Water Jugs?? What do you use?

[SmoothLC]

Great idea for a post (if only b/c I've had the same question!).

I haven't found a good jug in over 20 years!

Based on the posts above I'm going to try out one of the Scepter water jugs. But since I've got the Rotopax mounts up top, going to try one of those as well.

 

[nnnnnate]

I bought two of the LCI (scepter style) water jugs last year and did a bunch of trips with them. I like the jug but it was a hassle to pour water out of them. I looked around last week and saw someone link to this little guy.

I didn't know what kind of quality it would be but at $14 I went ahead and ordered it. I was impressed that it was very solid and all metal. The white "washers" are soft rubber and are actually two pieces. You unscrew the nut on the back and pull off one of the washers and install it on the inside of the container, the nut sandwiches the two washers to the container making a real tight seal. I drilled the hole and went to install this but found my forearm was too big to fit in the mouth of the can so I stopped at my parents house and had my mom do it for me. I don't know how tight she screwed on the nut on the inside because I couldn't check it but I didn't leak any water at all the whole trip. I was really surprised by this to be honest.

The LSI cans have an air bleeder screw on the lid so you just unscrew that (it won't come all the way off so you don't have to worry about losing it, nice) and turn the lever and you have fast flowing water at the edge of the trailer or table or whatever. I took my dog so I was filling up is water bowl a ton. I was able to wash my hands and dishes and whatnot without having to deal with tipping the jug.

This run was the shakedown for my 85% finished trailer. Ask anyone from my club that was there and I was more happy about having the spout on my water jug than I was with the trailer. It was that great.

 

[nnnnnate]

Here is a link to the LSI water cans. They are $24.99 each, last year it was free shipping for an order of $50.

Tan
Green

The website kind of sucks to search for anything.

 

[robgendreau]

Don't bother with expensive water containers.

http://www.amazon.com/Reliance-Products-Desert-Traditional-Container/dp/B0002IW6IY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1427345957&sr=8-6&keywords=reliance+water+containers

I have like six or seven of these. You can get them at Walmart for around $15. Six gallons is enough for me, my fiancee, and two dogs for around 3-4 days in the forests of NW Montana. If you need more, well then it's only another $15. Very tough, very light, and comes with it's own spout that happens to be the perfect size for a narrow-mouth Nalgene bottle.

I've worn holes in about 5 of those containers. Both on river trips and in the back of a van or pickup. Pressure changes pop them open, and they leak if they fall over. They say "short term use" and they mean it; like from here to the car. You're better off with the supermarket juice jug solution, or pay $10 and get a real jug like the sceptre/LCIs. Not wanting to just through shade, and I'm glad you've had success, but mine were horrible fails in many situations.

I too went the faucet route, but I'm cheap and got brass, not stainless. I bought a spare LCI cap. I can't remember the exact diameter of the narrow spout, but a pretty standard faucet (½" I think) just screwed right into it, no gasket needed; it's basically self tapping in the soft plastic. You've still got the big hole, so no biggie. And you could unscrew the faucet and still use the cap.

But there's more. I wanted to use it upright. How to get water out? So I added a PVC downtube to reach the bottom of the container. Drilled a hole in the cap and added a standard tire valve. Now I just pump in air and out comes water. You have to repump, of course, especially depending on the airspace in the container, but it works if you can't put it on the side. And as a shower if need be. Or to put out a small fire. Whatever. These containers are the bomb. (BTW, they are also great storage for everything from wag bags to grain, since you can get a hand into them through that big hole. And easier to clean.)

 

[thethePete]

Another AquaTainer user. 5Gal, Nice and square, easy to pack around, and basically won't leak if you store it upright. Family has been using them for over 30 years now, and never had any issues. Summer in the truck, winter on the the sleigh behind the snowmachine. Unless you have onboard storage, or a specific need to keep it on the back of your vehicle in a Sceptre container holder I can't see a better solution.

https://www.relianceproducts.com/products/hydration/187.html

Edit: After reading the post above, I guess I could see in a dusty environment how they might rub through over enough time. Ours have exhibited some wear over the years, but I think we've only ever replaced them once or maybe twice in the last 25 years I can remember camping with my family, and not due to a failure on a trip. The plastic certainly isn't as robust as a Sceptre or similar.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Another AquaTainer user. 5Gal, Nice and square, easy to pack around, and basically won't leak if you store it upright. Family has been using them for over 30 years now, and never had any issues. Summer in the truck, winter on the the sleigh behind the snowmachine. Unless you have onboard storage, or a specific need to keep it on the back of your vehicle in a Sceptre container holder I can't see a better solution.

https://www.relianceproducts.com/products/hydration/187.html

Edit: After reading the post above, I guess I could see in a dusty environment how they might rub through over enough time. Ours have exhibited some wear over the years, but I think we've only ever replaced them once or maybe twice in the last 25 years I can remember camping with my family, and not due to a failure on a trip. The plastic certainly isn't as robust as a Sceptre or similar.

That's the container I've been using for years - I've got 2 of them.

They're not the same Reliance containers as mentioned in the above post regarding the spigot (nice product that one). These square blue Reliance containers have a spigot built into the cap. The caps will drip when the container's on its side with 5+ gallons inside. So, it's not perfect but it's pretty good as long as you can deal with the square-ish form factor.

 

[thethePete]

^ Yeah, I like the fact that the spigot turns inside the lid so it won't be snapped off in transit, and the do occasionally leak on their sides, but since they're square you can probably just stand it up when not in use in the exat spot it's already located... Like you said, not perfect, but I've yet to find a more ideal solution for my needs at least.

 

[dwh]

You're better off with the supermarket juice jug solution

You may have misunderstood me.

I don't use "supermarket juice jugs" - those suck.

I use the "Arizona Tea" jugs - those rock. They are made of a different, much tougher and much thicker plastic than normal plastic drink bottles.

I think it's nylon based because I can take the tops and cut out a guitar pick, which has wear characteristics almost identical to a 1mm nylon pick. I use them for playing bass, so I use them hard. I can grind the tip off of a normal 1mm plastic pick in a couple hours, but nylon picks last much longer - as do the picks made from the tops of the Arizona jugs.

 

[fireball]

We really love our frontrunner water can. Make sure to get the upgraded copper spigot. Works great! I built a niche for it on top my cargo box in the 100, and custom designed a swingout on the back of my 74 for it.

 

[robgendreau]

That's the container I've been using for years - I've got 2 of them.

They're not the same Reliance containers as mentioned in the above post regarding the spigot (nice product that one). These square blue Reliance containers have a spigot built into the cap. The caps will drip when the container's on its side with 5+ gallons inside. So, it's not perfect but it's pretty good as long as you can deal with the square-ish form factor.

Watch that little plug. Go up in elevation and it pops open. Or when squished. Or sloshed around on washboard. We couldn't use 'em because of contamination due to this design flaw, which is present on some of the other el cheapos (or maybe not that cheapo, surprisingly). The seven gallon one at least doesn't have the easy-pop valve like this one, so is more secure, if you can deal with the 7 gallon size (though I for one had bad experiences with these and don't think they're worth the money, as noted previously).

 

[transporterjr]

I had bad experience with any water container made by Reliance - from canteens to folding water carriers to solid carriers. IF you own them and they are working fine, then by all means stick with them. But when I see the name "reliance", all I think of is the opposite "unreliable". I am so done with them! :ylsmoke:

 

[robgendreau]

I forgot to mention that the real LCI Products 20L jugs went up to $40/, unfortunately (but it's to a good cause sort of). The caps are rather hard to find on the website; they're here: http://www.ontimesupplies.com/lci600118.html. And note the change in the website name to ontimesupplies.com. Lexington Products sells the Scepters for $40 as well, and they have the smaller size. Don't be fooled by the lightweight ones on some sites with the narrow opening; they don't seem to be the same. Still worth it at $40 IMHO if water is critical to your travels, or for other storage needs (I use 'em for brewing supplies too).

 

[Omar Brannstrom]

I forgot to mention that the real LCI Products 20L jugs went up to $40/, unfortunately (but it's to a good cause sort of). .

From LCI the LCI 20L water cans cost 24.99 http://buylci.com/ItemDisplayF.aspx...ottle--5-gal--OD-Green--Plastic&ItemID=600409
x
Where did it go up to $40. Maybe I misunderstand what You wrote

 

[4x4junkie]

My solution is sortof along the same lines as dwh's.

I just go to my local Costco and buy the 2-packs (boxes) of Arrowhead 2.5-gallon spring water jugs for a hair over $4. Each jug already has a spigot on it too. Just toss a box (5 gallons) in the truck and go.

The jugs are somewhat more fragile than the Arizona tea bottles (thinner), but kept in the box they seem to hold up reasonably well (and once empty I just recycle them, so each trip starts out with new ones). As an added bonus, the heavy corrugated boxes they come in work great for organizing some of my other supplies too.

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[greg.potter]

I use Scepter jerry cans made for water; never leak, water doesn't taste bad.

I love my Scepter cans - they are indestructible, a reasonable size to carry. The only downside is no spigot, but I understand there are 3 rd party options for that. Personally I have found once you get onto how to use the breather vent pouring is OK without a spigot.