Winter water bottle trick

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Wanderlust

Joined
May 31, 2009
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So with winter coming up I figured I would pass on a water bottle trick I learned a few years back. This is very different from the hot water bottle in the sleeping bag trick.

Sometimes when I go hiking or backpacking in the winter I have noticed that my water bottle freezes on the top where I am trying to drink out of. So of course I pull out my handy knife and chop a hole in the top of it so I can drink. But the trick I learned, read about really is to flip your water bottle over. Instead of putting the bottom in first you put the top of your nalgene in the pocket. You really have to make sure that the top is on tight but this trick works out great, no stabbing of ice required to take a sip of ice cold water.

I'm not sure how many people already knew this but I hope its helpful.
 
I've never had that problem, scotch doesnt freeze. :)

Cool trick though, good thinking.
 
Both Scotch and Vodka freezes when really cold. Ah, the many times I've wanted to have a shot, but alas, the bottle was full of ice.
 
Very good idea.... been winter camping for years, always had issues with my bottle freeezing at the top...... never thought of simply flipping it (DUH!).

Thanks!
 
I've been using this method for years and it works great; I combine the upside down bottle trick with an OR insulated water bottle holder. Carry the bottle upside down in one of these to get a bit more time before your bottle freezes up (I strap it to the outside of my pack to keep it vertical). Also adding drink mix to the water (like Crystal Lite) depresses the freezing point of the water giving you an extra degree or two.

And it is true, (as I learned in Thermodynamics 201), hot water does freeze faster than cold water (cold water has more dissolved gas/air and which acts as an interstitial insulator), so fill your water bottle with water straight out of the tap/stream (this can be best observed by looking at ice cubes, if you make them with hot water they are transparent, make them with cool tap water and you'll see lots of little air bubbles in the ice making them slightly opaque).

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Thanks for sharing that tip with others Wanderlust. I've been using it myself, and it does work well. Another trick is to bury your water bottle in the snow (if there IS snow), since it'll insulate it from the night time temps that may drop well below freezing.

One more trick is to keep a separate bottle marked with a huge letter "P" on it. It weighs almost nothing, takes up minimal pack space, and saves putting on pants and boots in the freezing cold at 2AM. ;)
 
That is very true 52100 you do have to make sure that it is well marked and you don't mistake them in the middle of the night, or piss off one of your camping buddies. I have heard of people putting holes in the "P" marked bottle.

Glad I could help so many people out.
 
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