Water storage in drawer wings!

[Kurosawa]

I've been looking for a bladder-type solution for quietly carrying water inside the vehicle and trying to do so in a space efficient way that also is easy to access. Especially for those of you with drawer systems, I have found a low-tech solution that is brand new to the market. These were developed for motorcycles and are super rugged, check out the videos on YouTube of guys running them over with big dual-sports bikes.

Cactus Canteen™ – Giant Loop

www.giantloopmoto.com

I have always struggled to get the best utility out of the wheel well wings but now with the driver side holding my aux battery and now the passenger side carrying two 3gal water bladders in a great location for accessing the water I feel like I'm really dialing things in.

The perfect solution for me meets these criteria:
Lightweight
HD construction
No noise of sloshing
Not mounted on the outside
Perfectly fits existing storage
Portable btwn vehicles
Keeps the weight low
Can dispense easily
Light enough for the wife to carry
Takes up little space when empty

Some practical ideas that this setup allows that only came to me after purchasing:

Smaller multiple jugs mean you will have an empty one regularly enough that you don't have to lug a half-full jug to a location to fill.
Multiple jugs also give you the ability to use these as containers for a gravity filtration system.
They roll up so discretely that you could take them into any establishment and fill them in the restroom sink.

I will admit the cost is on the high side for sure but I just haven't found any other solution that works as well as this for this use case so I thought I'd share.

 

[muzzleflip]

That’s a brilliant solution. Thanks for sharing

 

[kcjaz]

I've been looking for a bladder-type solution for quietly carrying water inside the vehicle and trying to do so in a space efficient way that also is easy to access. Especially for those of you with drawer systems, I have found a low-tech solution that is brand new to the market. These were developed for motorcycles and are super rugged, check out the videos on YouTube of guys running them over with big dual-sports bikes.

Cactus Canteen™ – Giant Loop

www.giantloopmoto.com

I have always struggled to get the best utility out of the wheel well wings but now with the driver side holding my aux battery and now the passenger side carrying two 3gal water bladders in a great location for accessing the water I feel like I'm really dialing things in.

The perfect solution for me meets these criteria:
Lightweight
HD construction
No noise of sloshing
Not mounted on the outside
Perfectly fits existing storage
Portable btwn vehicles
Keeps the weight low
Can dispense easily
Light enough for the wife to carry
Takes up little space when empty

Some practical ideas that this setup allows that only came to me after purchasing:

Smaller multiple jugs mean you will have an empty one regularly enough that you don't have to lug a half-full jug to a location to fill.
Multiple jugs also give you the ability to use these as containers for a gravity filtration system.
They roll up so discretely that you could take them into any establishment and fill them in the restroom sink.

I will admit the cost is on the high side for sure but I just haven't found any other solution that works as well as this for this use case so I thought I'd share.


View attachment 3638983View attachment 3638985View attachment 3638986

I love the idea but I always worry about water and cooler spills and leaks. I don’t have any better idea expect to store water outside of the vehicle which comes with its own issues. I’ve just had stupid happen too many times (though I’m usually the root cause of the stupid) and had to take every out of the truck and dry it out.

 

[isthatalexus]

I'm totally on board with the bladder option. I use a six-liter MSR that I used to tie onto the luggage rack of my R1200 GSA, and that thing has take incredible amounts of abuse over the years. I do need to look into one of those handy valve bits.

 

[Kurosawa]

Here is the video (go to 2:49) of the abuse they put these through, the video is of the fuel bag but they do the same with these water bags too.

I hear you @kcjaz that is definitely a consideration, there is always a risk of self sabotage but for those of us trying to avoid the weight and expense of a rear bumper (and don't have space or want it on the roof) I'm hopeful it will prove dependable. As further proof perhaps of my flirting with disaster I did get a fuel bag too although I have no intention of it being used regularly I thought it would be a small insurance policy when range is in question. I'd only fill it just before heading on the trail and as soon as the main tank was down 3 gal empty it.

 

[OSS]

Be prepared for a leak. Because (in my experience) flexible tanks inevitably will.

 

[gasman4u]

This is a cool solution. As @OSS alluded to, I would also be worried about insidious leaks after x amount of thermal cycles if stored full or empty for whatever amount of time it’d take to leak. Bad time to discover the root cause of your trailer harness not working due to your 3 gallon bladder leaking. But this is pretty sweet nonetheless!

 

[RET2]

Be prepared for a leak. Because (in my experience) flexible tanks inevitably will.

I concur but that being said virtually everything fails or wears out so routine inspection is paramount. But there are those that refuse to replace batteries or tires till they completely fail so.....

 

[wiseinvestor]

Nice solution. Water is the most difficult problem.

 

[Kurosawa]

This is a cool solution. As @OSS alluded to, I would also be worried about insidious leaks after x amount of thermal cycles if stored full or empty for whatever amount of time it’d take to leak. Bad time to discover the root cause of your trailer harness not working due to your 3 gallon bladder leaking. But this is pretty sweet nonetheless!

You make a great point here that I think deserves highlighting when you mention the thermal cycles. This is another reason I like a super light packable solution, it is easy to store inside with the rest of our camping gear when not using the vehicle to camp out of. I've had a lot of things suffer from UV and or just heat cycles down here in Texas that would have been fine had they spent most of their lives in a climate controlled closet in my house. Lessons learned.