Hi folks,

I'm wondering what everyone uses for a water reservoir when base camping with a large group. We're going to have 8 of us this year and I'm thinking of simply getting the one below. My buddy already has one but it's about 5 years old so I'm a bit worried about it leaking. Thus, the need for a new one. According to the reviews, these have issues with leaking a lot, but the one we've used in the past has been fine.

So, what is your solution? We really don't want to have to deal with going back & forth in the lake to fill up nalgenes. Having a couple of these strung up in a tree for easy access to then just boil or steripen as needed works great.

Reliance Fold-A-Carrier Water Carrier - 2.5 gal.

My buddy also bought one of these in a 2 liter for his booze. Was thinking the 10 liter would be solid but $35 is a bit much for a glorified boxed wine bladder.

Sea To Summit Pack Tap Water Reservoir

We use the Reliance folding boxes. They usually last a couple of summers. I do carefully clean them at the end of each trip with a bleach solution and leave them out until they are super dry. Sometimes the corners get holes but I just duct tape them.

When we are a really big (8-9) group we use 2 or 3 of them for "clean" filtered water and then have a shower bag for hand washing water.

Use them both. No issues.

With such a large group, a gravity filter would be ideal. You could drain it into larger reservoir bags. You might also think about taking a 5 gallon buck (2 fit in a Kondos food bag easily) for storing food and you could use that to fetch water. Boiling water for 8 people every day is tedious.

my uncle brought a Katadyn Basecamp with last year and i will not go without one again!

Reliance also has a 5 gallon version of the same water carrier for about 10 bucks.

Check out the MSR Dromedary or Dromlite bags. I've got two of the Dromlite bags (Red ones) and have had them for 4yrs with no problems. I got the tap on the one andit works great. Yes they may be pricey but you pay for quality.

I use a 5 gal res. and it works just fine for 4. You'll be surprised how fast and how much water you'll actually go throw with a big group. I would suggest a system similar to this I'll never waste my time pumping or boiling again. Gravity feed is the best way to go IMHO.

Do a search on gravity feed water filters, the one I made is a Sawyer. There are a few out there to choose from, you'll love it.

JB

quote OldFingers57: "Check out the MSR Dromedary or Dromlite bags. I've got two of the Dromlite bags (Red ones) and have had them for 4yrs with no problems. I got the tap on the one andit works great. Yes they may be pricey but you pay for quality."

+1

I have the 2.5 gal Reliance as well. Works great. Mine has probably been on at least 8 trips with no holes. I don't know how people get holes in them! Anyway, they are really good and cheap, and I also like the MSR Dromedary and Dromlite bags... but for some reason I usually don't take them. I like the fact that the Reliance sits more upright and doesn't get all dirty like the MRS bags. As a slightly smaller option, the Nalgene Canteens are nice too!

Two MSR Dorm bags with home made Sawyer filter system.

I use the reliant 5 gallon size when I base camp (6-8 people). It does not take any abuse, and can leak. But I have not found a better substitute. I use bleach to purify my water, mostly out of laziness. But, since its so easy to make drinkable water, dumping water prior to moving is not as hard.

quote jeroldharter: "With such a large group, a gravity filter would be ideal. You could drain it into larger reservoir bags. You might also think about taking a 5 gallon buck (2 fit in a Kondos food bag easily) for storing food and you could use that to fetch water. Boiling water for 8 people every day is tedious."

What's a 5 gallon buck?

We camp with 8 people and use the 2.5 gallon Reliance collapsible water carrier. We pump water into a Nalgene bottle, then pour the water into the collapsible jug. When that's full, we fill all our Nalgenes and we're good to go for at least a day or so.

Well, you know me, gotta be different :)

I go with the 96 oz Wide Mouth Nalgene Canteens.
Why? They weigh 2.8 oz, fold down to nothing for transport, and the are easier to handle then a 2.5 gallon jug or 5 gallon jug.
Here is a link at REI.
SunCatcher

Nalgene 96 oz Wide Mouth

We take two of them for every 3 of us, that with the regular Nalgene's gives us plenty of cooking and drinking water.

I'm in the MSR Drom camp also I have a 10 liter and a 4 liter that I hook up to my MSG Gravity filter... a winning team

Sawyer Gravity Filter (8L I believe) & MSR Dromedary Bag (10L). That's 18L plus any bottles you fill. 4.5 gallons at a time.

I use JB's set up and change the top end from a 5 gal. collapsible to a 2 gal. tree-strap bag for just two. This homemade set-up has worked for several years and I doubt it will change for us.

I decided to get the Sea to Summit 10L reservoir which we'll just hang from a tree. Gravity filter would be great but I'm already spending too much cash for this trip and I have a Katadyn Hiker Pro anyway. Between my 10L and my buddy's 2.5L Reliance jug (which will hopefully make it one more trip) we'll have plenty in camp.

We filter our individual nalgenes out in the lake after fishing for the day using the Hiker Pro then fill up the jug for camp by dunking under water. Might need a "dirty nalgene" that is only used to bail into the reservoir bag as that will be tough to fill with the dunk method.

Once in camp, we boil water over the fire for cooking or cleaning. We'll use the "dirty nalgene" to measure out what's needed. In the event someone polishes off their individual nalgene early, they can use the tablets, filter out a liter from the "dirty nalgene" into their clean one or hit their individual booze bottle (not glass, of course). :)

Has anyone used the Reliance Fold-N-Filter? Seems like a lot of money for a collapsible water jug, just curious if the filter really helps. Fold-N-Filter

quote jb in the wild: "
I use a 5 gal res. and it works just fine for 4. You'll be surprised how fast and how much water you'll actually go throw with a big group. I would suggest a system similar to this I'll never waste my time pumping or boiling again. Gravity feed is the best way to go IMHO.

Do a search on gravity feed water filters, the one I made is a Sawyer. There are a few out there to choose from, you'll love it.


JB "

Use this same jug to catch/keep filtered water. On trips with just two, we only fill every other day or so, but of course that meant carrying the water with us. With more than two people, 5 gallons is still plenty of water to have on hand.

quote 9th Bearded Infantry: "Hi folks,

Reliance Fold-A-Carrier Water Carrier - 2.5 gal.

"

Yeah, that's what we use. We have 2-3 of them among the folks who are in our group.

Two 5-gallon Reliance jugs for collection. 4 liter Sawyer gravity filter system for our faucet.






I continue my Holy Grail quest: a 5-gallon jug with all of the features of the Reliance but made with a material like the Sawyer bags, to eliminate the constant replacement due to wear holes.