No More Sucking Water! How to Stay Hydrated on the Trail
Geigerrig! Sounds like a rallying cry, like Blitzkreig or Tally Ho!
In reality it’s the name given to one of the most advanced and creative designs for a hydration system to hit the market.
Twice a year, winter and summer, nearly a thousand makers and suppliers of outdoor gear, clothing and related products, meet to show their lines at the Outdoor Retailer Show. Held in Salt Lake City, Utah, every January and August, it has to be one of the most interesting and anticipated events of the year for outdoor enthusiasts.
As chief blogger for Walking The World, I was roaming the aisles looking for interesting new products when I noticed a handsome gentleman passionately talking about his new product, the Geigerrig Hydration Pack. The gentleman happened to be Bob Geiger, VP of Operations for Geigerrig.
What mesmerized me at first was that Bob appeared to be inflating the hydration bladder, the plastic compartment that stores the water, with a hand pump much like what we’d use to inflate a blood pressure cuff. (Actually, there’s a plastic sheet just under the bladder that inflates.)
Pumping air into the extra sheet of plastic pressurizes the bladder so, guess what, we no longer have to suck on a plastic tube to get a drink of water. Simply apply a gentle pressure to the bite valve and water gushes forth.
From my perspective as a guide, it’s not only easier for me to get a drink but I can now share water with a friend, or friendly canine, without having to worry about what my friends or dog might have shared back with me on my bite valve.
Not only that but get this. Say you run out of water on the trail and still have a long way to travel before getting back to the trailhead? In this day and age, drinking from a stream or lake without a filter can lead to some unwanted visitors to your intestinal tract. So what does one do? With Geigerrig, you simply remove the tube from the bladder, insert a small (1 inch by 5.5 inch) in-line filter, scoop up some water and carry on down the trail. The filter takes out 99.9% of any Cryptospordium and Giardia. Pretty cool, huh?!
Are there more benefits? Yep! You can use the pressurized spray of a Geigerrig to spray down a fellow hiker who’s overheated, water a thirsty plant along the trail, fill up a water bottle, rinse dirt or food from your hands or anything a garden hose might do if you happened to have one along.
The Geigerrig won Best of Show at the Outdoor Winter Retailer this January, 2012, and rightly so. It’s a big step forward in the world of hydration systems.
I’m including a link to a video of Bob Geiger demonstrating the Geigerrig. He’s a natural at sharing the benefits of owning a Geigerrig.
We’v all tried our best to find the perfect way to carry and drink water while engaged in our favorite outdoor sport. The Geigerrig is setting the standard for now.
Check out Bob demonstrating the Geigerrig at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d_SuiTlB7w&feature=plcp&context=C32bc415UDOEgsToPDskI1NW7Rqp9UAw3VSkfM8oWO
HAPPY TRAILS!
Ward Luthi
Walking The World
info@walkingtheworld.com
