Survival Resources Emergency Water Bags

One of the biggest challenges of putting together a decent pocket sized survival kit  is finding a compact means of water storage. Water is a survival essential, and improvising a water-tight container in the wild is a very difficult task, so some means of holding/carrying water with you is a must-have. These water bags are, by far, the best compact water storage solution that I've come across.

I ordered a three pack of these bags from Survival Resources back before the holidays. I've used two in kits and decided to test the third. It was completely unscientific testing, but I wanted to get an idea for what the bags could hold up to.

A close up of the closure method.

They are built from a fairly thick plastic, with an interesting closure method. Your roll the top of the bag down several times and then you a bread-tie like wire to close the bag up tightly. The bags come marked for 1 liter of water and are easily filled, opened for drinking and then resealed. It won't be replacing your EDC water bottle, but for an emergency, it's very good. The bags are supposed to be able to stand up on their own, but I found mixed success doing so. The balance is precarious at best.

I filled the bag up and let is sit, resting on its side for three days. I checked it a couple times a day, during which time I would jostle it, smack it and throw it around a bit. Basically rough handling, but certainly not abuse.  The bag held perfectly, with no leaks during any of this testing.

The 2-year old test.

Satisfied that the bag was going to hold up to this kind of use, I decided to put it through a torture test, and my 2-year old decided to help out with that. He found the water bag surprisingly entertaining, and spent three or four minutes picking it up and smashing it back down, over and over again. He was using all the strength that he could muster, and found the whole thing pretty hilarious.

After about four minutes of this smashing the water bag--probably around fifty or so times--the bag developed a small pin-hole leak towards the neck. The bag was still perfectly usable, and only leaked when squeeze or turned upside down. The leak could have been sealed with a small piece of duct tape. In a survival situation, the water bag would still be capable of holding your water.

The pin hole leak.

My son continued to play with the water bag for the next five or so minutes, squirting my shoes and water plants with the pin hole leak. I borrowed the bag from him at a few points and dropped it from shoulder height onto hard ground. The pin hole leak got a little bit bigger on one of these drops, but not enough to ruin the bag. Finally, after my son had tired of the bag, I gave it a full-strength slam onto the ground, and not surprisingly, it burst. The final failure was along one of the seams.

Honestly, I was surprised by how well the bag held up to all of the abuse. In a survival situation, with the emergency water bag as your only method of carrying water, you'd take baby this thing, not toss it around and abuse it. The water bag stood up to far more use/abuse than I expected it to, passing all of the informal testing that we put it through. The final failure was more of an intended destruction than an actual test, to see where the weakest point in the design was.

If you're planning out a pocket survival kit or any other kit where a compact means of water storage could save your life, the Survival Resources Emergency Water Bag is the one to get. We have zero affiliation with Survival Resources, but feel that these are a great solution to a common problem for kit builders. They're inexpensive too - only $2.95 for a three pack.

To learn more about the Emergency Water Bags or buy a pack, visit Survival Resources >