Is drinking from a cambak daily bad?

I've been drinking from my cambak a lot lately.

I'll fill it up for the daily climbing and after getting home drink from it and typically drink all of it before it gets filled up but also have refilled with water being in it.

Was thinking with bacteria

I periodically wash mine. Put an ounce or two of bleach in it, fill it with water, let it sit for a couple of minutes, drain part of it out through the drinking tube and bite valve, then flush it out a couple of times. Presto! Clean.

Bacteria really don't grow without a growth medium. Mold will grow, however, with moisture. Mold is mostly what I see growing in my Camelbak if I don't drain it and let it dry out.

Yup, our own scuzzy mouth backwash provides the bacteria up the tube and into the camelbak. Go with the bleach solution flush out when it even starts to look bad. When the hose gets all funky, its tough to get the crap out of it.

Come to think of it, I blow the water back in after taking a sip to keep it cold in the bladder. Barrrrf!

Anyway, I always take my bladder out and pop the valve off at the end of the day and let everything dry completely now. No more mold and no more dried backwash flesh eating bacteria.

stick it in the freezer when you get home. use whenever needed. Wash if you forget.

I think flexible plastics generally have (and thus release) a lot more BPA. Not sure if anybody cares (or if CB makes a bpa-free one now), but if all your day's water is coming from one multiple days per week, it might add up. Just sayin'....

Stich wrote:Come to think of it, I blow the water back in after taking a sip to keep it cold in the bladder. Barrrrf! Anyway, I always take my bladder out and pop the valve off at the end of the day and let everything dry completely now. No more mold and no more dried backwash flesh eating bacteria.

Hah I do the same thing! I bought the camelback cleaning kit and I think it helps alot with making it sanitary, but the water has never tasted the same since. Ill throw Gatorade powder in and that really takes away the strange flavor, but I make sure to clean it out very well after all the sugar from the Gatorade gets mixed in with it.

Ill have to dry the bleach trick to see if it takes away the strange flavor. I have had this camelback for probably 2-3 years now and havent replaced the tube or the bladder.. what is the time frame you guys usually use to replace these things? Just whenever they get gross and cant be cleaned?

Thanks for the replies.

I suppose I'll use bleach every once in awhile.

I think denture cleaning tabs are similar (if not the exact same thing) as the camelbak cleaning kit tabs, and are pretty cheap. I pop one of those in with some water and let sit for a while, then rinse and dry out completely. Have never had any problems w/ weird tastes or odors. I also have a nalgene bladder which seems to have less weird plastic taste than the camelbak ones (but my camelbak is an older one).
I just hope I don't have to use the denture tabs for their intended purpose eventually!

I use my camelbak daily all summer/fall, and must confess, I have not cleaned it in about 5 years...

No illness to report. But I guess that doesn't sound so sanitary...

MegaGaper2000 wrote:I think flexible plastics generally have (and thus release) a lot more BPA.

From this article:
rei.com/expertadvice/learn/…

"Polycarbonate is a tough, translucent plastic that gained much of its rigidity from the addition of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA)."

So any flexible plastic will be BPA free.

jnowis wrote: So any flexible plastic will be BPA free.

But not plasticizer free!

richard magill wrote:I use my camelbak daily all summer/fall, and must confess, I have not cleaned it in about 5 years... No illness to report. But I guess that doesn't sound so sanitary...

I'm kinda in the same boat. My wife insists on cleaning the ones we take climbing/hiking, but she never thinks about the one I use for mountain biking and I don't think it's ever been cleaned. I don't wash the water bottles I road bike with, either. I may get sick someday, but whatever...never had a funk going on inside any of them.

I haven't washed mine, except for a quick rinse, for over 6 years. No smell, no taste, no evidence of mold/mildew. I wouldnt worry too much about it.

Also, many companies will somehow put a chemical or something in the camelback to make it bacteria/mold/whatever resistant. Not sure if Camelbak does this.

Just go with the smell test.

is it really necessary to poll the internet to find out if you should periodically clean something you drink from?

Crag Dweller wrote:is it really necessary to poll the internet to find out if you should periodically clean something you drink from?

Absolutely! This is at least an order of magnitude more complex than choosing the right rope tarp.

If you're drinking daily, you probably have an alcoholism problem. If you're doing it from a CamelBack, you definitely have an alcoholism problem.

PosiDave wrote:stick it in the freezer when you get home. use whenever needed. Wash if you forget.

+1

Josh Janes wrote:If you're drinking daily, you probably have an alcoholism problem. If you're doing it from a CamelBack, you definitely have an alcoholism problem.

Awesome.

My exgirlfriend got sick from a fetid camelback and ended up on meds for six months. Six months of liquid poo...no thank you. I use vinegar. Bleach is kinda unhealthy.