Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board energy drink in camelbak reservoir?

I know this topic has been discussed before but I can't find the thread. I seem to remember someone saying there is at least one energy drink or electrolyte booster that is safe for a camelbak reservoir? Also seem to remember that Gatorade is definitely a bad idea because of the sugars in it. Any help would be appreciated.

I've put just about everything into my reservoir's, from Powerade to Cytomax, with no ill effects. I clean them with hot water after every use. You can use a tablespoon of bleach once in awhile to disinfect. I've also used denture cleaner to clean them. Also, after you clean the reservoir, shake out the extra water and put the reservoir in the freezer to stop anything from growing you missed.

RJ: Great idea about the denture cleaner. I'm going to have to try that, even with my Nalgenes. I also just now carry a 1/2 liter nalgene, which I reserve for energy drinks alone. Gatorade happens to be my drink of choice, so I just bring the individual packs of powder and only mix it right before I drink it, then immediately wash the bottle out.

i use hydralyte - now renamed as vitalyte - that also contains sugars.

i rinse with hot water after every use. and clean with detergent every other. dry the interior w/paper towel and put a new, dry paper towel in the bottom of the bag and let hang 'til next time. have never grown any bugs in the bag!

you do need to look very closely at the inside of the lid, way down around the outer rim. i found cooties there last time. took a bit of doing to remove them - it's not an easy area to clean.

i remove the tube from the bag and the tube's mouthpiece from the tube. i use their long, springy brush to clean the tube with a dash of detergent. then i rinse the tube and take it outside and swing the tube in a circle to let centrifugal force help get the moisture out. no bugs grow there either.

no room for me to keep it in the fridge.

this may sound stupid, but what is the side effects to not washing out the energy drink?

this may answer a question ive had for a while.

last year in the fall a group of us headed into the Grand Canyon to do a car to car climb of Zoraster Temple. I used my camelback that had cytomax in it a week prior. I rinsed it out (a week later) then filled it up for the Canyon climb. 2 weeks later i was vomitting and severe headaches for 3-4 weeks solid with no break. I lost 15 lbs. after that, i was still sick but not as bad for 3-4 months. Dr's couldn't figure it out. I had every test imaginable. I now believe it was a fungal infection that took over my body while my immune system was low. This could explain alot. Oh, by the way.....22 hrs car to car:)

sugars are pure energy. organisms feed on them. organisms that are naturally found in air and water would thrive in a bag that's warm and moist. that's why the choices to avoid growing bugs in your bag are (1) clean and dry it, or (2) store it cold. if storing it cold over time it may still grow bugs. but if you are using the bag frequently and refilling it you may not be giving the bugs a chance to grow. most don't like the cold.

Based on what I've learned about infectious diseases and microbiology after 25 years as a nurse:

1) Anything in an energy drink that you'd consider a nutient, microbes (bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc.) do too. That's not just sugar (maltodextrin, high-fructose corn syrup, etc.), but amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and other additives. There's other stuff in there that we don't digest but the some bugs are perfectly happy to eat, such as cellulose gel. If you're hiking with a container of anything but water in your pack with the sun beating down on it, the potential is there for it to go bad; that's why we refrigerate most opened containers of beverages and food at home. That said, you're almost certain to consume whatever's in your reservoir before it goes bad. Rinsing the residue out of the bladder before refilling with more sugary solution is probably a good idea.

2) Denture cleaner probably doesn't have any more effect on cleaning the inside of a bladder than dish detergent, although it might leave a refreshing minty taste. Camelbak gives pretty thorough instructions on cleaning. If you're filling with anything but water, I'd definitely give it a good internal scrubbing from time to time. (Ever notice the residue that accumulates on dirty glasses and dishes that sit for a while?) I only put H2O in mine, but that's just personal preference as far as trail drink. (You get all the nutrients and sugar you need from the food you eat on the trail, and for a boost, there's GU Espresso Love.) To sterilize the inside of the bladder, use about a teaspoon of bleach and fill it with water, making sure you also fill the tube with bleach solution and squirt a little out the mouthpiece. Wash the exterior of the mouthpiece with a sponge. Let sit for about 10 minutes and rinse. Bleach has been proven to kill just about ANYTHING. Freezing only slows or suspends the growth of bugs temporarily; ever hear about the bacteria that have been found in polar ice that's thousands of years old? I do store my bladder in the fridge (have to keep it somewhere) and drain the remaining water before refilling, mainly because of my concern about chemicals from the plastic leaching into the water.

deeznuts, leaving your bladder that had Cytomax in it sitting for a week, then refilling it without a good cleaning is asking for trouble (although probably not as risky as running with sharp objects in your hand). The vomiting and headache that you had two weeks later is likely unrelated because of the length of time in between. Sounds like you had a nasty viral gastroenteritis ("stomach flu"). There are thousands of viruses out there that can make us sick; only a few have been identified (think Norovirus, the scourge of cruise ship passengers). If you had developed a systemic fungal infection that was untreated, chances are you wouldn't be with us now.

Sorry about the verbosity; just trying to clear up the misconceptions...

Thanks for the advice.

It is pretty obvious that not cleaning your hydration bladder could result in some serious issues, i guess i wanted to hear the technical aspect.

With being on the Canyon trail, dry conditions, mule piss and shit all over, i figured i in haled something nasty and just got laid out. It could be anything, there was no diagnosis after 3 yrs!