Hello Travellers, I have contacted all the world leaders in water containment who claim they make custom water bladders but ironically 'Cant Help Me at This Time'..!! Does anyone out there know a friend/relative that's makes them or have had made a low volume custom shaped water bladder made by a smaller more accommodating fabricator..??? Cheers MEZ

I doubt you'll find a manufacturer who would make one custom just for you. No profit in it.

What specific requirements do you think you need that is not already offered by current systems out there?

IMO, some travelers worry too much about water ... and perhaps don't understand dehydration and how to avoid it.

You really don't need to carry 20L of water on board ... unless you are really middle of nowhere in HIGH HEAT ... and plan to STAY THERE for days or weeks. In that case ... you DO need a lot of water and you'll need to know where to find more water. Not going to be easy on a motorbike.

One key thing experts tell us is to hydrate UP when you can, preferably somewhere with unlimited water supply. Tri-Athletes recommend hydrating for 12 hours PRE event.

For motorcycle travelers you might be able to Hydrate before you set off into a very "dry" "HOT" area. Hydration (experts claim) you need 12 hours drinking every 5 to 10 minutes before event starts. (bathroom handy?)

I use a 3 liter Camel Back and sometimes will strap on a 1 Gallon jug onto bike.
But I've not gone Bush in Oz or Africa ... and I try to get "somewhere" by days end. No severe, unplanned Bush Camping for this old man.

Unless you really get far away from roads and civilization ... you may be able to buy water jugs or find public water supply along your daily route. Research. Local rivers and streams are GREAT if you have one of those high tech filter gizmos.
Very useful and should keep you from getting Giardia ... or worse.

I ran low on water one time in Mexico, luckily was drinking quite a bit of water the day before. Just about the time I was near dry ... I came to a tiny 3 house village ... with a Tienda, they sold jugs of water ... and Beer!

So, if you know your route (or at least have a clue about what you might come across) you may be able to plan for water re-fills ... and in that case something like a Camel Back or Bladder may be OK. I only fill my Camel Back up full when in remote HOT places. (most times I only put in 1 to 2 liters (it holds 3). This keeps it light, unnoticed. Just don't forget it and leave it in some Taco joint like I did ... never to be seen again.

Some riders carry water in a bladder mounted on rear rack or in their tank bags. (I don't use tank bags). Others carry water in tank panniers or tail bag. Lots of options.

I'm comfortable with my Camel Back, which I've used since my Enduro racing days back in the 90's!

Are they not just heat welded "plastic bags"? Years ago I used to make my own heat welded bivvy bags for "desperation" camping and I suppose all that is is a giant water bladder in reverse - something to keep the water out rather than in.

I'm not convinced by all the advice to "hydrate" - particularly pre events like triathlons / running etc. I've taken part in enough of those to know that the people I see "hydrating" with some wonder formula "packed with vitamins and minerals" before the start are the same people I see peeing in a hedge three miles later. The vast majority of runners at a water stop are pouring it over their heads rather than down their throats.

In northern Europe I'd think you'd have to try quite hard to not be able to find some source of water - a shop, a river, rainwater etc before you suffered from significant dehydration. In southern Europe it might be a bit easier, particularly if you ignored the signs of dehydration but you wouldn't have to look that far. I have done it - I came back from a trip to Greece and ended up in hospital with renal colic brought on by dehydration but that's because I was young and innocent / stupid and ignored all the warning signs.

If I was going anywhere on a bike where I really needed to carry enough water to survive ( really survive and not just look the part) I'm pretty certain I'd want to depend on commercially available and proven products and not on a good idea I had in the shed. At least that way my widow could sue if the "latex membrane" failed when I really needed it.

I've never run a marathon or any such event, but did witness one in Death Valley
in August. It was a cool day ... at just 117F. Trust me, in this weather NO ONE
was peeing ... not all day despite pounding down liters of water! At those temps when running you sweat out a lot of your reserves and usually never pee!

I've heard of miracle formulas ... most of the runners I talked to were drinking plain water. Out of the 250 entrants, several were seen staggering down the road and a few collapsed in a heap in the road.

Some of the good guys at that event did the one in Hawaii as well. Also pretty warm but with humidity. All along these routes they have water stations ... I was on my bike and they gave me a couple bottles! This is where I got to chance to talk to a few of the organizers who were veterans, they felt pre hydrating was effective.

I know I did this during my 8 years racing AMA Enduro competition. Lots of water and Potassium a day or two before, bit of Carb loading too. If it works for the National Enduro Champ, then good enough for me!

Good news about riding, unless doing strenuous off road Enduro riding, riding a bike is not too stressful, even in high heat. I've ridden multiple days (5 or 6) in temps over 100F. After a week of this, you actually sort of acclimate.

You're right, lots of folks dump water over their heads. When I have easy access to more water my technique is to :
1. Wet down t-shirt and Helmet. (lasts for about an hour in 100F.
2. Suck up a nice gulp of water and let if dribble down to cool me off, or spit it out so it can blow back in my face! Very refreshing!

But when water supply runs low and you aren't sure where to top off ... you have to be very careful. This is what happened to me in Mexico ... I got lucky that time. Any time in remote areas in high heat, you have to plan ahead and conserve water, IMO.

When conserving water, I try to wait at least 5 minutes between sips ... and take only a small sip each time. 3 liters can go a LONG WAY if you do it this way.

Usually anyplace you will find Fuel, you can find Water. And that is the KEY thing about water. But sometimes those little filter straws are invaluable, IMO for true OutBack explorations.

Jesus Christ i'm exhausted reading all that, think I need a drink..!!! Errrr, I take it's a NO then you don't know anyone..??

Err ... no, but if commercial companies are not interested there's lots of DIY instructions out there - this one for example: https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/37378/ Some heat weldable 70D nylon, a domestic iron and you could knock one up in no time ....



Running a marathon through Death Valley might be a bit more specialist than I'm used to and I'm not surprised that no-one was peeing. Most of the people I've seen heading for the bushes in events have been taken in by marketing hype and bought some wonder liquid that's promoted by a combination of benefits (optimise your performance) and fear (water's bad for you- you sweat out electrolytes so you should take in electrolytes. If you don't take this stuff someone else will and they might beat you).

Actually there is some truth in that and the more you sweat out the less effective water alone is at rehydrating. You can get to the point where you drink and drink and all it does is slosh around in your stomach and not seem to do anything. You'll have to do a lot more than the local charity 5K / 10K to get to that point though. Apart from a few elites at the front most runners don't really know what works or doesn't so they're suckers for a good marketing line. Being cheapskate as always I just dump a sachet of rehydration salts into a bottle of water. It works for me and it tastes a lot better than the coconut milk based stuff that seems to turn up at every event I've been to in the last few years. It sounds more like something out of The Simpsons than a real product - "The Awesome Power of Coconuts".


I've been in races where people have collapsed - particularly on hot days (in the UK that's anything over about 75F!) but mostly it's from getting their pacing wrong - too fast too soon. It's very easy to get caught up in the moment, particularly at the start, and you pay for it later on. And there's always a few who do no training and just try to wing it - "how hard can it be"? I saw someone collapse from that 1 mile into a 13 mile race.

ps. MEZ - sorry about hijacking your thread!

Hello BoB ( Back of Beyond) no worries there at all. I have been doing my research and may get the tank lined now. It's a meagre 12 litres and for others reading I have my reasons for going down this route and will be sticking by it.
On the topic of hydration and peeing, I worked in Nigeria once where humidity was around 90% and during the day we drank typically 5 x 2litre bottles of water during shift and only pee'd once, amazing really. just standing around sweat was gushing out and we were saturated by 8.30am head to toe..!!!! Anyway I still owe you that innertube from 2013..!!!!

Ha Ha! I'm still amazed you got back on that.

I could have done with it last year on my way to the Horizons meet in Wales when I got two punctures in 20 miles on the M5. Took me a lot longer to fix those than it took you guys on the autobahn.