Looking for collapsible water containers for water storage in the Alpine Environment

I just fell in love with the Cirque and alpine environment above SLC. Only problem is the only water up there comes from snowmelt and the approach is 5000+ feet of elevation over 3+ hours. The snow looks like it won't be lasting much longer than 2-3 weekends, so I want to build up a decent stash before it's gone.

On my first trip up, I brought some cheap 10L plastic collapsible containers from REI. They were very light for the long approach, but after filling them full of water, we managed to put a small hole in the bottom of one. The granite up in the Cirque is very sharp, and the hole was caused by the plastic against the granite during transportation. We were trying to be careful, but I guess what it really comes down to is I want something that is a bit more reliable.

Does anyone have experience with lightweight jugs/containers that will hold up a little bit better? The tradeoff is weight, so I won't be bringing a bomber rigid container up there, but I recall using something with a bit thicker plastic with no issues in the desert. Also open to any other ideas for lightweight water containers.

Not sure your size requirement and price range, but I've used the MSR dromlite 4L for years and it held up just fine. They have 2L, 4L and 6L model. If you want something even more bomber, they have the dromedry bags which goes up to 10L.

divnamite wrote:Not sure your size requirement and price range, but I've used the MSR dromlite 4L for years and it held up just fine. They have 2L, 4L and 6L model. If you want something even more bomber, they have the dromedry bags which goes up to 10L.

JeffL wrote: That thing looks bomber. I am looking for something cheaper, but I'll probably get one of these as well!

+1 for dromedary's

Thanks for the responses, I really like protecting the cheap containers with denim or something.

On another note. If I'm stashing these up in the alpine, once the water runs out, how likely is it that a pika or some other critter will chew them open in search of water for themselves? This thought just crossed my mind, it would really suck.

>> how likely is it that a pika or some other critter will chew them open in search of water?

In my opinion: very likely; it happened to me a few years ago in California. And this was a rigid plastic container! I wonder if anyone still makes Kevlar bear-proof bags (I remember reading about them a while ago)? Probably expensive, but no critter will make it through Kevlar.

Eric and Lucie wrote:>> how likely is it that a pika or some other critter will chew them open in search of water? In my opinion: very likely; it happened to me a few years ago in California. And this was a rigid plastic container! I wonder if anyone still makes Kevlar bear-proof bags (I remember reading about them a while ago)? Probably expensive, but no critter will make it through Kevlar.

2 liter soda bottles are quite durable. Just collapse them and then blow them up when you need them. They will become brittle after longterm UV exposure, but this probably applies to most plastics.

Don't use the 1 gallon crystal geyser water jugs from the dollar store. It might work, but they can develop holes from repeated collapsing.

As for critters, yes, they will chew into the plastic. One solution is to leave a bowl of water for them. Just cut off the bottom of a milk jug. You might want to add a little mesh mouse ladder so they don't drown in it.