Camelbak hydration

Buy the hanger and cleaning kit.

I'm not concerned enough to blow-dry the resevoir between uses, but I do recommend disconnecting the mouthpiece, and removing the rubber bite valve from the mouthpiece after each use, to facilitate drying.

I use mine at least three times a week from February through October, with no problems.

Steve

I carry a nalgene water bottle everywhere I go. I generally leave it empty, but wet overnight. That does allow some bacterial/mold growth, but flushing it with water takes care of it to my satisfaction, even after leaving it for more than a week (i.e. losing it and finding it a week later), and the same should hold true for the camelback.

I use Sigg bottles and they make some cleaning tablets that do a grand job of keeping the bottles clean - easier to dry than a camelbak I know but surely there is something similar...

See the Sigg tablets here (right at the bottom of the page) do you think they would help at all?

Cheers

what I do is i empty out all the water that i can by shaking it. Then you just throw it in the freezer. bacteria can't grow if it is to cold. So the next day you just have to warm some hot water over it and you are ready to go.

lester8908 said:

what I do is i empty out all the water that i can by shaking it. Then you just throw it in the freezer. bacteria can't grow if it is to cold. So the next day you just have to warm some hot water over it and you are ready to go.

I would poor Alcohol in it...shake it...and pour it out. The alcohol should evaporate quickly. Will it also deteriate the packet....I do not know.

Camelbak use some anti-microbial compound which "eliminates 99.99% of common bacteria and fungus on reservoir and tube surfaces".

FastFly said:

I would poor Alcohol in it...shake it...and pour it out. The alcohol should evaporate quickly. Will it also deteriate the packet....I do not know.

Pour alcohol in and then use it like that.

Ya'll are better than I or maybe I just don't care enough. I clean my camelbak once a month or so. In between uses I flush it good prior to refilling it, but that's about it. If I suck on the hose and get a chunk, I know it's time to clean again! :eek:

When I do clean it, I use a cleaning solution/brush setup I picked up at REI.

jjiam25 said:

I wonder how many of you use a camelbak on a regular basis, that being said here is my question. If you use your camelbak then 2 days later use it again, there is no way for it to be totally dry. So does that mean there is many bacteria growing in the waterway, just waiting for me to gulp them up as my first sip? and if you have found a way to keep it dry, because I know that is the only way for bacteria NOT to form, how do you get the hose itself dry, the big thing that holds the water is easier.

Use the stuff for sterilizing babies feeding bottles.

Alcohol probably will damage the plastic over time, and alcohol is not as good of an antiseptic as most people think. The alcohol must remain in the system for at least 30 minutes to be effective. All I do is open the top, suck the remaining water out of the tube, and hang it up-side-down on my coat rack until the next ride. The chlorene concentration in our city water is high enough to kill most organizms within 30 minutes, and I rarely drink within 30 minutes of filling the Camelbak.

If I was worried about disinfecting the Camelbak, I would use 1 part of liquid chlorene bleach to 10 parts of water and let it soak for 30 minutes. You do not need to worry about residual chlorene bleach. Just dump it out, being sure to drain the line, and fill it with fresh water. Sodium hypochlorite, the active agent in bleach, is the same thing most city water systems have used for decades to make drinking water safe.

Man you guys worry too much! Besides the occasional rinse out (like once a year), I haven't cleaned my Camelbak once in the six years I've owned it. The water tastes perfect every time. Spend less time blow drying your water supply and go ride! 😄

Quit being a wimp. Bacteria is good for you... here's a statistic: you have more bacterial cells in your body than actual body cells!
Unless there's grease in your camelbak, don't worry about it!

Flushing it out and running some clean water in there is probably fine. Provided it's not sitting filled with water for months, the bacteria growth is going to be minimal. It's probably more harmful to keep using antibacterial products and obsessively cleaning everything.

-Matt

mattjf said:

Flushing it out and running some clean water in there is probably fine. Provided it's not sitting filled with water for months, the bacteria growth is going to be minimal. It's probably more harmful to keep using antibacterial products and obsessively cleaning everything.

-Matt

Assuming all you ever put in it is water, I fully agree. If you put sports drinks in it, then it might be a good idea to wash it with soap and water and rinse it. I am not saying this so much from a bacteria (or fungi) point of view, but the residual sugar from the sports drinks makes a sticky mess if it is not washed out.

jjiam25 said:

I wonder how many of you use a camelbak on a regular basis, that being said here is my question. If you use your camelbak then 2 days later use it again, there is no way for it to be totally dry. So does that mean there is many bacteria growing in the waterway, just waiting for me to gulp them up as my first sip? and if you have found a way to keep it dry, because I know that is the only way for bacteria NOT to form, how do you get the hose itself dry, the big thing that holds the water is easier.

easy... get youself the hanger and dryer kit... or... what i do is wash it thru after taking the pipe off so i can use the brush on both ends as it only goes half way...camelbak official tube brush that is... dunno why...

then i can put my hand in thru the cap with some kitchen paper and soak up the excess water that resides inside.. then i have a plastic coat hanger i took the hook off of that i stick inside the top goes inside the cap then i hang it on a nail on wall and it dries in no time... the bite valve has to be cleaned every ride tho or after a couple it will end up with black growth in it... just take it of and use the camelbak cleaning brush it fits inside nicely...

as for the bacteria i use (not every time) milton sterilizing fluid... if its good enough for babies bottles its good enough for mine...:eek: