How to Prevent Your Hydration Pack from Freezing

How to prevent your hydration pack from freezing

Camelbaks and pretty much all bladders are a huge problem in the winter, especially on extended hikes. The hose freezes and the bladder becomes unusable. While convenient in the summer, hydration packs in cold weather have a lot of disadvantages. But there are a few tricks you can use to keep a hydration pack from freezing.

So, how do you keep a hydration pack from freezing? The best way to prevent a hydration pack from freezing is not to use one. But, if you are using one, insulating the hose, blowing air back into the tube, keeping the pack close to your body, and using warm water will all help prevent hydration packs from freezing.

None of these tricks is magic, and none is permanent. Each one only buys you time, and the colder and windier it gets, the less time you buy. The rest of this article covers why the freeze happens, what actually slows it down, what to do when it happens anyway, and why I usually leave the bladder at home.

Why hydration packs freeze in the first place

A hydration pack is a soft reservoir with a long, thin hose and a bite valve at the end. That design is great for sipping on the move, but it is close to the worst shape you could pick for cold weather. The hose is narrow, so it holds very little water, and a small volume of water loses heat quickly. It also dangles outside your jacket, where it catches wind and has no body heat behind it.

The bite valve is the most exposed point of all. It is small, it sits at the very end of the line, and water tends to pool in it after every sip. That is why the mouthpiece is almost always the first part to turn to ice, and why most of the fixes below are really about keeping water out of the hose and keeping the hose warm.

The bladder itself freezes more slowly because it holds a larger mass of water, and it usually sits against your back inside the pack. Still, a pack carried loosely on the outside of a layered system, or left sitting on a rock during a break, will lose heat faster than you expect. A slushy bladder is the early warning. Once ice crystals form, the hose is usually already blocked.

Tips for preventing hose freeze-ups when hiking

Here are some tips for preventing hose freeze-ups when hiking:

• Purchase an insulated tube cover (available on Amazon) Of course, these don't make your hydration hose freeze-proof, but they do help. They also help keep your water cool in the summer, so you can use it year-round.
• Insulate the bladder itself. You can create a homemade drink cozy out of fleece.
• Start with hot water (not boiling) to prolong the time it takes to freeze.
• Sip often. Not having water sit too long in the hose will prevent freezing.
• Blow water back into the bladder after each sip. The less water that stays inside the tube, the less chance it has of freezing.
• Keep the bladder covered at all times, preferably close to your body. You can even tuck it inside your shirt or sleeve.
• Wrap a heat warmer in a sock and place it against the bladder.

Two of these matter more than the rest. Clearing the hose after each sip removes the water that would otherwise freeze, and running the tube under your jacket gives it a free heat source. Insulation slows heat loss but adds none, so a tube cover works best when it covers a line that is already mostly empty. Starting with hot water, not boiling, is sensible because boiling water can warp or damage soft plastic and leave you with a leaking reservoir.

Some people say adding sugar, electrolytes, or even 4.5oz of vodka will help prevent freezing. I haven't tried this method and while it sounds nice, I doubt it will have any significant effect. To make this method effective, you probably need to add a lot to the water, which will only make you more thirsty.

Why I stopped using hydration packs

But really, the real solution to preventing your bladder from freezing is not using a bladder at all to avoid the problem altogether. I've even heard stories of entire bladders freezing, where hikers cut their bladders to remove the 2 lbs of solid blocks of ice!

Even if you can manage to prevent your bladder and hose from freezing, it's extra steps and maintenance and risk that I would rather not deal with. There are a lot more variables and risk when winter hiking, and carrying a hydration pack in cold weather simply adds more complexity. Our tips for safe hiking in winter cover many of those other variables.

If you're going on a day hike and know the temperature isn't going to get too cold, then you're probably going to be fine. It's all about personal preference and risk management.

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I stopped using hydration packs in general, except on day hikes in the summer. I find them to have a lot of disadvantages over water bottles.

Why I don't think hydration packs are a good idea:

• They can freeze
• Are harder to refill
• Are more prone to damage (rips, punctures, and leaks)
• Take up room in your pack
• Are harder to clean
• Can get funky and taste bad
• And you can't tell how much water is left

And if you're doing any serious hiking, the risk is not worth it. It's always better to bring a water bottle anyway. When you're carrying two water bottles, you're always going to have a backup. Plus, when you're not using your bladder sleeve in your pack, it's a nice way to store other items. My snow saw fits really nicely in my pack's bladder compartment and doesn't move around.

Water bottles are the more reliable option

Water bottles just offer a lot more advantages over hydration packs. They are easier to fill, leave more space in the pack, and are just more reliable. It's always a good idea to carry a water bottle along with a hydration pack as a backup. Wide-mouth bottles are the easiest to deal with and have a lot fewer problems.

The wide opening matters in the cold because a narrow neck freezes shut sooner, and a wide one is easier to open with gloves on. A bottle also fails in a simple, visible way. If it freezes, you can see it, you can warm it, and you can still tip out whatever liquid is left. A bladder tends to fail quietly, with the water trapped behind a plug of ice in a hose you cannot see into.

One trick to keeping water bottles from freezing is to keep them upside down. This will prevent any water inside the threads from freezing. The reason is that water freezes from the top down, so the ice forms at the base of the bottle rather than at the lid, and the cap still turns. Oh yeah, wrap it in a cozy or add a few socks around it to keep it warm.

Water is only one of the things that freezes on a cold trip. If you are building a full cold-weather kit, our guide on keeping food from freezing while winter camping and the winter camping packing list are good places to keep going.

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Insulated and heated hydration packs

To be fair, there is some fancy equipment on the market that does help take care of this whole cold weather freezing problem. Of course, if temperatures are cold enough, only so much can help.

HydroHeater

One solution I came across online is the HydroHeater by a company called Arctic Innovations. I haven't used this myself but found it pretty interesting. It's basically an insulated hydration pack with a heating element that runs down the hose. It's powered by a battery, keeping your water warm down to -40F, which is really cool.

One thing I don't like the idea of is using battery power to stay warm unless I have a backup. Relying on a tiny battery is too risky for me. Batteries lose capacity in the cold, so a powered system is exactly the sort of gear that can let you down when you need it most. A backup bottle makes it a much easier decision.

Geigerrig Tube

Another solution that helps and is fairly simple is using the Geigerrig Tube. The Geigerrig Tube is a holster that attaches to your pack using velcro straps. It keeps your hose and bite valve out of the cold and wind. It has an inside pocket to add a heat warmer, which is pretty neat, and it works with pretty much any hydration pack. You can check it out on Amazon.

The appeal of a holster like this is that it deals with the two weak points together: wind on the bite valve and a hose with no heat source. Pairing it with the habit of clearing the line after each sip gives you about as much protection as a basic setup can offer.

What to do if your hydration pack freezes

Okay, so you're hiking, it's cold, and your bladder or hose freezes. What do you do?

• The most common culprit of freeze-ups is the mouthpiece freezing. This is the part that is most exposed. This is usually an easy fix by putting the mouthpiece inside your shirt and letting your body heat thaw the ice. You should put as much of the hose inside your clothes in case other parts are frozen as well.
• Another method for thawing the hose is putting it back inside the pack with a heat warmer. Keep it tucked in right next to the bladder. The warmer water from the bladder will help thaw the ice.

Some hydration packs come with removable tubes and mouthpieces, such as the military-grade CamelBaks. If you have such a pack, you have a much better chance of thawing the ice in the hose. Here's what you can do:

1. Flip the hydration pack upside down and remove the hose and bite valve. The idea is to not leak water everywhere when you do this.
2. Put the hose and bit valve somewhere close to your body (inside the shirt pocket for example) and wait until it thaws.

Be patient and avoid forcing it. Squeezing or bending a hose full of ice can crack it, and a cracked hose is a permanent leak. Skip any shortcut that involves open flame or a stove next to the plastic, too. While the tube thaws, drink from your backup bottle rather than going thirsty.

Wet gear is also a cold-injury risk, so a leaking bladder against your back deserves a quick fix. Our guide to preventing and treating frostbite explains why damp layers and cold exposure are a poor mix, and the CDC publishes general cold-weather safety information as well.

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What you need to know before heading out

If you're doing any serious hiking, you should make sure you're prepared. It's still fairly easy to get dehydrated in the winter due to the dry air. Cold also dulls thirst, so people drink less than they should and do not notice until they feel off. That is another argument for a system you can sip from easily, and another reason a frozen hose is more than an inconvenience.

If you want to bring a hydration pack in the cold, check the weather and know what you are getting into. Forecasts from the National Weather Service are a good starting point, and our piece on when shoulder season becomes winter helps you judge when the conditions have tipped over. Know how to keep your hose and bladder warm and how to fix it if it does freeze.

I always preach testing your gear beforehand. A short walk in the cold near home will show you quickly whether your setup holds up. And at the very least, bring a water bottle and be prepared in case anything goes wrong.