Selection Criteria and Pro Tips
Ultralight Water Bottle Selection Criteria
- Weighs less than four ounces for approximately one liter of hard-sided storage
- Weigh less than two ounces per liter of soft sided storage
- Water-tight lid
- Durable enough for reliable backcountry use
- Integrates with your water treatment strategy
- Is not a bladder with drinking nozzle tube
Building a hiking water bottle quiver
In your greater gear collection, it’s worthwhile having an assortment of water storage vessels (your quiver) that can be plucked from to create the ideal hydration kit for any given trip. Which exactly you should bring is largely dependent on expected conditions, availability of water, backpack selection + pocket configuration, and your water treatment methodology. In general, we recommend having access to the following, which should be sufficient for 99% of hiking water bottle needs:
- Two ~1L hard-sided bottles
- Two ~.5-.75L bottles (hard or soft, for shoulder strap pocket storage)
- Two ~1L soft bottles
- One ~2L bladder
- One winter compatible hiking water bottle + insulated bottle parka/boot
- One squeeze filter (Sawyer, Katadyn BeFree, etc)
- Chemical treatment (ex. Aquamira)
Again, there is no single best hiking water bottle or water storage system. Which units to choose is very contextual, may even very from person-to-person on the same trip. We highly recommend experimenting with different combinations to figure out what works best for you.
Hard-sided vs soft-sided hiking water bottle comparison
Both hard and soft-sided water bottle have advantages over the other, and it is frequently correct to visit the backcountry with a mixture of each. A combination allows you to reap the advantages of both – hard sided bottles are more user-friendly to drink out, soft-sided bottles are lighter and take up less space when empty. Therefor, you might do most of your drinking out of 1-2 hard-sided bottles, while keeping a soft bottle or bladder compressed in your backpack for whenever more capacity is required.
Water Storage Capacity For Any Given Backpacking Trip
As a default backpacking baseline that is conditionally agnostic, you should have available capacity to store up to three liters of water. However, throughout most of the day, you will typically only carry 1-2L at any given time. While three liters is a little more than you will need for most trips, it can be handy to have access to extra capacity when water sources are infrequent, and it gives you the option to dry camp (away from water sources, such as on a ridge) as-desired.
In the event that your water sources will be abundant, you may choose to go down to only two liters of capacity. If you are specifically intending to dry camp or will be hiking many miles in between sources, it’s worth carrying four liters of capacity.
For most hikers, 2-4L of capacity will be correct most of the time. However, there are some very dry desert climates with zero natural water sources that may require you to carry even more than four liters. Consult local land management and experts for guidance.
How much water should you be drinking?
Our bodies know best, and the ideal hydration strategy is to drink when thirsty. Alan has written extensively about this and the science back it up. Learn more about hydration myths, and how to avoid them.
