Rick
04-25-2012, 12:45 PM
On my last outing I managed to lose a bottle of water purification pills out of my canteen pouch. That could have been a disaster since my water filter plugged up. Fortunately I had a second bottle so things worked out but I don't want that to happen again.
Since the pouch on a canteen cover is held in place with Velcro it's fairly easy for a snag to open it and once open you lose what's inside. Those of you with good hearing might hear the zzziip when it opens but I can't so gone is just gone. So that doesn't happen again I made a very simple keeper for the bottle. Now, even if the pouch opens I shouldn't loose the bottle.
The Potable Aqua bottle has a lip around the top so I tied a loop in a piece of cordage and slipped it around the bottle's neck.
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q348/safe_zone/IMG_3827.jpg
I then snugged the loop down to firmly hold the bottle.
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q348/safe_zone/IMG_3828.jpg
I attached the other end to the Alice clip on the canteen cover
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q348/safe_zone/IMG_3829.jpg
And stuck the excess cordage into the pouch so it doesn't get snagged on something
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q348/safe_zone/IMG_3830.jpg
There is enough length to the cordage to allow me access to the pills inside. This should work whether you use your canteen on a pistol belt or on your pack as I do.
I repeatedly dropped the open bottle to see if the cordage would prevent spilling the pills and had mixed results. I admit I was pretty rough in the test. On average I lost about 3 pills before the bottle righted itself at the end of the cord. If it just slipped out of your hands I think it would save you some lost pills as opposed to dropping on the ground.
Since the pouch on a canteen cover is held in place with Velcro it's fairly easy for a snag to open it and once open you lose what's inside. Those of you with good hearing might hear the zzziip when it opens but I can't so gone is just gone. So that doesn't happen again I made a very simple keeper for the bottle. Now, even if the pouch opens I shouldn't loose the bottle.
The Potable Aqua bottle has a lip around the top so I tied a loop in a piece of cordage and slipped it around the bottle's neck.
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q348/safe_zone/IMG_3827.jpg
I then snugged the loop down to firmly hold the bottle.
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q348/safe_zone/IMG_3828.jpg
I attached the other end to the Alice clip on the canteen cover
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q348/safe_zone/IMG_3829.jpg
And stuck the excess cordage into the pouch so it doesn't get snagged on something
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q348/safe_zone/IMG_3830.jpg
There is enough length to the cordage to allow me access to the pills inside. This should work whether you use your canteen on a pistol belt or on your pack as I do.
I repeatedly dropped the open bottle to see if the cordage would prevent spilling the pills and had mixed results. I admit I was pretty rough in the test. On average I lost about 3 pills before the bottle righted itself at the end of the cord. If it just slipped out of your hands I think it would save you some lost pills as opposed to dropping on the ground.