Smartwater for Winter Car Kit?

S

Scott Free

Joined
Sep 15, 1999
Messages
3,319
On one of the backpacking forums I frequent, one of the posters said he noticed that his Smartwater doesn't freeze until the mid-teens (Fahrenheit.) Apparently, the electrolytes (salts) in Smartwater is what lowers the freezing temps. I don't keep water in the car kits because it seems like its it's only going to freeze, burst its container, thaw, then make a wet mess. Smartwater isn't going to solve this for me because mid-teens just isn't low enough for our weather. It might make carrying water workable for others in less cold climates, though.
 
Maybe. I never had trouble with bursting waterbottles, I used whatever cheap 500ml bottles I could get in a flat, figuring that I'd need to thaw it to use it. Most of the water bottles have enough ribbing to expand a fair way before bursting. I kept them in the flat, standing up, not sure if that mattered. Since I was also planning on having the water on hand for the car as well, I wouldn't have wanted to have anything in it.
 
I generally keep a case or two of bottled water in the bed of my truck. Never had any issues with bursting water bottles from freezing and thawing. In the Sierra's the coldest it might get is 10 degrees, but most of the time it'll drop into the mid teens to 20's at night. I live at a lower elevation so when I go back and forth to the Sierra's and home the bottles will go through multiple freezing and thawing. Haven't had any problems or seen any leaks from the bottles, but even if they did they're in the bed of the truck, so I'm not worried about water getting back there under the tonneau cover.
 
:thumbup:

The same cooler/ice-chest that keeps ice frozen during the summer can significantly delay water from freezing.

Also, water that remains in motion freezes less quickly.
 
Last edited:
I keep a gatorade bottle full of water in my truck. It doesn't freeze before about 20° never had a leak.
 
Full Of Water ? Make it a little less than full so it wont break the container ,.If you use a metal container , stainless steel , titanium , or in a pinch aluminum, so you can heat it up when defrosting is necessary
 
I'm more concerned with heated plastic leaching into the water in the summer. I just carry water on my person.
 
I only use dehydrated water if I make it myself. Never know what they put in the caned stuff.
 
I've burst a few Nalgene bottles myself. Well, I didn't physically do it, mother Nature did because I was too lazy to bring them inside on a cold night. The rest of the year, except for the dead of summer, I might leave a full Nalgene bottle in the truck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top