Winter Cycling - Hand warmers in Camelbaks?

I was wondering if anyone has tried throwing a hand warmer in a camelbak to keep the liquid (water or sports drink) from freezing. Did you have any problems with destroying the bladder?


(and for those simple people out there, I am saying throwing it in the pack, not inside the bladder itself, just touching it.)

I've never had trouble with the bladder freezing. The mouthpiece, however, tends to freeze, even when I blow the water back into the bladder to avoid the line from freezing.

But I guess if you're out in the cold long enough the bladder will freeze and handwarmers are a good idea though.

In my experience with handwarmers, I doubt they would get hot enough the melt the plastic bladder.

I realize that it is the hose that is the main concern, but my theory is that if the liquid from the bladder is warmer, when it reaches the hose, it will take slightly longer to freeze.

put the water in the bag hot (not boiling) and with riding and warmth from your back
it will not freeze in the bladder. for your normal subzero 3 hour ride anyway.
the tube will freeze. u do need a hose sock and blow water back to help prevent that
from freezing.

"I realize that it is the hose that is the main concern, but my theory is that if the liquid from the bladder is warmer, when it reaches the hose, it will take slightly longer to freeze."

no, your hose will freeze pretty fast no matter how hot the water bag is. a handwarmer, or four,
just cannot effectively warm that water supply, it's too much.

I realize that it is the hose that is the main concern, but my theory is that if the liquid from the bladder is warmer, when it reaches the hose, it will take slightly longer to freeze.

I don't think that handwarmers will keep the hose or mouthpiece from freezing any slower my friend. Perhaps keep the water in the bladder from freezing, yes. But again, I've never had a bladder freezing problem.


put the water in the bag hot (not boiling) and with riding and warmth from your back
it will not freeze in the bladder. for your normal subzero 3 hour ride anyway.
the tube will freeze. u do need a hose sock and blow water back to help prevent that
from freezing.



This is a good suggestion, warmer water in the bag. But again, I doubt it will make much difference to the mouth piece or hose. The volume of water in the moth piece or hose just won't hold the warmer temperature.

I don't have a hose sock, might get one of those to see if it helps a bit more.

how much antifreeze can you drink before you go blind?

how much antifreeze can you drink before you go blind?

:lol:

Let us know!

how much antifreeze can you drink before you go blind?

Vodka is actually a good antidote for Antifreeze. Vodka/antifreeze/gatorade mix anyone?

how much antifreeze can you drink before you go blind?

Ethylene glycol? As much as you like. It won't make you go blind. It just precipitates oxalic acid out in your kidneys...not a good thing:eek:

Propylene glycol? Again as much as you like. It won't make you go blind either. It gets oxidized to pyruvic acid which your body makes anyway.

For asmallsol: The tube for a Camelbak is pretty small. It doesn't have much heat capacity and so freezes quickly. If you insulate it, you can go longer without the tube freezing. Camelbak makes a winter kit with is just an sleeve over the tube. It keeps my water from freezing up to about an hour from each sip at 20 F. REI sells them as do others.