Camelbak Elixir Electrolyte Tablets

[RichardM]

Came across this while researching Camelbak bags:
http://www.sunnysports.com/Prod/CMLE.html

Anybody tried them? Seems like a decent alternative to Gatorade, at least as far as the electrolytes are concerned.

[oldfatman]

Being as how I am an OLD fat man with a lot of OLD ways, My electrolyte drink in addition to water is 1/3 strength bulk Country Time Lemonade.   About a million years ago some testing entity I no longer remember, put a bunch of the electro drinks up against water, lemonade, kool ade and each other.  By the way Koolade is what we used in VietNam 69-70 for us infantry fools.  When the testing was done, water won.  Lemonade came in second when thinned.  The rest of the drinks came in about the same.  What I noticed most was that the conclusion that the many of the testers had upset stomachs with one type or another.  The final analysis was that you could use which ever one you like, but most need to be thinned somewhat.  As I was lucky in this one the cheaper lemonade cut by 2/3 and my stomach get along very well.  However out of a normal 4 liter carry for me only one liter is not water. I would like to hear other experiences.  I am not stuck in OLD ways, but getting me to change to something new from something that has been working for years will take some proof.  My swap, thanks to some folks help on this forum, from long sleeve cotton in hot weather to the wicking synthetics is proof that somtimes new things are better. Most importantly is everyone get out and have fun.

[Undertaker]

Second to you OFM, water and plenty of it.

[RichardM]

Second to you OFM, water and plenty of it.

Just as long as you don't drink it to the point of hyponatremia and/or water intoxication like I almost did.

[Robert]

From what little I've read about hyponatremia it is extremely rare and pretty hard to do by just drinking plain water instead of gatorade without also drinking large quantities in a short amount of time. I've been a runner for many years and replenishment drinks were not always offered at marathons and you didn't hear of anyone getting water intoxication.  But there were plenty of folks that got dehydrated.

The other thing that sports drinks will do is prevent you from bonking during extended periods of exercising such as cycling, running, and hiking. Sports drinks provide the sugar that your muscles need to continue working after your stored energy is used up. As oldfatman mentioned, you can get sugar from various sugary drinks but have to watch out for an upset stomach. Gatorade has less sugar than normal sugary drinks but if you are drinking nothing but gatorade over time the result is the same. So many people dilute their gatorade or alternate with water. That's why you see aid stations at marathons offer both water and sports drinks.

Other options to a sports drink are to take in food. This isn't a good choice for high intensity sports like running but for lower intensity activities like hiking it is very viable. Gorp, candy, nuts etc taken along with water will do the same thing for you. What's popular with runners these days are the little packets of concentrated carbs called gels or gu.

As far as hiking goes I've backpacked with nothing but sugar free kool-aid and suffered no ill effects. The last trip I took powdered gator aid and I seemed to have a little more energy. I usually don't do any snacking while hiking but eat a good breakfast and lunch so get enough calories.

I'm not saying Richard didn't get hyponatremia just that unless he drank a ton of water it does not seem likely. It just sounds like it could be that he was close to bonking and the symptoms can be very similar.

[RichardM]

From what little I've read about hyponatremia it is extremely rare and pretty hard to do by just drinking plain water instead of gatorade without also drinking large quantities in a short amount of time.

First time I heard the term was at Grand Canyon N. P. As we were reading the warning sign a ranger came by and told us it happens quite a bit there (relatively speaking).

I'm not saying Richard didn't get hyponatremia just that unless he drank a ton of water it does not seem likely. It just sounds like it could be that he was close to bonking and the symptoms can be very similar.

I've bonked before and the symptoms were quite different from my Rancherias Canyon experience. I was probably a good bit away from hyponatremia, but I could tell my electrolytes were out of whack.

For dehydration, plain old water is absorbed the fastest.

And back to the original topic, these tablets come in lemon and orange flavors. Except for the cost, they might be a good way to make the taste of filtered or treated water a bit more palatable on backpacking trips. I wonder how they mix/react with iodine.

[dkerr24]

A product I tried on my last Grand Canyon trip was called "Gookinaid".  It is similar to powdered Gatorade but seemed to do a better job of getting absorbed into my system quicker and picking me up faster.

I went back to plain orange Gatorade powder on my OML trip, and that didn't seem to work as well, but definitely better than just drinking water all 4 days of the hike.

I haven't seen Gookinaid in any store other than the Grand Canyon store at the south rim.  I'm sure it can be purchased online, but not something I want to hassle with ordering online.

[RichardM]

I've heard of Gookinaid a bit, but have never seen it in stores either. I doubt either it or Gatorade would work well in a bladder without an extensive cleaning afterwards.

[oldfatman]

RichardM,
 I totally agree with you on flavoring some of the available water when out in the world. Some up the safe but tasty water is almost impossible to gag down.  The worst I have had was around Birch Creek Park at Lake Somerville.  Our lake house near there, for 12 years, had to use a reverse osmosis system to make the safe public water actually potable due to taste.

I put my thin lemonade solution in a hydration bladder once many years ago. Several years later I threw it away since the bladder ever after that wanted to get mold or alge very quickly in spite of multiple washings of several types and even boiling water once.

Now the flavored water is in one liter bottles with screw tops.  The bladders are only clean water. I apologize for causing the topic you asked to be pirated.  I am actually as interested in you getting an answer as you are. 

[dkerr24]

I guess I should explain that I do not put the powdered Gatorade in my Camelback... it only went into a 1 liter water bottle that I kept in a side pocket of my pack.  I'd remix another 1 liter Gatorade using the 2L bottles I had in my pack.  I just use plain old 2L soda bottles for my main supply.

I've heard of folks putting lemon juice in their Camelbacks, but there's still enough sugar in lemon juice to make me wary of mold buildup.

[RichardM]

I saw some of the tablets in an Academy store this weekend for $8. Since I still haven't joined the Camelbak brigade, I'll let you guys do the product testing.

[badknees]

I guess I should explain that I do not put the powdered Gatorade in my Camelback... it only went into a 1 liter water bottle that I kept in a side pocket of my pack.  I'd remix another 1 liter Gatorade using the 2L bottles I had in my pack.  I just use plain old 2L soda bottles for my main supply.

I've heard of folks putting lemon juice in their Camelbacks, but there's still enough sugar in lemon juice to make me wary of mold buildup.

Bleach it and dry it before you put it away....

[Cookie]

  Re: Camelbak Elixir Electrolyte Tablets
« Reply #12 on: Today at 10:35:08 am » Quote Modify Remove 

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My husband and I just got back from a 4 nighter  down to Dominguez springs from Homer Wilson Ranch (trip report soon...). We took an interesting selection of things to drink.
       
 [When we were in BIBE car camping/day hiking in December, my husband starting having  some weird heart "palpatations". He was very well hydrated, but had not been drinking a lot of electrolytes. Once he started downing some Gatorade, the palpatations went away.]

Anyway, we knew we didn't want to drink water the whole time, and we weren't sure how the filtered/tableted water would taste, so we brought some drink mixes. All go in a 16.9 oz bottle.
we started with a full VitaminWater "Revive" (350mg Potassium 20oz bottle vs. gatorade ~60 mg/ 16 oz. bottle) then used that bottle for the rest of our powdered drinks in the little tubes.

Gatorade
Crystal Light peach/mango tea (mainly for caffeine/flavor)
energy drink (purely for caffeine-a little too much for my taste)

Camelbacks were for water only. We just reused the Vitaminwater bottle for the mixes. I wish the vitaminwater came in powder form, you get a better amount of potassium than gatorade, and not as sugary sweet, even diluted. We did discuss putting stuff in the camelbaks, but in the end decided it was not worth the risk of stuff growing in there vs. carrying a 16 oz bottle. It was great having a little variety of things to drink, and helped us to drink more.

{on a side note, we found some strawberry fruit bars by Archer Farms at Target that had 230mg potassium/bar. Kinda like a fruit roll-up in bar form, I liked them, my husband, not so much.}

I checked that link for the camelbak electroylyte drinks, but couldn't find out how much potassium/serving. Any ideas?

All the water we pumped was clear, sweet and cold!!

~Cookie

[RichardM]

I checked that link for the camelbak electroylyte drinks, but couldn't find out how much potassium/serving. Any ideas?

I had to try about a dozen Google hits before getting this:

Specifications
Calories	10
Total Carbohydrates	1g <1%
Vitamin C	(as ascorbic acid) 86mg 143%
Calcium	(as calcium carbonate) 36mg 4%
Magnesium	(as magnesium sulfate) 18mg 4%
Manganese	(as manganese gluconate) 1.4mg 71%
Chloride	(as sodium chloride/potassium chloride) 68mg 2%
Sodium	410mg 17%
Potassium	70mg 2%

[Cookie]

I had to try about a dozen Google hits before getting this:

Specifications
Calories	10
Total Carbohydrates	1g <1%
Vitamin C	(as ascorbic acid) 86mg 143%
Calcium	(as calcium carbonate) 36mg 4%
Magnesium	(as magnesium sulfate) 18mg 4%
Manganese	(as manganese gluconate) 1.4mg 71%
Chloride	(as sodium chloride/potassium chloride) 68mg 2%
Sodium	410mg 17%
Potassium	70mg 2%

Thanks! Just a smidge more that Gatorade. I forgot to mention the 48 oz of Crown and 16 oz of Tequila.....not so great for hydrating, but oh so good for those tired legs!!

~Cookie