Camelbak - drying?

[OakLeaf]

For a branded Camelbak, their complete cleaning kit comes with a gadget that holds it open for drying. It works really well.

No matter what brand your bladder is, I recommend the cleaning kit just for the drink tube brush. There are other ways to clean the drink tube, but they're a huge PITA. If your bladder is a brand other than Camelbak, you can buy the cleaning kit without the drying frame (which doesn't fit other brands).

Whatever brand you use, the key to drying is to hold the bladder completely open, so the sides don't touch each other anywhere. That's actually the only thing I don't like about my Nathan pack - the mouth is so small - but a couple of things that will go into it, and are light enough to stay put while the bladder dries, are a slim spatula/scraper (turned sideways) or a slim wooden spoon.

Once you've got it held open, you can just pin it by the corners to your indoor clothesline. I don't know how UV-resistant the plastic is, but I'd guess not very, so I wouldn't recommend an outdoor clothesline.

[Zen]

I stuff mine (loosely) full of paper towels

[BikeDutchess]

I often do that too. And then there was that one ride where at the end I thought "what is that in my Camelback?" and found that I had not quite removed all the paper towels before I filled it up... I must have been half asleep that morning!

[ny biker]

I bought the Camelbak cleaning kit years ago. That blue plastic thing does work well to hold the bladder open while it's drying.

I know someone who uses a bent coat hanger, although you need to be careful with the sharp part.

[southjerseygirl]

After dumping it out, I hold the bladder over the sink and blow as hard as I can through the bite valve to remove any remaining liquid. I dry the inside of the bladder with a paper towel and then use the yellow camelbak hanger/dryer to let it air dry the rest of the way. It seems to dry out pretty quickly, and no mold yet.

[TriMom217]

the other thing you can do is partially fill it with water, and lay it on its side in the freezer. Now you don't need to worry about anything growing in it and when you top it off you have icy water the entire time.

[Catrin]

the other thing you can do is partially fill it with water, and lay it on its side in the freezer. Now you don't need to worry about anything growing in it and when you top it off you have icy water the entire time.

This doesn't cause problems with the tubing? This is probably a silly question since it has been working for you