Camelbak Sanitation...

[Daniel Paul]

How do you guys clean up and dry out your Camelbak after each use?

[sportrider]

I think the outdoor stores sell tablets. But when I asked, the guy there said some Listerine swished through the system works just as well. :salesman:

[Guest]

Camelbak (CB) makes a cleaning kit that has a hanger, some cleaning tablets, and a "cleaning rod" for the straw. You can find stuff around the house that will do the job pretty well. I suggest never using anything but water in your CB. That will decrease the chance that bacteria will grow in the CB. You can make a hanger dry the CB yourself. Take a plastic coated metal hanger and pushing the sides together. This will create a bend in the bottom and make the hanger narrow enough so that you can stuff it in the fill hole. The hanger will spring out and hold the CB open to let air get in and dry it out. After about 4-8 uses, I put a drop of bleach in the bag and fill it with water and swish it around really well. Then rinse about 3-4 times. That should kill any bugs that are in there. Do the same with the mouth piece more often. I store the CB with the mouth piece off so that the valve can dry well.

I think that covers it pretty well.

[tinyminds]

I always fill mine up with water when storing it, keeps it from smelling and mildewing. Not sure if thats a good thing to do or not, but it works great for me. When I get ready to use it, I just flush the water out and refill it, good to go.

[jeremy556]

I always fill mine up with water when storing it, keeps it from smelling and mildewing. Not sure if thats a good thing to do or not, but it works great for me. When I get ready to use it, I just flush the water out and refill it, good to go.

I do the same, except I add bleach to the water. Just make sure and empty and rinse before use :goofy:

[Guest]

I just empty it out and flush it with fresh water and then put it in a zip lock freezer bag and throw it in the freezer. Depending on how often I use it and what I put in it (gatoraide) I will put a little anti bacterial dish soap in it and flush it really good with hot water then put it in the freezer bag and freeze it.

[Jon28]

I use mine almost daily at work. I throughly clean it with CB's brush thingy and a couple drops of bleach which kills anything. Then air dry, then refill and refrigerate. I try to do this once per week sometimes every two weeks.

[Guest]

I use a tiny bit of bleach. For storing I also put mine in the freezer, keeps the little buggies from growing. I've also heard you can use denture cleaning tablets as well. Supposedly what ever they're made of is similar to the tablets camel back sells in their cleaning kits (but less expensive). If you search around on google you'll find links to countless mtn bike forums where this is discussed extensively.

[Chev]

I use bleach as well. Just a quick note on bleach: some Arizona wildlife foundation recomends a tiny bit of bleach in drinking water fetched out of a natural source to kill bacteria and what not. Keep the dosage low and there is very little risk of personal injury.

[dutchinterceptor]

I think the outdoor stores sell tablets. But when I asked, the guy there said some Listerine swished through the system works just as well. :salesman:

:blink:

A little Listerine every once and a while and toss it in the fridge when you are done keeps most bugs at bay. However, I don't ever leave Gatoraid in it as certain flavors tend to grow some really nasty stuff even when cold.

For those that have the cover over the tubing I'd recommend getting the little brush that cleans the tube. I changed bladders out recently and after three years the bladder wasn't too bad but the drinking tube was totally disgusting. Never noticed how much it was growing.