Plastic taste from Camelback?

vftt.org

Help Support vftt.org:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

dclynch

Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2004
Messages
124
Reaction score
7
Location
Brookline, MA
I just got my first Camelback reservoir and the water has a pronounced plastic like taste. I've only used it three times and imagine the taste will go away in time, but is there any to get rid of it faster?

Thanks.
 
Ugh, the plastic Camelback taste. It's a thing. And as far as I can tell it never goes away. At least mine didn't, after several years of sporadic use - mine was blue in color. The only way I found to get around it was to disguise it with something - Gatorade powder or something like that. Actually I stopped using it because I couldn't get around the taste; and I feel like that just CAN'T be good for you.
 
I've always used Platypus. Never experienced any bad taste from it, even when brand new.
 
I use a MSR Dromedary, no taste.

Beat me to it! I was thinking of hikerbrian's post hiking this weekend with my Dromedary (which I got based on your recommendation peakbagger - great call! One of many you've given me. Much appreciated) and I don't notice any plastic taste at all. I wonder if it is the plastic tubing and/or valve mechanism of the CamelBaks where the plastic taste comes from, not the actual reservoir.
 
Beat me to it! I was thinking of hikerbrian's post hiking this weekend with my Dromedary (which I got based on your recommendation peakbagger - great call! One of many you've given me. Much appreciated) and I don't notice any plastic taste at all. I wonder if it is the plastic tubing and/or valve mechanism of the CamelBaks where the plastic taste comes from, not the actual reservoir.

I just ordered one. My dog needs a lot of water, this bag will be much better then extra bottles.
 
While discussing MSR Dromedary's I just retired my original one, it had 15 years of pretty steady use. Nothing wrong with the bag but I managed to rip off the bite valve while hiking ( I think it got caught on a branch). The drinking tube also had become an issue getting it clean and over the years I had to shortened it up as I found that if I removed the bite valve, the tubing just didn't seal up as well so I would cut a bit off. I could have bought just the tube kit but think I got the entire setup including new bag for not much more. The bag may not be the lightest but the durability is a couple of magnitudes better than many of the alternatives.

Not so sure how well it would survive as doggy chew toy ;)
 
I just ordered one. My dog needs a lot of water, this bag will be much better then extra bottles.

It is. I got the heavy duty 4L one which if I remember right weighs just about what a 1L Nalgene weighs. The 3 way cap is great. I unscrew the whole thing to fill (and the Nalgene adapter for my Hiker Pro filter fits on it too so I can literally filter into it without even taking it out of my pack). I unscrew the medium sized cap to pour water into the Nalgene bottle I carry on my belt and the flip top is nice to take a drink out of while filling another bottle so it's full when you get going. It is a really versatile bag. Highly recommend it.
 
It is. I got the heavy duty 4L one which if I remember right weighs just about what a 1L Nalgene weighs. The 3 way cap is great. I unscrew the whole thing to fill (and the Nalgene adapter for my Hiker Pro filter fits on it too so I can literally filter into it without even taking it out of my pack). I unscrew the medium sized cap to pour water into the Nalgene bottle I carry on my belt and the flip top is nice to take a drink out of while filling another bottle so it's full when you get going. It is a really versatile bag. Highly recommend it.

I'm sold on it's qualities. Maybe you can alleviate my one concern. How do you clean it? I've heard stories about mold, funkiness, and bad taste. Some research has led me to bleach, not really a fan of it.
 
I use Chorline Beach mixture recommended by them for purifacation. Let it sit for a few hours..I use it as well in my RV Fresh Water tank after storage. I don't get any plastic taste with Camelbak's. I have 4 of them in different packs. But then again I might be numb to it all being the plastic world I live in.
 
I've only had for this season so far and I only put water in it. No powders, gatorade, etc. Right now I just air dry it. As far as the exterior, mine is the rough duty version. You could scrub with one of those dish thingies and it wouldn't do anything. I've never done it but I seem to recall and easy bleach rinse treatment a lot of people do with Camelbaks when they put away for the Winter. I'm sure it is easy enough to find online or someone here would know. I know it is likely safe but I don't like the bleach idea either.
 
Top