SnoViking
Adventurer
I've been playing with a water bladder design for the back of my 4Runner this past summer. They have a lot of advantages. The biggest one for me was allowing me to "fill" an odd void spot (behind the left rear wheel hump in the cargo area) with something useful. I hate wasted space and I try very hard to make a spot for everything.
Right now, I use a modified LDPE bag I found at my work to ship sterile DI water in. The bag originally came in a cardboard box but I've been using it without (but it is covered within its spot). It's not super thick but so far its been holding up. I managed to "shape" the bag pretty close to the void with a heated seam sealer (which took a few tries to find the correct temp and seal time.......... ) The nice thing is that it fits and fills the whole void area and instead of being able to fit two 1-gallon jugs, now I can fit almost 4 gallons of water in the bladder. I've used various Reliance or Sceptor water jugs and they never quite fit where I needed them. The bladder lays on a small tray with drain tube which runs down out the cargo floor (it was actually a plastic lunch tray I softened and bent...... shhhhh... don't tell Sodexo.....) this way if (or when) the bladder gets a hole I have an easy drain.
The biggest issue/complain/PITA I found was filling the bag full and then getting it in position. Once full it weighed close to 30lbs and I felt it would rip at any time. So made it so I didnt have to remove the bag to fill. I have a spigot ball valve attached to the bag which is then attached to the side panel of my drawer system (It was actually for a rain barrel system). Then I used a standard garden hose to attached the bladder to a faucet or spigot (which is about 16ft) I can usually/hopefully get that close to a spigot or hose and then I connect everthing, slowly turn on the hose, and then watch the bag fill in it's spot. I picked up one of the adapters which goes from garden hose thread to pipe thread and another which goes from garden hose thread to home faucet thread. I also have a small funnel which I can attached to my roof rack bars and worst case just pour water into the funnel which then fills up the bladder.
I do plan on "upgrading" the bladder in the future to something a bit tougher. I like the plastic cordura bonded stuff (like what the military bags and MSR Dromedaries use) but I haven't experimented with heat sealing them yet. Thats a winter project.
Right now, I use a modified LDPE bag I found at my work to ship sterile DI water in. The bag originally came in a cardboard box but I've been using it without (but it is covered within its spot). It's not super thick but so far its been holding up. I managed to "shape" the bag pretty close to the void with a heated seam sealer (which took a few tries to find the correct temp and seal time.......... ) The nice thing is that it fits and fills the whole void area and instead of being able to fit two 1-gallon jugs, now I can fit almost 4 gallons of water in the bladder. I've used various Reliance or Sceptor water jugs and they never quite fit where I needed them. The bladder lays on a small tray with drain tube which runs down out the cargo floor (it was actually a plastic lunch tray I softened and bent...... shhhhh... don't tell Sodexo.....) this way if (or when) the bladder gets a hole I have an easy drain.
The biggest issue/complain/PITA I found was filling the bag full and then getting it in position. Once full it weighed close to 30lbs and I felt it would rip at any time. So made it so I didnt have to remove the bag to fill. I have a spigot ball valve attached to the bag which is then attached to the side panel of my drawer system (It was actually for a rain barrel system). Then I used a standard garden hose to attached the bladder to a faucet or spigot (which is about 16ft) I can usually/hopefully get that close to a spigot or hose and then I connect everthing, slowly turn on the hose, and then watch the bag fill in it's spot. I picked up one of the adapters which goes from garden hose thread to pipe thread and another which goes from garden hose thread to home faucet thread. I also have a small funnel which I can attached to my roof rack bars and worst case just pour water into the funnel which then fills up the bladder.
I do plan on "upgrading" the bladder in the future to something a bit tougher. I like the plastic cordura bonded stuff (like what the military bags and MSR Dromedaries use) but I haven't experimented with heat sealing them yet. Thats a winter project.
