Check it Out!    
RideCamp@endurance.net
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]
[Date Index] [Thread Index] [Author Index] [Subject Index]

Water bottle alternatives



>An alternate to waterbottles is a camelback type backpack.  It holds about 2 
>liters of water.  Mine (not camelback brand) has an insulated cover that is 
>big enough to slip a flexible cold pack in, and has padded shoulder straps, 
>and waist band and also a sternum band, which takes weight off the
shoulders. 
>Full, it weighs less than 5#.  It has a mouthpiece that is positioned right 
>by your mouth for no-hands drinking, and I have used the mouthpiece, which
is 
>a long piece of flexible tubing, to drizzle water onto my horse's neck and 
>shoulders, or wet a sponge.

I tried the camelback style backpack...and it lasted an hour.  I couldn't
stand the shifting of the water and it would slide up towards the back of
my neck during any bouncing.  During our training rides we do a lot of
two-point over fairly uneven ground with a lot of up and down hill frequent
changes -- all of that movement bounced the backpack around and threw off
my balance with great regularity!  Tightening the waist band might have
helped but I hate tight belts!  I figured out, tho, why the riders who use
this system stay well hydrated -- they've got to hurry up and drink that
water before the carrying system does you in!! ;-)

We came up with a system that works well, we love it, we drink a lot more
water, and we don't have to carry the weight.  We took the innards
(actually of the Platypus brand), attached the hose and mouthpiece, packed
the bag in our back saddle bag, ran the hose up under our arm, and clipped
it to our shirt or fanny pack belt.  I got a thermal cover for mine (we use
the 1L. bags) and the water stays fairly cold.  The hardest part of this
system is programming yourself to unclip the hose before you dismount! <g>
I'm getting better but still occasionally forget.  I don't think there's
much danger in this system since an unscheduled dismount <g> would pull the
clip free.

Sue  
-------
Sue Brown
Tyee Farm
ARICP Certified Riding Instructor
Recreational Riding and Dressage
Marysville, Wa. 
sbrown@wamedes.com



    Check it Out!    

Home    Events    Groups    Rider Directory    Market    RideCamp    Stuff

Back to TOC