Non freezing water?

[Wahugg]

Well seeing that winter is coming up, I went around and put together a winter survival pack. I though I did a pretty good job until I realized that the 2 gallons of water that I normally have in the rear will freeze and be useless, and it will crack the container so when it does warm up the water will leak out.

It may be a simple oversight on my part but what have you guys done to overcome this?

Also suggest throwing anything else in the a winter pack?
Basically it is a summer survival pack with a -20 goose down feather sleeping bag, a pot to melt snow in, a few jars of lighter fluid, a couple of tp rolls to use with the lighter fluid, and a wind resistant lighter.

Thanks!
-Wahugg

[The Roadie]

Excellent question I have not looked into much, living where I do.

Pouches seems to be the right packaging material

http://www.safetykitstore.com/water-5yw-2.html

You might try Seal-a-meal pouches with some air room for expansion.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Just pour a little out of the water so it has room to expand as it freezes and you can thaw it near the fire you start.

[madmanvillain]

Winter camping we always brought one of the 5 gallon insulated water containers. With a 3 hr drive in the back of a pickup, a -27 degree night and a -16 degree night, the only part that ever had any frozen water was the very top if you opened the lid, and the spigot, but a little bit of warmth from your hand thawed that out enough. Most people only think of coolers to be used to keep things cold, but they keep things from freezing too. I've actually seen caterers use them to keep food hot, just have to keep it from being in direct contact with the plastic.

[navigator]

I freeze water in 2L bottles all the time to use to throw in the cooler. I just don't fill them up all the way and squeeze the side a little to allow for the expansion.

[Wahugg]

Just pour a little out of the water so it has room to expand as it freezes and you can thaw it near the fire you start.

^ I have done that before but one out of two times the container would still crack and a 50/50 chance isn't to comforting to me, but thanks for the suggestion!

I freeze water in 2L bottles all the time to use to throw in the cooler. I just don't fill them up all the way and squeeze the side a little to allow for the expansion.

^ I haven't tried squeezing in the sides before, that may be the trick to solve this problem! I will give it a try

Excellent question I have not looked into much, living where I do.
Pouches seems to be the right packaging material
http://www.safetykitstore.com/water-5yw-2.html
You might try Seal-a-meal pouches with some air room for expansion.

^ Roadie thanks for that suggestion, but if my friends caught me driving around with water packs like that I would never get hear the end of it. One thing I love about that site is how the water had a service life of 5 years. Gave me a good kick!

-Wahugg

[TangoBravo]

I fill gatarade bottles up most of the way and just let them freeze,this way if I ever need them I can just defrost one using my engine heat or the fire. I have never had a problem with that type bottle cracking and it has a good wide mouth so if i need to refill it that makes it much easier.

[dvanbramer88]

Store the bottles upside down and leave room for expansion. Water freezes from the top down because ice floats so the top (actually the bottom of an upside down bottle) will freeze first. So you can flip the bottle over and still readily uses the unfrozen portion. (Old backpacker trick)

[TangoBravo]

Store the bottles upside down and leave room for expansion. Water freezes from the top down because ice floats so the top (actually the bottom of an upside down bottle) will freeze first. So you can flip the bottle over and still readily uses the unfrozen portion. (Old backpacker trick)

Yeah I have done that and it works great, although if given a long enough time the whole thing will freeze, the bottles in my truck are froze solid but thats because they just sit with no movement overnight. Some old tricks also include mixing salt as salt water has a lower freezing point. Now there us a VERY fine line between ok and toxic and thats why I do not recommed this method, another old trick is to mix the water with a good alcohol but this presents a problem if ypu manage to get unstuck or whatever because you could now be intoxicated. This is juat why I preffer to just let it freeze and defrost what I need.

[NC_IslandRunner]

Well seeing that winter is coming up, I went around and put together a winter survival pack. I though I did a pretty good job until I realized that the 2 gallons of water that I normally have in the rear will freeze and be useless, and it will crack the container so when it does warm up the water will leak out.

It may be a simple oversight on my part but what have you guys done to overcome this?

Also suggest throwing anything else in the a winter pack?
Basically it is a summer survival pack with a -20 goose down feather sleeping bag, a pot to melt snow in, a few jars of lighter fluid, a couple of tp rolls to use with the lighter fluid, and a wind resistant lighter.

Thanks!
-Wahugg

Vodka looks like water, Doesn't freeze easy and has a warming effect when you drink it, as does white tequila! Works for the Russians and who Is better at being cold than them?

[Wahugg]

Well seeing that winter is coming up, I went around and put together a winter survival pack. I though I did a pretty good job until I realized that the 2 gallons of water that I normally have in the rear will freeze and be useless, and it will crack the container so when it does warm up the water will leak out.

It may be a simple oversight on my part but what have you guys done to overcome this?

Also suggest throwing anything else in the a winter pack?
Basically it is a summer survival pack with a -20 goose down feather sleeping bag, a pot to melt snow in, a few jars of lighter fluid, a couple of tp rolls to use with the lighter fluid, and a wind resistant lighter.

Thanks!
-Wahugg

Vodka looks like water, Doesn't freeze easy and has a warming effect when you drink it, as does white tequila! Works for the Russians and who Is better at being cold than them?

As much as vodka and other alcoholic drinks don't freeze until a really low temperature, I find it might be hard to convince a store to sell me some. Or convince the officer that it is only for "emergency's" if I get pulled over.

Now that we have finally had freezing weather, I am happy to report that squeezing the bottle slightly prevents the expansion cracking.

Thanks All
-Wahugg

[v7guy]

Lots of good stuff here, I just mix in a bit of anti freeze gives it a nice sweet taste!

[NC_IslandRunner]

As much as vodka and other alcoholic drinks don't freeze until a really low temperature, I find it might be hard to convince a store to sell me some. Or convince the officer that it is only for "emergency's" if I get pulled over.

Now that we have finally had freezing weather, I am happy to report that squeezing the bottle slightly prevents the expansion cracking.

Thanks All
-Wahugg

Sorry, you didn't put your age in your profile so I just assumed you were at least 21.

[Wahugg]

As much as vodka and other alcoholic drinks don't freeze until a really low temperature, I find it might be hard to convince a store to sell me some. Or convince the officer that it is only for "emergency's" if I get pulled over.

Now that we have finally had freezing weather, I am happy to report that squeezing the bottle slightly prevents the expansion cracking.

Thanks All
-Wahugg

Sorry, you didn't put your age in your profile so I just assumed you were at least 21.

Sorry about that. I don't like to offer my age that often because the age category I fall into is not seen in the best light. I have found on other forums that they do tend to discriminate in their posts towards me because of that fact.

But still thanks for the suggestion on the vodka. I will have to keep that in mind for the future.

Thanks again all
-Wahugg

[RyansTBLS]

I know I'm resurrecting an old thread but, I have found the the Endurolytes Fizz at REI in a water bottle doesn't even ice up at 26 degrees Fahrenheit. I found that out when I left my water bottle for work in the truck all night.