Hi all.
Anyone got any tips on how to get yourself to drink more water on the trail?
I tend to carry more than enough water and then I don’t drink enough while hiking.
Thanks
Friends who have this problem swear by hydration bladders, that having the tube right at hand while they walk makes them think of it more often and not put it off.
I really enjoy having a bit of flavour, something like some Game concentrate in a 500ml bottle close at hand. Also using any big stop or water refill to make myself drink a good amount. Also tell myself I’m happier carrying water weight in me than on me 
Maybe try make it an active thing? Draw some lines every 250ml with a marker on the outside of a bottle and make it a thing that every time you stop for a breather you have to drink that much?
Hope you find something that works, dehydration sucks!
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Use a hydration strategy that works for you. Here’s what I do.
Firstly, besides having a Nalgene 1L water bottle I use a hydration bladder. Why have both? Should the hydration bladder start leaking I at least have the “normal” bottle as a backup.
What I do is to have a bite to eat every 20 minutes or so (keeps energy highs and lows at bay) and after every food helping I will take a vouple of sips of water to clean my mouth and stay hydrated. This way, even though I may not be thirsty (lets say I’m hiking in cold weather) I am still taking in fluids at regular intervals.
Another benefit of this method is that you stay generally properly hydrated, vs. drinking a big volume of fluid only at say a lunch stop or two. If you drink a high volume of liquid you will find your body doesn’t utilise the fluid properly as a lot of it goes to your bladder. With my strategy more water is used for hydration, less goes out as a no.1.
When I eventually arrive at camp, hydration (besides setting up my shelter which is priority no.1) is the very next thing I attend to. I usually start with a cup of soup (hydration and salt intake sorted), then my main meal (typically it also contains a good amount of water) and finally a cup of hot chocolate (no coffee at night for me - invairably I have to get up at like 3:30am when it is freezing cold to relieve the pressure in my bladder).
That’s it, simple but effective Try various methods to see what works best for you.
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Thanks Jaxz for the advice.
I carry a 3 litre hydration bladder with 1.5 litrres of water in it, plus 2 x 750ml bottles with either game / energade. Plus a sachet of rehydrate.
I swear by hydration bladders as it is easier to drink water than tugging for a water bottle every now and again.
Think I need to convince myself more that the more water I drink on trail the lighter my backpack will be.
I will definitely try your suggestion of drawing lines on the bottles.
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Thanks Riaan for the advice.
I will definitely try drinking water around the time I am snacking when I am hiking.
I tend to snack alot while I am on trail.
I do tend to carry a hydration bladder a long with 2 water bottles. I have recently introduced the 330ml bottles into my set up aswell.
Hopefully this will see that I am hydrated on the trail.