A hydration pouch is an alternative solution to carrying water hands free. Most hydration pouches are intended to be used independently or can be used in conjunction with a plate carrier.
Why is a Hydration Pouch Important to Have?
It holds water. Go too long without water, and you will be in bad shape. Go without it from this point forward and you will cease to exist in a matter of days.
Most incorrectly assume that you have three days before you dehydrate to death. Although that could be said, consider this; your ability to stand on your own two feet and cover great distances of land to forage for water is significantly reduced in 24 hours. At 48 hours, after your last sip of water, hallucinations, headaches, debilitating muscle cramps, and even moral-impacting negative thoughts can all inhibit you to a point of a withering mess.
Fortunately large-volume water transportation is nothing new. Insulated water bottles, backpack style hydration bladders and MOLLE mounted hydration pouches have been developed to meet the warfighter's needs.
Water Solutions on the Battlefield
Implementing water in a tactical environment is a challenge. Receptacles that carry water don't fare well with arrows, swords, bullets and shrapnel in them. Given your need for water in this austere environment, special precautions must be made.
Soldiers wear body armor to prevent them from being shot or taking deadly fragments. Issued body armor has developed into a system that has standard operating procedures and practices, like mounting gear in specific regions of the body such as magazine pouches where they can be reached the fastest. With these SOPs, years of development went into the integrating of water and the body armor system.
Early generations saw the Camelbak as the first MOLLE integratable hydration carrier. This design became the standard that we use to this day and was a radical shift from the previous generations' canteen. The Camelbak could be worn by itself with its shoulder straps or woven through the back side of your MOLLE webbing to stay affixed to your carrier. This allowed a much larger volume of water to be worn in a more convenient area on your plate carrier. In addition to this, you no longer needed to reach for your waistline and retrieve your canteen out of its pouch. You could simply grab your hose - positioned along your front and take a sip.
Any Disadvantages?
Depending on your usage, there can be disadvantages of using a hydration bladder on a plate carrier:
- Vehicle employment: Since you are sitting most of the time, adding additional bulk to your backside can prevent you from sitting in a comfortable position. It's not uncommon that vehicle-bound crews use water bottles to aid in long term seated positions with their armor on instead of hydration bladders.
- Durability: Most hydration pouches are made of a thin BPA free flexible polymer bag. When this bag is full, there is an increase in surface tension across the sealed up edges of the bag. This means that while your armor is durable enough to take a round, a fall on your back side could see your bladder popped. Make sure to take note when taking your armor off that you do not drop the weight of your carrier and armor on your hydration bladder.
Conclusion
Having large-capacity water capabilities on your armor could be as vital to keeping you in the fight as the armor itself. If you are operating in an environment where a hydration pouch can be utilized, like during training or on a long range foot patrol, we highly recommend a hydration pouch to keep you well hydrated.