On my first thru-hike, of the 800-mile Arizona Trail, I got used to drinking warm water. I didn't enjoy it, but I got used to it. While hiking across the hot desert with the sun shining down and no shade, my water bottle quickly warmed up and there was no choice but to drink tepid water.

I did find a couple ways to delay the inevitable warm-up, though. By keeping the water in my left side pocket in the morning, and in the right side in the afternoon, it was in the shade of my body and stayed cool longer. By wrapping a bottle in my fleece and placing it in my pack, it didn't heat up quite so fast. But, these didn't really make much of a difference. A better solution would have been to use a water bladder stored in my pack where it would be insulated and shaded to stay cool much longer.

Unfortunately, when using a water bladder, the exposed tube from the bladder to the bite valve you drink from allows water to heat up very quickly since it is a small volume with large surface area. This exposed tube also allows the water in it to freeze very quickly on cold hikes for the same reason. The tube is the weak point of using a water bladder in both hot and cold climates.

A nice solution to this situation is to insulate the tube from your pack to the bite valve. By extending the insulation, the water stays both cool and unfrozen much longer.

One product that does this nicely is a neoprene insulation cover from Gearhandle. They offer insulated tube covers in a wide range of colors that all serve the same function - keep water in the tube fresh and liquid. You can buy covers in 36", 43", or whatever custom length you want from 16 to 48 inches.

The sleeves are simple to slip onto your drinking tube. There's not much to go wrong with them and I found them to provide great insulating effect.

On my 2-week hike across Costa Rica, one of my fellow hikers used a water bladder with an insulated tube and every drink stayed more fresh and cool. I noticed because the water in my small bottles was noticably warmer after an hour or so.

In freezing temperatures, your water will eventually solidify and be undrinkable unless you keep it against your body where you are expending warmth to keep it liquid. When exposed, water freezes more quickly as the temperature decreases. So, on very cold hikes, water bladder tubes typically freeze first and then no water can be drunk through them. You may have a bladder full of water but no way to drink it.

By insulating the tube, time to freeze is lengthened considerably. Taking small drinks often also helps because the cold water in the tube is replaced with new, warmer water from the bladder. Blowing air back through the bite valve after taking a drink also helps by pushing most of the water out of the tube back into the bladder where it won't freeze.

Gearhandle has a few other inexpensive insulation products that improve your water bladder system.

For very cold environments, they offer a zippered cover for your bite valve that provides insulation and protection for the bite valve and 18 inches of tube.

I found it to keep the bite valve ice free very nicely. But, opening the zipper and getting a drink was a bit cumbersome while all bundled up with winter clothing and mittens.
 

They also have a simple kit to extend, or replace, your hydration bladder tube and bite valve. It includes the tube, insulated sleeve, pack strap clip, and two tube connectors.
If you don't use a bladder, this kit can also be used to turn a large water bottle, such as SmartWater, into a bladder with insulated tube. You just need to poke a hole in the screwtop lid of the water bottle.

If you use a bladder when hiking in either hot or cold environments, consider insulating your tube for a safer and more refreshing water supply. And, for those extremely cold hikes, an insulated cover for the bite valve completes the protective layer.

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Gearhandle sent me a tube insulation sleeve and a bite valve cover to review. I received no other payment for this review.