James, Throw the box away and keep the bag. Put the spout of the bladder into warm water. This will make the plastic more plyable. Slip the edge of a table knife into the slot, twist and pop off the spout piece. Every bag that I've seen has a pop off spout. Then wash the bag out several times with clean tap water. Fill them about 3/4 full and pop the spout back on. They really are quite durable. A sharp edge will puncture them though. I've carried dozens of them on trips and only one developed a small leak. And despite the cheap appearance of the spout assemble, nary of them failed, leaked or popped off. I store them between use with the spouts off. Since they are difficult to completely clean & dry after use, when I go to re-reuse them, I give them a quick rinse with a standard antiseptic solution of one or two tablespoons of bleach to a gallon of water. During a two week trip I did, they started to show some wear, but didn't leak. I suppose they won't last forever. A full range of quality of wine comes in this fashion. Aluminum & plastic are actually safer enclosers than cork. You can buy decent wine in bags. Ken Mannshardt San Francisco Bay Area *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
On Tue, 14 Apr 1998, Kayakn Ken wrote: > Since they are difficult to completely clean > & dry after use, when I go to re-reuse them, I give them a quick rinse with a > standard antiseptic solution of one or two tablespoons of bleach to a gallon > of water. Some of my mountain bike cronies swear by using alka-seltzer to clean out their camelbaks. I haven't tried it yet as I've got a decent drying rack set up. I'll see how it works soon, my camelbak has been in the back of my car for a week or so and it's probably getting nasty fur inside the bladder. kirk *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Kayakn Ken wrote: > > James, > > Throw the box away and keep the bag. <big snip> > > Ken Mannshardt > San Francisco Bay Area > Thank you Ken for all the information!! Sometime around the 1st of May(at the present rate of emptying) I should be ready to test the bladder. I'll hopefully do better on my choice the next time! :>) Thanks again! James *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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