Can anyone spare 1 Camelpack Cleaning Tab?

My girlfriend is cleaning out her old bedroom at her mom's, and found an old Camelpack that was her ex's. The idiot came to get his expensive things(Xbox) and left them with heaps of his junk, so anything decent left is fair game to her and I.
Anyway, he abused it and left something nasty in it for God only knows how long, and it's a little stained. I cleaned the resevoir with soapy water, but read in the instructions on my new one that there are special cleaning tablets for deep cleaning and mold/bacteria.
Does anyone have just 1 tablet they could spare for me and my piece of mind?

Or atleast suggestions on giving it a deep cleaning? I'm mostly worried about the tube, since it had moisture in it and that's going to be hard to clean without some sort of special brush.
BTW it's a 1.5L bag.

I got a 100oz. UnBottle from www.sportsmerchants.com. They also have a full cleaning kit, with a hanger, two cleaning tabs, a bottle brush, and a tube brush, plus a bunch of other stuff.

If it's really nasty, you might want to throw it out or use it for something nonpotable.

Fill up the bladder about 4/5 full (leave some air to slosh it around) and then put in a couple of caps of chlorine bleach. Shake well. Let sit overnight. Drain all the water out of the hose (I usually drain it into the tub) by pinching the bite valve. Yes, this will take a while, but it will be sanitized.

JM-99

I was hoping you'd pop up in this thread, Jumpmaster. I had you in mind as someone who could get me in the right direction.
So putting a very light mix of bleach/water would be ok?
Like I said, it's old and may not have even come with a bite valve. It's probably lost in the sauce, but there's a yellow slider that opens/closes the valve to let water though.

Hmmm...yellow slider? Wow...sounds old...

Thanks for thinking of me...the weak bleach solution is what Camelbak used to recommend before they came out with the tablets. I actually prefer this way to the tablets...I used a tablet and it made my Camelbak smell like Tidy-bowl...

The military uses the bleach solution to sanitize lots of stuff...I think it should work alright. You could even go with a little stronger solution, just make sure not to get it on your clothes...let us know how it works out.

JM-99

To get rid of the bleach smell or taste after you've killed off all the nasty bugs, you can fill it again with warm water and a couple tablespoons of baking soda. Let it sit for a while, then drain and rinse.

If it still seems funky, just order a new reservoir from USCav or one of the other online merchants. Good luck.

I've never had a problem with the reservoir smelling like bleach after using the weak bleach method...just the tidy-bowl cleaning tab...good idea for that though.

I wonder if it gets the iodine funk out of it after using it from the water buffalo...I thought about getting the inline filter to help with that, but not sure how much it would help...

JM-99

If you want to get rid of any of the iodine or other unwanted flavors, you might try the Seychelle inline water filter. http://www.seychelle.com/Prodselect.asp?RepID=10001&CategoryID=386&BasketID=I've used it with my Camelbak and it works pretty well. You can replace the filter element and it is about a quarter the price of the Camelbak filter. The only drawback I've seen with the inline filters is it takes quite a bit more suction to get a drink of water. Of course, the alternative of a mouthful of swamp water is less appealing than the feeling of sucking a golf ball through a garden hose.

Jumpmaster said:

Hmmm...yellow slider? Wow...sounds old...

Click to expand...

I'll post a pic of it and the entire thing when I've got time tomorrow.

I know what you mean by 'slider lock" on the tube. It's old but works. First gen stuff. I had this type on an old bladder. Bring your bladder to a sports shop and compare your tube diameter to the Camelbak's. If it is the same diameter get a Camelbak ErgoHydroLock ($6.00) and a Big Bite valve ($6.00) to replace the slider valve. You will be good to go.

Worse comes to worse, the bladders aren't horribly expensive.

Now, ask yourself these questions:
- how skeeved out were you when you found it?, and
- how skeeved out will you and your girlfriend be if you keep it around?

I would probably just toss it and get a new one, and I KNOW my wife would toss anything like that if it had belonged to her ex.

RadarGreg said:

If you want to get rid of any of the iodine or other unwanted flavors, you might try the Seychelle inline water filter. http://www.seychelle.com/Prodselect.asp?RepID=10001&CategoryID=386&BasketID=I've used it with my Camelbak and it works pretty well. You can replace the filter element and it is about a quarter the price of the Camelbak filter. The only drawback I've seen with the inline filters is it takes quite a bit more suction to get a drink of water. Of course, the alternative of a mouthful of swamp water is less appealing than the feeling of sucking a golf ball through a garden hose.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that...that is good information. I'll try to find that filter somewhere...

I was wondering about the resistance too...thanks...

JM-99

Denture cleaning tablets work very well for this - I bet the Camelbak tabs are just repackaged/remarked.

The bleach suggestion is pretty good, too, but be sure to rinse well with hot water, and let it air-dry. The bleach ought to get most of the staining, and letting it dry in the sun will help with the rest.

The brushes sold by Camelbak and others for the hose and bladder are pretty useful; the hose especially seems to get growth in it, and finding an appropriate brush is tricky. I've used a (clean) shifter cable with a cloth patch, but that's pretty ghetto.

Also, don't forget the bite valve - either scrub it out or buy a new one. Might be cheaper and better to just buy a new bladder, which should come with the tube and valve. Check around, and don't feel limited to Camelbak's products. Most of the others will fit - Platypus and Nalgene come to mind.

I'd bet the ex left some sports drink in there - it only takes a day for growth to start, and gets really nasty soon after. If you put anything but water in the bladder, be sure to rinse it very well as soon as you get home. Even with plain water, you'll want to make sure the bladder dries completely, and washing it out every couple of months is a very good idea. Besides tasting foul, drinking from a dirty bladder can cause stomach upset or worse, so why take chances?
The newer bladders are being made with antimicrobials in the material, so that gives some peace of mind, but I still wash them thoroughly after a month or two.

Any bladder that has sat as long as this one deserves permanent rest. The bladders aren't that spendy, and the risk are higher than the gain in my opinion.

Bill