(Part 2) Best camping & hiking hydration canteens according to redditors

It's hard to take sites seriously that earn affiliate commissions on the products they recommend, but it's not a horrible list. But "best" is individual, based on your needs & preferences. If you were to buy their items and use them regularly in mock emergencies, you will eventually swap out certain items with others. For example, i found their Datrex water pouches leak when stored in a backpack. So i switched to round water bottles like they recommend, but found that rectangular bottles like this are a more efficient use of space. Your supplies can and should evolve over time.

Btw, it's nice that they mentioned CERT. CERT classes are free and are taught by first responders, so try to take the classes to see what they recommend.

It's been a long time since I went to OCS.

1. PT. 274 will be low. Do a lot of sprints.
   
   
2. If you're bad at math, practice basic land nav now. People good at math tend to do fine with very little practice.
   
   
3. Memorize JJDIDTIEBUCKLE and the 11 General Orders.
   
   
4. I do not advocate being a gear queer. That said, here is less than $15 worth of gear that can make your experience much better. When my brother shipped to OCS, I got this stuff for him to take with him.
   
   Canteens- get 2, the ones they issue you will be nasty and old and taste like crap.
   
   Nylon all purpose brush, the ones they issue are usually old and messed up.
   
   A tiny bottle of CLP to fit into the butt of your M-16, they issue you a gigantic 8 ounce bottle.
   
   Amazon has bad prices for all of those, I just linked to it so that you could see what I was referencing.

Certainly, in a 1-quart aluminum BSA canteen, slung over one shoulder inside its canvas bag and strap. You wet the bag down to keep the water cooler. Something like this, weighing about a half pound empty.

Granted, this was a long time ago. But it seems like yesterday to me. Still managed to have a wonderful time, too.

The thing with bug out bags is first figuring out where you're going to bug out to and how you're going to get there. Do you have relatives that live 100 miles away? If so can you walk there if your car is unusable? I'm still struggling with this as my family is in the exact opposite direction of where I'd want to bug out to in a disaster/ SHTF situation.

Unfortunately, BOB's can get pretty expensive quickly - I picked my bag and contents for an indefinite bug out so naturally I ended up spending a good amount of $ on it - BUT spaced out purchases throughout many months as I also didn't have the money to be spending all at once.

Anyway, if you want to keep it under $50, I'd suggest looking for second hand bags....even for a halfway decent one, this can bring your budget to at least half that. Ideally, you'll want one with an internal frame and a belt strap. This will keep the weight off your shoulders and distributed evenly throughout - this is especially important if you plan on walking a bunch of miles. If you're not planning on walking far, then this isn't much of an issue but to me, bugging out assumes some walking involved.

Following the survival rule of 3's, the first item you'll need to address is some sort of shelter. Get some 550 paracord and a decent tarp. This shouldn't cost too much and you can make a quick & easy A frame type shelter. Even a few heavy duty trash bags could go a long way (ie solar shower, solar still).

I'd def get at least a light summer sleeping bag unless you feel ok sleeping on a bundle of pine sprigs. Do you have decent hiking boots and wool socks ready to go? I see a lot of bug out bags skimping on this but to me is one of the most important things to have.

Can you start a fire with the fire striker you have? How about if the ground is wet? Not saying you need to get one of these but also not sure if you would be able to process wood with a leatherman.

Next is water. Do you have a cup/ canteen to hold/ boil water in? If you're on the run, get something like this. But if you have time to boil any stagnant water, the canteen with cup linked above is a good idea to have.

For food, yeah protein bars, cans of tuna are cheap and good to have. I got a few of these. But they actually get kinda heavy quick (3 days worth of food in one block). For longer term, I'm currently looking into a decent fishing rod and setting snares.

Hope this helps! If you want to spend a bit more $ I can share with you some of the other contents I have..

When I was in, my standard ALICE load out consisted of:

1 Pistol belt

1 Set suspenders

4 Ammo pouches

2 First aid pouches (1 for compass, 1 for trauma pad)

2 Canteen pouches, canteens, and canteen cup

1 Butt Pack

1 M9 bayonet


And the pack:

1 Large ALICE Pack and frame.

1 E-Tool and cover attached to pack.

2 2 Qt Canteens and cover

We also carried a shit load of other field gear like sleeping bags and pad, NBC gear, Pro-mask, magazines, etc. but the LBE was a pretty simple setup.

CO's and very rarely the M60 (and later M240B) machine gunners, were usually the only ones that had pistol holsters

(Ignore all ACU, everything is OD green or GTFO)

Most of this stuff you can find obscenely cheap at army surplus stores.

BLUE

http://www.rangerjoes.com/Canteen-Straw-Hydration-System-P696.aspx

https://www.amazon.com/Rothco-602-Canteen-Straw-Kit/dp/B001DKY1KG

took .015 seconds of googling.

hope your field expedient enema goes according to plan.

I also just ordered one of these. I think the flat shape will help it fit better in my bag than a normal water bottle. I freelance, so I need to be able to carry everything I need with me since I might only be working at a specific job for a few days at a time.

https://www.amazon.com/Military-Camping-ARCTIC-Canteen-Bottle/dp/B002T9SQL0