B.O.B DILEMA. Need your help

[columbusprepper]

I've come across a problem many of you who have a B.O.B have maybe comed across. Before I continue I would like to clarify my habits.

I do not drink coffee, soda, store bought juice, energy drinks or color additive drinks. I drink milk with my cereal and a large glass of water with ice with every meal. I am addicted to water.
I drink a good 1.5 / 2gl a day of water.

With that said, one of the problems I’ve come across is- carrying water, it can add some weight to my bug out bag.
1gl of water = 8.3454 pounds


4x

= 1 gallon of water.



I currently have the ILBE pack

My goal is to carry atleast 1.5 gl of water on me at all times. I would like to remove the weight off my backpack by either getting a “BATTLE BELT” or a “Belt w/ Rig”

The only problem I can see with adding a battle belt is that it would interfere with the large padded belt that comes with the ILBE pack.
And with the Rig, I’m afraid the shoulder straps would interfere with the ILBE shoulder strps and the waist belt that comes with the ILBE.

The one thing I do not want is a tactical vest. My goal is to stay low profile.

You can live weeks without food. But water....that is different. Water can be scarse if you don't know were to look. So carrying water is very important to me. VERY!

Any suggestions? Ideas?

 

[bwframe]

 

[columbusprepper]

This isn't what i was talking about. I want to carry the canteens on me. I "don't" want to carry them on my ruck sack. I want to carry my water supply somewhere else. Like a belt.

 

[jd4320t]

I don't see how you can carry them on you with that kind of pack.

 

[XSVskill]

I've humped with an ILBE more times than I can count...In my opinion there isn't a practical/comfortable way to carry that much water on your body, along with the pack.

You could remove the belt from the pack and carry it with just the shoulder straps. That would give you room to carry the water on your waist, BUT it would also make carrying the pack much more uncomfortable.

 

[chezuki]

Carrying 6 old fashioned canteens on you is kind of ridiculous. Load that ruck up with everything you think you need (including all that water) and head to the woods for a few days. You'll quickly find how much of a priority mobility is.

After a 4 day test run, my B.O.B. was condensed to the assault pack with hydration pack. It's easy to replenish water in Indiana, you just need a way to purify it.

Why do you need to carry that much water vs replenishing along the way?
Why does it have to be in canteens vs other methods?
How are you go going wear a battle belt with a pack that has a load bearing belt?

 

[LEaSH]

Best thing for you to try doing OP is to get a belt like that and try to lug the canteens like that. Six canteens of agua is super heavy to tote any sort of distance. If possible, keep them in a fridge and able to be attached to your molle belt or bag when you need to do so. It sounds like you might refresh them regularly, so scuz isn't such a big deal.

If the belt thing doesn't work, you can attach them in and out of a backpack if your molle/clip system is set up right.

When I ride my bicycle around, I carry an everyday bag, and keep my bug out bag at home.

With the every day bag, I usually just keep two cold quart sized bottles strapped externally to the bag. It is indeed the heaviest item that I take with me.

The bug out bag has a clean and dry hydration pack and a means to filter and purify water as needed. No need to store water only for it to get scuzzy from sitting at room temp.

 

[the1kidd03]

That many canteens is just wasting space for other useful items. Utilize a hydration pack on top of maybe 1-2 canteens and a stainless canteen cup. This gives you the ability to carry the amount of water you need, as well as purify and replenish when you need to.

The proper carriers go with your bag well. Take a look at this older thread of mine for demonstration.
https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...50637-usmc-ilbe-pack-system-introduction.html

 

[columbusprepper]

If i remove the belt on the ILBE it is VERY uncomfortable. so you're right.

1gl of water to me doesnt seem too much. If you bug out you never know where there might be water. Specially in the summer. The river by where i live is almost dried up. I can walk across it without getting my knees wet.

on top of that if you have dehydrated meals, thats water you have to use.

I might give the camebak a look into it.

you guys are awesome!

 

[CathyInBlue]

I have five rigs I'm trying to flesh out. Each one is an ILBE with lid, belt, hydration carrier, and 3 l hydration bladder. The bladders in their carriers are strapped to the ILBEs on the RHS using the MOLLE like the1kidd03 shows. I can't imagine humping an ILBE longer than one full 3 l camelback could sustain in the first place. Adding a filtration handpump to each kit will allow those bladders to be refilled at each stop. Might have to decant the bladders from the carriers to get the pressure off to get the water in, but an adapter of some kind might be possible to allow filtered water to be pressurized right into the bladder through the cap while left on the neck.

 

[Dragon]

OP. Weight distribution inside of a pack can be a killer. If you do get a hydration bladder run it as close to your back as possible. This diagram is perfect for showing where and how things should be loaded.

Now, beyond that if you did want to run a waist belt when you're not wearing your pack, sort of like a day pack then you can get a battle belt of some sort. Gear that belt how you'd like and attach it to your pack then you can put it on when you're not wearing the ILBE. I would NEVER attempt to carry all of the water I needed unless I were someplace I couldn't procure more, like the desert. Being in Indiana there are water sources very readily available and knowing where they are and how to find them should be a very important part of your preps. Being able to filter or purify that water once you're there is very important as well and I follow the rule of threes plus some when it comes to water.

 

[columbusprepper]

OP. Weight distribution inside of a pack can be a killer. If you do get a hydration bladder run it as close to your back as possible. This diagram is perfect for showing where and how things should be loaded.

Now, beyond that if you did want to run a waist belt when you're not wearing your pack, sort of like a day pack then you can get a battle belt of some sort. Gear that belt how you'd like and attach it to your pack then you can put it on when you're not wearing the ILBE. I would NEVER attempt to carry all of the water I needed unless I were someplace I couldn't procure more, like the desert. Being in Indiana there are water sources very readily available and knowing where they are and how to find them should be a very important part of your preps. Being able to filter or purify that water once you're there is very important as well and I follow the rule of threes plus some when it comes to water.

dam. this is an awesome pic.

thank you!

 

[Tactical Dave]

Ditch the canteens for a bladder.... Trying to find space for that many will turn into a nightmare.

 

[columbusprepper]

Ditch the canteens for a bladder.... Trying to find space for that many will turn into a nightmare.

how am i suppose to boil water?

 

[Justitian]

I would suggest that instead of carrying that much water with you at all times, instead carry something like a water filter that way you can filter and drink as you go and won't be bogged down by the extra weight. If that doesn't sound agreeable to you, then I would suggest leaving something/s out so that the weight will equal out in the end. Those are really your only two options with the backpack that you have.

 

[mk2ja]

In line with most of the others, I recommend avoiding a belt in addition to the ILBE. If you had the new USMC Pack, you could do a vest (which I know you said you didn't want) with that a bit more easily because it was designed to be used with a plate carrier. But you have to keep that hip strap on the main pack for it to work well, which means you can't use a hip belt for carrying other things.

In order to have water on you at all time as you mentioned, my recommendation would be to use a hydration bladder with an assault pack. Whenever you need to drop the main pack, you grab the assault pack, which itself should be set up as a mini main pack with the bare essentials. I'm just a POG, but that's what I was taught.

You don't even have to use the hydration carrier; you can use just the bladder if you prefer. But using a bladder is definitely preferable to having as many canteens as you were suggesting. The canteens themselves add weight and bulk that you don't need. Our practice was one 3L bladder and two 1L Nalgene bottles (and we didn't even really use the canteens we were issued), so that's what I keep in my BOB, which is also an ILBE.

 

[Dragon]

how am i suppose to boil water?

There's no reason you can't still carry a canteen and canteen cup along with a hydration bladder. See the thing is, not one single item of any type will fill every niche for anything. Most things are purpose built but their use kind of bleeds over into another category. I always try to carry a stainless water bottle along with a few platypus' stored away in my pack, though I have considered a canteen cup being added to my setup as it's much easier to cook in.

 

[Tactical Dave]

how am i suppose to boil water?

Like said above you can still have a canteen and cup or two.... I have two canteens and a small camel back on my rigs.... Boil in cup let cool and pour into bladder.... Or get one of the filters with a pump...

 

[Dragon]

Like said above you can still have a canteen and cup or two.... I have two canteens and a small camel back on my rigs.... Boil in cup let cool and pour into bladder.... Or get one of the filters with a pump...

Or get a filter that is/has a bladder. It's funny that there are so many options now that you can really almost find exactly what you need. Heck I have different filters for different situations or setups that I use. My favorite is the gravity filter I own by Platypus, it filters about 4 liters in 25 minutes and the dirty side can even be refilled and carried along with the clean so that you technically have 8L of potable water within 50 minutes.

 

[columbusprepper]

I've made up my mind!


I purchased a camelbak ThermoBak 3L. it's .76l shy of 1 gallon of water. Which I plan on carrying 2 canteens to boil water with.

I never even thought about getting a bladder. So you see, we learn from each other.