Cascade Designs - Platypus Hydration System

Winter Riding offers challenges that are far different than summer riding. Keeping liquids from freezing is one such challenge. Having a hydration system that rests on your back close to your base layer is essential. The Platypus Tanker that we used offered 3 litres of water capacity and provided a stable flow of water during our rides. Initially the bags were foolproof. Easy to fill with a large "ziploc" opening and easy to drink from. Sometimes the hose would freeze, but if we tucked it close to our bodies for a few minutes we'd soon be drinking again.

The temperatures we experienced challenged the Platypus to the extreme. We were dealing with -40 degrees celcius. We simply could not keep the water from freezing even close to our bodies at this temperature. The main reason for this was because we could not keep them liquid overnight. We always shied away from stuffing them down our sleeping bags in case we would accidentally open them up. This would have been a disaster. When we did keep them on our backs during the day, the water in the main compartment would thaw out but keeping the hose from freezing was impossible. At -40 water will freeze within seconds of being exposed to air. A simple modification would have been to encase the hose in either heat shrink tubing or some other form of insulative foam tubing.

Platypus works ideally until -20 celcius. We did struggle somewhat with the ziploc opening. If any ice or debris obstructed the zipper it was virtually impossible to close the opening without thawing the ice. A more winter friendly system would be more beneficial. The hydration system was one of the most essential pieces of equipment we posessed. Without it we would be frozen and dehydrated somewhere on the Dempster.