What might seem pure gimmick and a waste of time to some, it has bothered me for a while: proper hydration while paddling.
I don’t do water bottles and I have retrieved too many from other’s paddlers deck in rough waters.
A hydration bag is my choice however a proper way of routing the drinking hose has been a challenge.
Having water on the PFD has proven to be cumbersome and tiring (heavy, after all I need 5 quarts on a hot day)
Finally, after two designs, I am satisfied with my solution: an underdeck bag for my water with detachable water hose.
The biggest challenge has been finding the water coupling.
More details at: http://gnarlydognews.blogspot.com/2009/07/shop-underdeck-storage.html
Cool!
Now all you need is another hose for air next to the water from the cockpit to breathe while underwater cooling-off or in case you occasionally miss your roll in the surf so you won’t have to swim 
Seriously though. I’ve been pondering the same question lately for longer faster paddles where I do want to dring but do not want to stop paddling or let go off the paddle with both hands… Similar thoughts as your solution, but I would have probably put the bag behind the seat on the bottom of the hull to improve, not reduce stability as might be the case with 2.5 gallons sitting above the water line as is the case with your 10L bag under the deck. Putting a helmet and a wet PFD in the surf probably reduces my balance more than your setup so it probably does not matter too much at the end. Go get a drink
behind the seat
kocho, I like your method.
For two seasons I have tried the hydration pack on the deck, on my back and behind the seat, and the last wins hands down (or I should say hands free).
It stays colder & stays in place (I use two small carabiners onto the seatback ties).It just makes an incursion of 1/4" or less in the skirt and I’ve had no problems w. entrapment or w. the skirt peeling off during any manoeuvres topside and upside down.
on my PFD there is a clip (sold by C-bak and others) to hold the tube near my mouth while I paddle so I can drink hands free. In calm lazy paddles I just run it outside the coaming and stick in into the nearest inner bungee when I know I can stop and sip.
BTW gnarlydog, I pretty much can’t put anything under
my decks. It’s a tempting location but in LV boats there just isn’t much wiggle room. You’ll got it nicely sorted out in yours, tho. Good job!
I am sorry if I was
unclear but under the deck I put a 4 Lt drinking bag (roughly 1 gal).
The 4 gal one goes on the floor of the kayak on really long trips where I run out of room in the hatches (I have carried up to 15 gal on long trips here in Australia where water can be scarce at times) Having the 4 Lt drinking bag behind the seat or the floor adds the hose dangling around my feet: not a good proposition in a kayak.
The behind the seat could have the hose routed and secured to the under deck however it would be a long hose and a fair bit of suction needed to get to the water when drinking.
friendlyfire, I have tried the behind
the seat location and have the hose pop on the side of the skirt. My hose flattens and water can’t be sucked any more after a while. Maybe is the 90F air temps or maybe is the hose that’s a bit soft but that has happened on different type of hoses.
Admittedly I do like to tinker and let’s not forget that I ain’t got no TV 
I totally get what you
are saying. It could be in those high temps the tube
doesn’t stay decently rounded. In MI we go just a few
days in the low 90 and this season days above 80 are rare… we are really having a nice paddling season as far as moderate day and night temps.
If the tube is too short for behind the seat position that would be a PITA. I have some advantage being 5’3" - tube doesn’t need to go up as far 
But FWIW I found the standard Platypus bags do have tubes which extend further than their CamelBak competitors, and, something that might help you out -
Camelbak offers as a separate accessory a
really nice slightly wider tube insulated w. neoprene, incl. the bitevalve. I would recommend it to you cuz it’s longer, it’ll protect the tube from deforming, and it’ll keep the water in the tube itself at a lower temp. Camelbak actually makes it for their ski hydration packs, I suppose due to the bulkier skiwear they made the tube longer and of course insulated it to keep the water from freezing. I wear it w. my Platy when I snowshoe and even in single degree air temps the water never froze in the tube… and as a bonus you could use it if you ever
get back into skiing Damiano!
if the snow was only
any closer than 17 hrs drive (!) to get there, I could be skiing right now (it’s winter in Australia).
It’s actually telemarking: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gnarlydog/3025498411/in/set-72157600724215182/
Re the length of the tube, is no problem for me to purchase the drinking tube by the yard, is the squishing of the tube itself that happens under a tight fitting skirt that is my problem…
right-o
that’s why I think the insulated tube would be the ticket… harder to squish… how tight IS that skirt anyways??
Water Coupling
I’m a mold maintenace tech for a mold company, we use all kinds of water hose couplings. Nitta Moore has some of the better ones.
www.nittamoore.com
dude, I see no
coupling on the www.nittamoore.com site that would be detachable.
However the fixed ones would be great for the housing on my skeg box junction: http://gnarlydognews.blogspot.com/2009/02/shop-kayak-mods-fabricating-skeg-box.html
Any distributors in Australia?
Longer Tubes
For anyone who needs a longer tube, I’d suggest just going to the hardware store for the stuff, rather than choosing your brand of water bag accordingly. Same goes for a tube that gets a bad kink or gets a growth of “crud” inside. The hardware store will charge you about 1/30th as much as you’ll pay to get the same material from Camelbak or Platypus.
I can’t get the same
quality plastic tube as Camelback, Platypus etc. from any hardware store in my area but I buy the generic stuff anyway when needing replacement.
You are right about the funk that grows inside the tube after a while.
If possible, storing it the freezer between uses retards the growth of the mould
Freek, funny that
the pic that you supplied is exactly my Mark1 version of the system.
I understand that is way simpler than my overcomplicated under deck bag but having the water there is just consequential.
Initially I looked at the 4th hatch in some kayaks and after trying the P&H Cetus I found those hatches interfering with my comfort while in the cockpit.
I have to say that I am bigger than your average guy with thunder thighs :-).
Having the under deck storage area in front of me was my primary intention.
Putting water there was a consequence of fitting the kayak with the under deck bag.
However I still prefer to have the shorter tube in fornt of me and maybe lean a bit to reach instead of the long tube dangling beside me, often in the water.
Your pictured solution has merit as far a simplicity though
The freezer
I’ve got to hand it to you, storing that kind of stuff in the freezer is a brilliant idea.
You may be right about the average hardware store not having exactly the same kind of tubing, but I’m sure it works fine. We have some really good quality tubing for lab work at the place I work, and I don’t know where it was purchased, but I do know it was obtained from a shop right here in town.
Couplers
The Nitta Moore couplers we use are push lock. You don’t need a male and female coupler, just jam the tube in the fitting, it locks in. Pull back the release ring, and it lets go of the tube. Replacing a tube is super fast this way, thats why we use them in the molding industry. Also, out on the water, lets say somthing crushes a section of tube, just cut out the bad piece and jam the clean cut end in the fitting. Also, the Nitta Moore has the O-ring on the outside of the tube, so the cut does not have to be perfect to get a good seal. Don’t know about a distributer in your neck of the woods. If you want, you can shoot me an email and I’ll put you in touch with our local distributer, he may be able to send you what you want.
Cool
Freek, a couple questions -
- What did you use as the “port” in your hull?
- Do you have a way of sealing it up for those times you don’t need the whole water setup?
port
– Last Updated: Jul-25-09 12:51 PM EST –
just a rubber grommet.
If I don't use it, I put a smal plug in it.
Always cool water and a low point of gravity
Cool, Gnarly, I already have one
Dromedary bag in that size, but I need another. One to drink from, and the other for my catheter.
Ha! - and if you believe Nick Nolte …
… about this stuff, you can just switch the bags when one becomes empty and the other full!