those 65 gallons will go to sewer, not into meals and drinks.

This is why on a dry remote beach with backpackers and tiny water bottles, if I can't get the spot most up-wind I leave.


Salt water bathing sounds great until a person realizes it means having a stiff salt water impregnated sleeping bag, towels, clothes, etc. Pure "Essence de Tide Pool".

People who "minimalize" and then brag loudly about it are a favorite target of mine down here. Like outhouses. A large beach may have four or five. I choose one, go into town, purchase a (too large to carry) bag of "cal (lime)". I'll lime ONE pit, and then laugh as the minimalists line up to use the one treated pit.

By the way. 99.99999% of the Bajas Californias coastline is currently absolutely pristine. No sign of habitation ever being there. So your remark about "Back When Below Was Below" is curious. Bajacalifornianos sneer at gringos who call Baja California "Baja". Mexicanos use the word in signs but if you stop and take a closer look the signage is for gringos. Sort of like going to S.D. and then referring to the state as "South" in conversation.

Yeah, I'm crabby today. I hope you get a chuckle out of the sarcasm. It's how I deal with pain...

Almot wrote:

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
The nearest water was a 27 mile drive. Washed dishes in seawater then rinsed in fresh. It's nice having "enough" water :)

In multiday kayaking trips - back in the day when there really was a wilderness in Baja - my freshwater consumption was about 1 gallon a day. Asked other guys, this seems to be typical norm for potable water for one person. Including washing face and brushing teeth. 65 gallons would last 65 days, but I never carried more than 10 gallons, enough for 7-8 days between re-fills.

Human body doesn't need more than a gallon a day. Most of those 65 gallons will go to sewer, not into meals and drinks.

This is why on a dry remote beach with backpackers and tiny water bottles, if I can't get the spot most up-wind I leave.


Salt water bathing sounds great until a person realizes it means having a stiff salt water impregnated sleeping bag, towels, clothes, etc. Pure "Essence de Tide Pool".

People who "minimalize" and then brag loudly about it are a favorite target of mine down here. Like outhouses. A large beach may have four or five. I choose one, go into town, purchase a (too large to carry) bag of "cal (lime)". I'll lime ONE pit, and then laugh as the minimalists line up to use the one treated pit.

Water bladders are nice, but hard to air dry and keep clean unless one has a rack to have it inflated so every nook and cranny is exposed to air. I generally prefer hard-sided tanks, but there is something to be said about pumping 50+ gallons of water into a bladder in a truck bed, then let gravity do the filling (assuming the bladder is higher than the water fill on the RV.)

64thunderbolt wrote:

So you didn't brush your teeth last??

Nope!!!! And I didn't "bathe" last either. :D

SaltiDawg wrote:

Almot wrote:

... my freshwater consumption was about 1 gallon a day. Asked other guys, this seems to be typical norm for potable water for one person. Including washing face and brushing teeth...

As a retired submariner, where potable water was quite dear, you would have been called a "water waster"

A half gallon in a sink basin provided enough to shave, brush teeth, cleanse the entire body, etc.

If you think about it, there is definitely a preferred sequence to accomplishing these tasks! Really, think about it! :B

So you didn't brush your teeth last??

aqua-tainers...hold 7 gallons, and cost 12.88 at walmart...easy to handle, can store in different locations...each one would last a week at a gallon a day