JPFreek - Index

JPFreek - magazine - Index

If you give him a glass of water, he says, “This is a glass of
water. But is it a glass of water? And if it is a glass of water,
why is it a glass of water?” And eventually he dies of thirst.
- Shelley Berman
Good drinking bottles are really easy to come by, but not all of them become
your lifelong drinkin’ buddy. If you can make a bottle last as long as a lifetime,
you’ve found yourself one fantastic piece of gear.
Today, I enter a new relationship with a different water container. And there are a few reasons for this. First, my rock solid 32-ounce
Nalgene bottles don’t fit in the cup holders of my TJ. I’ll bet you already knew that about TJ cup holders.
Second, I normally tote along a 20-liter water can made by Scepter, which we use for refilling the bottles. They’re fantastic cans,
totally leak proof and easy to pour thanks to a breather valve and small dispensing mouth. You know what the problem is with it?
Brooke doesn’t like to lift it when it’s full, and I can’t blame her. At eight-point-three-pounds per gallon, that sucker weighs over 40
pounds when filled up.
Okay, what are my next choices? Five single gallon jugs tossed behind the seat? I want something more . . . refined. A new solution
is a made-in-the-USA bladder system called the Hydra, and invented by an independent red-blooded Jeep nut from Rompalicious –
naturally it earns high marks out of the gate for being a domestic product.
The concept here is that you can have 2.5 gallons of fresh drinking
water attached to the back of your seat or the rear roll bar, making
decent use of the space in the tight quarters of a TJ (or any vehicle,
really).
It’s not reached drinkin’ buddy status with me yet – that’s a simple
matter of time. But Rompalicious didn’t mess around with lousy
materials, so I expect longevity here: the plastic bladder is actually
made by Nalgene, which hints at leak- and taste-free operation. The
bladder also comes with two hoses, one with a typical bite valve for
drinking (Nalgene’s famous “Bite Me™” valve, actually), and then one
with a drain valve, which lets you use gravity to create a constant
stream of water. Possible shower solution? Another way to fill
bottles? Definitely yes on both accounts.
The pouch is made of ballistic nylon; if you weren’t aware of it, this
type of nylon was the predecessor to Kevlar. Bottom line: good luck
trying to make it rip, tear, or shear.
Good gear lasts, like my Nalgene bottle did. I suspect the Hydra will
also manage to age gracefully. That’s good. Cheap gear dies early,
and I’m at the age where I’ve learned my lesson about cheap stuff
that doesn’t work well or doesn’t last long.
Gear Review
SUMMER 2008
45