small pressure release valves

[blueindian]

any idea where i might find one?

the application is as follows:

i have a two quart screw top plasitic container that is airtight. the contents of the container are such that pressure will build up causing the lid to pop off if the pressure is not released.

as such, i need to mount a valve that can release the pressure as needed. the value will mount in the plastic lid and has to be airtight/leak proof. bonus if you can find one that will not allow liquids to pass out, only air.

[whitak24]

ok....you have plastic containers whose contents build up pressure. you want release valves that only let out air, not liquids. hmmm....wonder what's in those containers :hmm: :P

[blueindian]

ok....you have plastic containers whose contents build up pressure. you want release valves that only let out air, not liquids. hmmm....wonder what's in those containers :hmm: :P

you wouldn't believe me if i told you, noone else does.

[ACE]

sounds like you should check some of the home-brew stores for making beer.

[Hopper1]

As ACE said, check the homebrew store and get a co2 trap. its a glass or plastic trap with water in it that lets co2 out and nothing else in.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=co2+trap+for+homebrew

[blueindian]

sounds like you should check some of the home-brew stores for making beer.

the valves for beer making have 2 problems:

1. they will allow liquid to pass through. in fact the ones i have use water as a vapor lock.

2. they are way too big and fragile.

my container will be carried on in my pack on multi-day backpacking trips and as such subjected to much movement and the possiblity of being turned upside down. leaks are NOT an option.


my ideal valve will be made of tough plastic or light metal. my ideal valve will also allow for the attachment of a hose somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 inch in diameter.

[sizemic1]

An easy fix would be to install a valvestem from a wheel. However it wouldn't prevent liquids from escaping

[ramazank2]

Have you looked at mcmaster-carr? They have everything!

http://www.mcmaster.com/

[ACE]

This may or may not work, but I think it might. How about one of those pumice type things you put at the end of an aquarium pump? Pressure would be released and i doubt if any water would really leak out when it was turned upside down unless pressure were put on the container. I'm sure the diameter would work out. Just a thought.

Edit: Maybe not so good if you are carrying it "IN" your backpack.

[blueindian]

This may or may not work, but I think it might. How about one of those pumice type things you put at the end of an aquarium pump? Pressure would be released and i doubt if any water would really leak out when it was turned upside down unless pressure were put on the container. I'm sure the diameter would work out. Just a thought.


nah...even the smallest leak is unacceptable.

good idea though.

[ACE]

If you don't come up with anything that is acceptable, you could still use that pumicestone idea and mount it on the outside of the pack via tubing.

ps. it would be helpful if we knew what the fluid in the bottle is. :cheers:

[blueindian]

If you don't come up with anything that is acceptable, you could still use that pumicestone idea and mount it on the outside of the pack via tubing.

ps. it would be helpful if we knew what the fluid in the bottle is. :cheers:


well, it's not really fluid but the device had to be leak proof none the less. at the risk of turning this in to a potty thread (GAM please delete this post if so) this will be a portable toilet small and light enough to take backpacking.

[cheapie]

ahaha....so you don't mind if you container farts on your back but it can't crap on you?

[Agent Plissken]

Ive got the solution! Take a shovel and leave the crap behind.
Seriously though why are you packing your liquids out with you?

[ufcrusher]

6" trowel for a 6" hole equals the way to hide your BM. You just fill in the hole when you are done. For someone who camps all the time, I find it odd that you wouldnt know that. As for the issue of TP, they have special biodegradable TP (supposedly more so than regular).

[blueindian]

6" trowel for a 6" hole equals the way to hide your BM. You just fill in the hole when you are done. For someone who camps all the time, I find it odd that you wouldnt know that. As for the issue of TP, they have special biodegradable TP (supposedly more so than regular).

i'm well aware of the "cat hole" method, tried and trusted i assure you. i even offer you a picture as proof :D

http://www.theblueindian.com/images/albums/linvillegorgesummer2003/slides/IM000154.JPG

note my bright orange trowel ;)



the problem i have with it is multi-facited:

1. some areas that i go are so crowded now that it gets hard to find "fresh" dirt in which to dig. this is particularly true in areas of the Smoky Mountians. In fact, in some areas out west they have passed regulations that during the "on" season you are required to pack out your waste.

2. some places that I go simply have no good place to dig catholes because of proximity to the water. for instance the linville gorge. it's 1 steep mile down very rocky soil to the bottom where everything is very close to the water. since catholes should be at least 100 yards from the water there is simply a lack of good places. rule #1 also applies to this particular area in the summer.

3. sometimes digging a cathole just sucks. like at 3:00 in the morning in the middle of February when it's 15 degrees and raining. with my device i could use it in my tent if necessary.

mostly # 1 & 2 are my concerns.

as for theh issue of biodegradble TP...I say fooey. You need to pack it out. At the very least burn it before you bury it and for god's sake make sure it's out. It may well be biodegradable but I assure it it takes a long time.


Ive got the solution! Take a shovel and leave the crap behind.
Seriously though why are you packing your liquids out with you?

as for the shovel, see above.

not planning on packing out liquids, but should giardia or cryptosporidium every attack, I want it leak proof.

[cheapie]

i wish people like you ran factories and the like. i always thought of myself as a conscientious camper. i guess i have a long way to go.

[Hopper1]

I would think a free floating ball valve would work like in a bulb pump. I ball fits into a tube and stops air from moving in one direction but not the other. I don't know where to get one you might be able to modify a pump some how though

[ufcrusher]

Unfortunately most of the portolets are plastic containers with a one way valve and are bulky as hell. They are designed more for sissy camping than real deep woods camping. I guess, I avoid the popular camping areas like the plague since I dont like to see other people when I am out and about.

You could always take an old aluminim camp seat and convert it for your needs. Remove the middle of the seat so that you have the traditional hole in the center. Using some non-waste material, test different ways to temporarily attach catch bags to the seat. (Pressure strips of some sort), When you finish with your business, you just detach and seal the bag. You wouldnt be able to reuse the bag, or at least probably wouldnt want to.

I always found that the places where you couldnt go generally provided some sort of facility, whether it be just an outhouse/portapotty/actual bathroom.

[blueindian]

Unfortunately most of the portolets are plastic containers with a one way valve and are bulky as hell.

i know, that's the problem i'm going to solve



You could always take an old aluminim camp seat and convert it for your needs. Remove the middle of the seat so that you have the traditional hole in the center. Using some non-waste material, test different ways to temporarily attach catch bags to the seat. (Pressure strips of some sort), When you finish with your business, you just detach and seal the bag. You wouldnt be able to reuse the bag, or at least probably wouldnt want to.


not looking to change my design really. i like the design i have. it's small & lightweight. i just need a way to release the pressure build up. the way it is now i can release it manually, but it needs to be automatic.



I always found that the places where you couldnt go generally provided some sort of facility, whether it be just an outhouse/portapotty/actual bathroom.

that's not at all the case in the southeast/mideast. i wish it were.

[ufcrusher]

that's not at all the case in the southeast/mideast. i wish it were.

My stomping ground for camping was for the most part Upstate NY, Pennsylvania, and Florida. I think I camped once or twice in Virginia. Since I have been out on the west coast, I have only gone camping twice. Once in the Stockton area the other time was in various areas of Arizona. (Tuscon and then the Grand Canyon in the January - first time camping in the snow)

The main difference I have found between the coast is that out here, there is no freaking deadwood. You actually have to pack in wood. It made for a horrible first night when we realized that there was no deadwood/dead fall to grab up.

To top that trip off, the trees were too spindly for a decent bear bag and the girl who went with me was bitching up a storm about me taking all the time to hang a bag. I told her that if we had anything, anything that had a scent, it needs to be sealed and out of the tent. All food needed to be in the bag and hung. After a futile half hour trying to hang the bag, I finally just said the hell with it and took all of the food stuff and put it a good distance from camp. (In hindsight I could have rigged something off the ground but I was so annoyed at the girl that I could care less.)

So after we ate dinner, I told the girl to put the mess kit away where the food was. She said, sure and disappeared for a few minutes. Fast forward to 3am. I hear something large sniffing around the tent. Great. Its sniffing right where my head is, then starts going towards the area outside the girl. I figure, better scare it away so I start making some noise. I hear whatever it is rambling away. After waiting a few minutes for it to get a good distance away, I decide to get out and check. The coast was clear, but I put some more wood onto the fire to keep whatever that was away.

Approximately 30 minutes later, I hear the sound of metal being pushed around. Great. It found the messkit and presumably the food. I figure its far enough away, until the girl tells me that its only 15 feet away. She had just put that stuff down out of my sight because "there was nothing to worry about and I was being crazy." She had then just waited a bit and then gone to do natures calling before coming back. At this point I cant believe her, I get out of the tent, stomping my feet, hooting and hollering. The sound stops for a second, then I hear the sound of metal being dragged at a fast pace away from me. I take a flashlight, dont see anything shinning back at me and find where she had put the mess kit. Sure enough, it was all apart with pieces missing.

I wasnt about to go looking for it in the dark, so I went back to the tent and slept some more, since there was nothing more I could do at this time. At dawn, I get out of the tent and go take care of natures calling. I then go looking for the mess kit parts. I found them about 400 yds from where the rest of the kit was left. It was bent to hell but licked clean. I walk back to the tent, at this point the girl had not come out yet, and say I found the mess kit. Open the tent to see her eating a freaking clif bar.

At this point I am absolutely livid....I had told her NO FOOD or SCENTED items in the tent and on top of that she had not taken care of the mess kit like I asked. I ask her, where she got it. "I had it in my pack." "And that isnt food?" "Its food, but its sealed so there isnt a problem." "Um, no, they can still smell that its not sealing in the scent. That explains why we had that animal sniffing the tent" (She had heard it too) "Well I thought it was ok."

I asked her what else she thought was ok and she shows me her pack which had scented lotions, toothpaste, all sorts of things put in a ziplock bag. I hold the bag up to her and ask if she can smell the rasberry lotion, which was pretty noticeable with her pack open. Of course she had to say yes and after a few lovely descriptions of what could have happened, I dropped it.

I went to where I had the food hidden and it was all intact since I had put it not on a game trail and off the ground.

Lovely start to a trip with a someone who had supposedly gone camping many times before.

[blueindian]

snip


for that reason i always inspect the contents of folks bags if i've never been with them and we're going to be around bears, or regardless of our location if they are sharing a tent with me.

once in the smokies I had a medium sized mamel (racoon i think) rip into the tent in the middle of the night. the culpret? some toothpaste that we didn't realize was in the tent.

[ufcrusher]

for that reason i always inspect the contents of folks bags if i've never been with them and we're going to be around bears, or regardless of our location if they are sharing a tent with me.

once in the smokies I had a medium sized mamel (racoon i think) rip into the tent in the middle of the night. the culpret? some toothpaste that we didn't realize was in the tent.

I probably should have looked, but she insisted that she had nothing on her and that she had gone campling plenty of times. (She was ex-military too, so I figured she knew some basic OLS and would understand the reason for being careful)

That said, everywhere I have ever gone camping has always been bear country. I've seen plenty of bears while I have been out too. Fortunately whatever was sniffing the tent sniffed near me, so he got a whiff of human rather than food.