We did a local hike about a week before heading out to Carnavon. I took a (purple) fashion backpack and my purple insulated drinking bottle. It's fair to say neither was up to the task! I love the drink bottle but did not love taking my backpack off multiples times to access said bottle. Of course, 600ml was nowhere near enough water for the day's hike.
The day after that local hike, we took advantage of an Anaconda sale to purchase two day packs - and a two litre hydration bladder for me.
I have some back issues, so am mindful of how much weight I carry - and chose a small pack. Nick opted for a pack with greater capacity, cos he carried a lot of food etc during our Carnavon walks.
We've used our packs a few times since April, when walking closer to home. I folded a Daiso light insulated bag around my hydration bladder, while I pondered a better option.
Earlier this week, we did a local-ish walk. The drinking tube was very handy, though I wasn't so keen on the warm water mouthfuls.
After Googling and YouTube research last night, I got up this morning and sewed an insulated cover for the tube as well as an insulated bag to fit properly around the hydration bladder (which then sits inside an inner pocket of my pack).
I made Erin an insulated lunch at the beginning of the year. I found two offcuts from that project, which were ideal for the drinking tube cover. (The whole tube didn't require covering as some of it will be inside the insulated bladder cover). My next task was to create a simple bag for the bladder. That made up very quickly also. I just lightly quilted two fabric pieces to insulated batting, trimmed those to size, overlocked all the raw edges - then sewed the two pieces together.
Ta-dah! I'm looking forward to some field testing of my good work!
