Any suggestions ?

i'm looking for something that I can easily access while hiking .. yet doesn't flop around, etc .

Maybe something with some sort of clip arrangement . that I could secure to a shoulder strap .. ?? Or ??

Thanks

Would the
Mountain Laurel Designs Bottle Pocket work for ya?



Or perhaps the Simblissity Un-slack pack sold here on BPL would be the ticket?


Or you could find the thread on here from about a week ago about how to attach water bottles to your straps, AR-style.

Edited by vaporjourney on 02/21/2008 17:35:24 MST.

Simblissity will have a slip/wobble/bounce-free S/S bottle holder coming out this spring, designed to be compatible with most packs. It'll hold round bottles up to 1 liter capacity, eg the AquaFina liter bottles.

Edited by blister-free on 02/21/2008 18:30:53 MST.

Does mounting the water bottles to the shoulder straps make the pack "feel" heavier on your shoulders ? (I know moving some weight forward should help with the packs center of gravity and walking upright).

Also, does the bottle do anything anoying like wobble back and forth, slap your arm every stride, etc ?

Thanks.

>>does the bottle do anything anoying like wobble back and forth, slap your arm every stride, etc ?

John -

It can, which is something the Simblissity design is intended to resolve.

I have a Catalyst with 2 water bottle holders. I found the best size for me is two, 24 oz Propel bottles. The 32 oz are pushing the limit for staying on in rougher terrain or when moving quickly. These sizes don't slap back and forth for me, or slip out of the bottom. They are still an easy enough size to pull out.

I mention this because 'it seems' like having this extra 3 pounds on the front of the pack counterbalances some of the load. For myself, this is in lieu of putting the same weight in the side pockets of the pack. This would push the center of gravity of the pack further back, requiring the hiker to lean a little more forward.

Scott... there was recently a rather long thread about just this subject (similar anyway)...

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/11828/index.html

Personally... I just tie two 500 mL water bottles from the corner store to my shoulder straps using shock cord. No bounce. No flop. No chafe. I keep a 1L platy in my bag too... so I have always have 2L on me. I don't see any need to have all my water on my straps. I just want a good amount of water on my straps for convenience.

I don't use a holder, I just take a small (500 ml) bottle and run the cap tether around my pack strap and let it slide down the strap to the waist belt. A small bottle moves very little in this position when walking and is easy to reach. Attaching a caribiner to any bottle will work the same. The nice thing is the weight sits on the waist belt so there's no noticable weight imbalance.

Like David, I carry a larger water supply in my pack if I need more water, I don't like to carry large bottle on the strap.

The holder I have on my ULA Conduit strap works well. I recently purchased an MLD Revelation pack and have attached an MLD Bottle Holder on the strap. It is very secure and has little movement with the 20 oz generic bottle I'm presently using. I may add a second holder when serious hiking season begins since there are not too many water storage options with that miniscule pack.

Edited by Quoddy on 02/22/2008 12:58:05 MST.

I use the same system that David uses. The 500 ml Propel bottles work well. Alternately, I'll use one or two of the 20 oz. bottles that Gatorade or vitamin water come in.

What's the general feeling about H20 bottle position on a shoulder strap - is higher preferable to lower, or no? Some of the illustrations here seem quite low, to the point of interfering with natural arm movement. Whether this is intentional or "opportunistic" I'm not sure, since a lot of S/S daisy chain webbing loops tend to be sewn rather low, relative to the length of a water bottle hanging from that position.

Brett, you're right. If the bottle slips too low on your shoulder strap, it can interfere with your arm swing. I mount the top shock cord loop just above the sternum strap, which is worn high on the chest. In the above photo, I had just broken camp and hadn't yet started the day's hike. The bottle on the left is in good position. The one on the right is too low and would have been noticed as soon as I started walking. The sternum strap on my Vapor Trail is easily adjusted.