Tube Challenge Kit

[CrunchySaviour]

Tube Challenges can lead to dehydration. There are a couple of solutions to this:

1. Take a lot of bottles of drink with you.
2. Buy bottles of drink from vending machines along the way (expensive!)
3. Ask your mates to meet you on the way and give you supplies (can be difficult if your mates suffer from a chronic collective apathy)
4. Use a "hydration system"!

A lot of glider pilots use the Camelbak (or similar, cheaper brand) portable water "reservoir" because it carries a lot of water and is easy to stow. It's also ideally suited to sports such as running and cycling since it is in the form of a backpack.

There's a nice-looking Platypus one here http://www.platypushydration.com/produc ... ?ProdID=11. If you want more room for food and stuff, there's other models to choose from.

I think this truly is the ultimate Tube Challenge accessory.


...

Come to think of it, you may as well just take 4 bottles of drink and secure them into a standard backpack.

[joy54]

I have seen them as well, they look good.

[Yorkie]

I'm a bit of a hiker so I've got one of the Playtpus Hoser's (2 Litre):


Pros:
No fiddling to get water, if you're running and you need it, its there
As you drink the water, the container gets smaller
Out of the way, ie you can use any rucksack's side pockets for other essential stuff (chocolate, pens, notes...)

Cons:
Difficult to tell how much is left - I always carry another half litre in my bag
Only use with water (Or you may have a big job cleaning it)
I have been known to knock off the end, causing water to come gushing out
Had to fill up in a small sink
Best if it goes in the rucksack first, so if you need to fill up with water, everything else has to come out
Platypi do not make good substitute urinals (well, at least I assume that a Ribena bottle is better (Copyright G. Marshall))

Verdict:
Think how many half-litre Coke bottles you can get for £15
[Health Warning: Drink the Coke before you go, fizzy drinks don't travel terribly well]

(Coke bottles tend to be better than mineral water bottles as carbonated drinks require better seals and thicker plastic)

[geofftech]

Not only do Coke bottle not travel very well, they're total unsuitable for hydrating yourself on a tube run!

still water, or an isotonic sports drink is the best.

And Anthony .. on you 'kit list' you missed out the dust mask!

[Yorkie]

Not only do Coke bottle not travel very well, they're total unsuitable for hydrating yourself on a tube run!

still water, or an isotonic sports drink is the best.

Had meant to put that as well, sorry!

[CrunchySaviour]

For RELIEVING yourself, surely?!

Ribena bottles appear to be the best for this; the opening is much wider. Not only that, but the plastic is nice and thick. The only downside is that the cap has a large-pitch thread so it screws fully on in just half a turn or so, as opposed to a Coke bottle with a small thread which takes 2 or 3 full revolutions.

I once tried to relieve myself using a Coke bottle on a bus. It was almost impossible.

Those dubious sports drinks taste rancid! They're so sickly! I have a sweet tooth but the likes of Lucozade Sport are just disgusting. I'd feel ill for the remainder of the day!

I shall post an article on just how dusty a day's Tube Challenging makes a mask after I complete my first full challenge.

[lazza747]

I often wonder what outsiders logging into this forum think when they see people discussing the finer points of pissing in bottles on tube trains.

And hydration systems?!

How many funny looks do you want to look with one of those and a dust mask?

[CrunchySaviour]

Oh yeah! I hadn't thought of that!

What I did think about, once upon a time, is that the "hydration system" has a pipe which could more easily be simultaneously used with a dust mask. Still, any kind of drinking will put a gap betweent he mask and your face....