The CNOC Vecto 2L Soft Water Container is a roll-up soft bottle that's compatible with the Sawyer Squeeze and Sawyer Mini water filters (which 80% of backpackers use). Like the Platypus Big Zip, one side opens up completely, by removing the bottom slide, making it easier to fill from water sources that don't have a current, like ponds, lakes, puddles, and cattle troughs. The bottom slide also makes it easy to hang in gravity filter mode or roll up and squeeze to force water through a Sawyer filter.
Specs at a Glance
- Weight: 2.7 oz
- Volume: 2L
- Material: ePTU (BPA free)
The Vecto has three components: a 2L soft bottle, an orange cap, and orange slider which seals the bottom. The easiest way to fill it, is to remove the orange slider along its base, and dunk the wide end into flat water or into the current of a stream. In flat water, like ponds or lakes, you'll need two hands to fill it, one to dunk the bottle under the surface and the other to hold it open so it fills up. While you can drag it along the surface, it's hard to fill up one-handed. You'll also want to find a place where the water depth is sufficiently deep so you can submerge most of the bottle in order to fill it. If that isn't possible, you'll need some kind of water scoop ( a plastic sandwich bag can work) to fill the Vecto.
Once full, you fold over the base of the bottle once, before sliding the slider back on to seal it. If you want to filter, you remove the orange cap, and screw on a water filter like a Sawyer Squeeze. That's pretty much it. The slider makes it easy to roll up the base of the bottle as the water empties and force it through the filter. If you lose the orange cap, a smart water bottle cap fits it perfectly or you can buy a replacement from CNOC through their website.
It'd be nice if the orange cap was secured to the bottle, like it is on Evernew's soft water bottles or the slide was attached to the bottle like it is on the Platypus Big Zip. But neither of these omissions is a show stopper if you're careful about where you place these two components when you take them off the Vecto water container.
The slide handle also makes it easy to use the Vecto in a gravity configuration, when suspended from a tree. You just need some kind of lanyard or 'biner to hang it from. When filling the bottle, be careful to wipe it off before hanging it in a gravity setup, since you don't want "dirty" water dripping down the exterior surface of the bottle to contaminate water that's run through your filter.
Recommendation
The CNOC Vecto 2L Water Container makes a great "dirty" water container in a backpacking hydration system, when coupled with a screw-on Sawyer filter and water bottles for carrying your "clean" filtered water. I've found that seal between a Sawyer filter and the Vecto to be nice and tight without any leaks, although you need to thread them together carefully and not put too much pressure when screwing them together. I don't use the Vecto as my primary "clean" bottle, although there's no reason you can't. I just find it easier to drink from hard sided soda or Smartwater bottles.
While I haven't had any issues with the durability of the Vecto soft bottle in the field, the first version of this product I ordered was defective, with a torn seam where the soft material meets the cap. While the company was quick to send me a free replacement and has excellent customer service, I'd still caution you to test all of your backpacking equipment before taking it on an extended trip so you can be confident that it will perform as expected (see Shakedown Trips).
The author purchased this product. Published 2018. Klaatu Barada Vecto.
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