Bladder Salt
A three-ingredient electrolyte mix that costs a nickel a liter and keeps your bladder clean.
- calories
- 170
- weight
- 1.7 oz
- cal / oz
- 100
- protein
- 0 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 2 min
- water
- 1000 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Drink
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Day hike
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Table sugar | 3 tbsp | dextrose or maltodextrin if you have it |
|---|---|---|
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | fine grind dissolves cold |
| Potassium chloride salt substitute | 1/4 tsp | sold as Lite Salt or No Salt |
| Powdered drink mix | 1 tsp | lemonade or a single-serve packet, for flavor only |
| Citric acid | 1/4 tsp | optional, sharpens it |
Method
- Pour one baggie into a one-liter bottle with about 200 ml of water.
- Cap it and shake until the grit is gone. Cold water takes longer than you expect.
- Top off to a full liter and shake once more.
- Drink it over the next two hours. Refill the bottle with plain water after.
Commercial electrolyte tabs are salt and sugar sold at a heavy markup. The ratio is what matters, not the brand. Roughly 6 percent sugar with about 500 mg of sodium per liter pulls water across the gut wall faster than plain water does. Below that concentration you are just drinking sweet water; well above it, the drink sits in your stomach and sloshes.
The potassium salt substitute is the part most homemade mixes skip. Sweat carries potassium out too, and it tastes faintly metallic on its own, which is why the drink powder is in the list. It is masking, not flavoring. Skip the powder and this is drinkable but unpleasant enough that you will drink less of it, which defeats the point.
Packing
Premix single servings into small zip bags at home. One bag, one liter, no measuring on trail. Keep the mix out of your hydration bladder and in a bottle instead: sugar in a bladder means mold in the hose, and a hose is much harder to scrub than a wide-mouth bottle.
Variations
- Halve the sugar for cool weather. You need the salt more than the calories when you are not sweating hard.
- A pinch of baking soda helps if the acid is bothering your stomach.
- Magnesium citrate powder, 1/8 tsp, for people who cramp. More than that and it works as a laxative.
https://www.cleverhiker.com/hiking/best-hydration-bladders