[pct-l] 2012 Hike Planning Session: 10 Questions

[Scott Bryce]

On 1/7/2012 9:07 PM, Tim Gustafson wrote:
> 3. Is four liters of water storage enough?

Water is a very personal matter. Some of us sweat more than others. I
had a 7 liter capacity, and it worked well for me. I drank 6 liters
between the border and Lake Marena. I drank 10 liters between Scissors
Crossing and Barrel Spring. I would guess, based on comments people have
made on this list, that most people carried a lot less water than I did.
I sipped water continually, and could hardly get enough.

> I have a Pur "Hiker" series filter (I believe that brand/model now
> belongs to "Katadyn" - I bought my filter probably 10 years ago, and
> have just recently replaced the filter element) so I can filter along
> the way as needed,

The Pur/Katadyn is a little heavy, but if you are only doing 180 miles,
it may not be worth the cost to replace it. Some of the water in the
first 180 miles it pretty nasty. You will be glad you brought a filter.

> but will 4 liters be enough to make it from one reliable source to
> the next?

In my case, no. MOST of the time, 4 liters will be plenty. There may be
a couple of times when you will wish you had more. It all depends on how
much you sweat, and how hot it gets.