Water is one of the ten essentials and is incredibly important to have on any hike! If you’ve ever been dehydrated, you know how awful it can be.

In this post:

• How much water to bring
• How to carry water on trail
• Finding and filtering water
• Tips for staying hydrating
• Water in winter

How much water to bring

The general recommendation is 2 liters of water per day. On very hot, humid days, I’ve needed closer to 3 liters. Some resources say 1/2 liter per hour of activity. I’m a slow hiker, so my 8 hour hike would mean 4 liters, and I’ve never needed that much. There are many variables that go into how much water you need. What’s the weather? How much do you sweat? Is this a casual hike or will you be trail running? The more you hike, the more you’ll be aware of what works for you. You want to bring enough for your hike plus some extra. Two liters is a great starting point.

How to carry water on trail

As with most any gear, there are many ways for you to carry water on your hike.

Bottles – I’ve seen everything from a regular spring water bottle grabbed at the gas station to heavy insulated bottles, and plenty in between. The pros of water bottles is that it is incredibly easy to find one. Like I said, just pop in to a convenience store and you’ve got water! It’s also very easy to see at a glance how much water you have left. Water bottles are easy to clean and/or cheap to replace. The cons of water bottles is that you usually store them in a pocket of your pack, which means you likely have to stop, struggle to get the water bottle out, drink from it, struggle to put it back. All that means that you’ll likely drink less water.

Water bladders – water bladders often come in 2 or 3 liter size. The pros are that they come with a drinking tube. Water bladder goes in your bag, and you’ve got a handy tube clipped to your shoulder strap, making it very easy to sip water while you walk. The cons are that the bladder is deep inside your pack. That means you don’t really know how much water you have left. That means you have to pull it out to refill it, and putting it back often means taking everything else out of your pack. That also means that if the bladder leaks, you could potentially soak everything inside your pack. And they can leak, which also means you have no water. Also water bladders are a pain to clean, and people often complain about plastic taste.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS – I’ve switched to having two 1-liter Smart Water bottles with an adapter to a drink tube. They also exist for Nalgene bottles as well. This means I have all the pros of water bottles (easy visibility, easy to obtain, and easy to wash or replace) with the benefit of having a drinking tube! I’m a huge fan of this set up and recommend it to everyone I talk to.

Finding and filtering water

Unfortunately, water is heavy! I’d much rather refill my water than carry it all. Many trails in the White Mountains have water sources (do your research ahead of time), however, you should ALWAYS filter water. While that creek may look so clean and crisp, you don’t know what animal may have died in it upstream. Having a filtration strategy is critical.

None of the following is sponsored, this is just my preferred set up after much research, trial, and error.

My recommended water filtration system: a Sawyer Squeeze, a bottle coupler, a CNOC bag, and a Smart Water bottle, and back up treatment like drops or tablets in case my Sawyer fails. Amusingly, Sawyer now sells their Squeeze bundled with CNOC bags!

The Sawyer Squeeze is only 3 oz and is easy to use. It’s the “gold standard” on the Appalachian Trail, used by tons of hikers. It’s easily available online and at sporting good stores.

A bottle coupler costs $4 and honestly should just come with the Squeeze (I believe it does now with the Squeeze bundled with CNOC). With the coupler, you can attach your Sawyer Squeeze to your Smart Water bottle to receive the clean water and also to use your Smart Water bottle as a backflush. (More on that below)

A CNOC bag can be used to collect dirty water and attaches directly to the Squeeze. The Squeeze comes with bags, but I’ve heard many people complain that they split and broke. Plus CNOC bags come with a handle so you can hang them.

So use the CNOC bag to collect dirty water. Attach to your Sawyer Squeeze, which will filter the water. Use the coupler to attach your Smart water bottle to the Squeeze. You can either manually squeeze the CNOC bag to push water through the filter OR (if you used a bag with a handle), you can hang it all from a tree and let gravity do the work for you, while you enjoy a snack.

Regardless of the filter, I still have backup treatment just in case. Why not just use tablets or drops and skip the filtering? If you’ve ever pulled up to a shallow silty creek, you’ll know why I prefer filtering over treating. Filtering gets out the bugs, moss, dirt, and whatever else I don’t want to think about, as well as removing nasty germs. Drops and tablets only get the bad germs. Fine as a last resort, and definitely necessary, but filtering is my first preference.

SLOW SQUEEZE? If you ever find your Sawyer Squeeze with a low flow, or just need to clean it, I highly recommend watching this video, my Squeeze is like new whenever I do this.

Tips for staying hydrated

Hydration isn’t just about drinking water. When you sweat, you also lose electrolytes. I sweat a lot, even in winter. I like to bring an add-in to my water like Liquid IV, LMNT, or other brands. (Another benefit of water bottles, I can add that to one of my water bottles without tainting all of my water to forever taste like strawberries.) I also bring salty snacks. In the heat of summer, I will also sometimes bring electrolyte tablets. Don’t over do electrolytes, but do make sure you’re replacing them as you sweat.

You can also help your hydration with the food you bring. A hiker friend of mine often brings fresh fruit. While it may be heavier, it is helpful as hydrating. (And it is sooooo refreshing on a hot hike.) In winter, I sometimes bring hot soup as my lunch. That’s a triple bonus as it’s hydrating, has electrolytes, and warms me up. And yes, I still sweat in winter, so I need that hydration!

If you can’t remember to drink (many people have that issue on a hike), use a timer! I have my watch go off once an hour to remind me to snack and drink water.

Overhydration

There is such a thing as over hydrating. If you’re terrified of being dehydrated and drinking gallons of water and no electrolytes, you can end up overhydrated, which is a potentially dangerous condition. It’s rare, but certainly worth mentioning, and highlights the importance of electrolytes!

Water in winter

I’ve mostly covered non-winter conditions in this post. However, water and hydration are still important in winter. As I mentioned earlier, I still sweat in winter, so I’m still losing hydration. Other winter conditions can dehydrate you as well, like the wind!

Winter weather is also a consideration in how you carry your water. In freezing and below temps, water bladders and drinking tubes are not advisable. They can freeze, making it impossible to drink. In winter, I recommend wide-mouth Nalgene bottles. Store them upside down (frozen water collects at the top, so if it’s upside down, the ice will be at the bottom when you drink, allowing you to still access your water) in an insulated sleeve. You can buy insulated sleeves, or make one from a padded mailer, or just use a wool hiking sock. I usually throw a hand warmer in my insulator and I’ve not had an issue with frozen drinking water.