Platypus Water Tank

I've been hiking with a through hiker for a couple of years now who carries a couple of these on every hike. His are labeled for clean and unsanitized water (cooking, washing, etc.). I've been watching him utilize these effectively to manage his camp duties and efficiently fill drinking and cooking vessels. His behavior is illustrative of someone who's got his system dialed in (after half a year on trail, I guess one would).
I decided to take his lead and picked up an MSR Dromlite bag. Not the best choice. The dromlite is nice and light, has a few options for disseminating the water, but they fall short in a number of ways:
* carrying - the platypus has two carry handles, reinforced by plastic for easy transportation
* freestanding - The platy will stand while the zip top is open and water doesn't spill out. The dromlite can't stand and if you open it up, water will gush out.
* big opening for scooping - scoop a bowl or nalgene full of water right out of the vessel if you like
* pouring - they both have a small opening, pouring feature, but the playpus handle and shape makes it pour just like a pitcher.
* durability - this is TBD. Will the Platypus crystalize? Will the Dromlite last longer? remains to be seen.
I picked up the platy and couldn't be happier. I have an loder platy 1L bottle with a squirt top that can be added to this for even more versatility.
I'll probably keep the MSR for now, but if I need to buy another high volume vessel I am going for another water tank.

After dealing with some awful cheap collapsible water jugs (the clear red capped type) for kayaking and car camping, I had it. I was sick of their poor performance, inability to stand up on its own, and plastic-tasting water. I decided to upgrade and spend a few bucks. After much research, I decided to give a 4L Platy a try. This has now gone through a full summer season of kayaking and car camping, being thrown in boats, packs, on picnic tables and the ground and it handled it all beautifully. I read some reviews saying the zip-top didn't stay sealed and was unreliable. It was pretty easy to run my fingers along the top sealing it, with a quick inverting of the bottle when done as a test, and off I went. I never had one catastrophic sealing failure.I love this water tank and don't hesitate to recommend it.

Been using the previous style of this--stood up tall "portrait" orientation--for 5 years of backpacking, and it has been overall well worth the money, more durable than it looks, easy to use and clean. Just this weekend a pinhole developed in the bottom corner of my 5-yr-old bag, so will replace it with this new style if I cannot repair the leak myself. Turning the old version on its side ("landscape" orientation) should cure the old problem of being top heavy and occasionally spontaneously falling over unless on absolutely level surface or less than full. The old-style too-stiff zip-closure top never worked more than a few times but turns out I really didn't need it, anyway--just folded over top to keep out leaves and bugs (maybe this new version zip closure is improved?). I attached a leash to the cap to prevent losing it.

I bought two 6-liter tanks for a backpacking trip on the Channel Islands three years ago now. A hell to carry but really worth it, not much water there.
Anyway, I've used them a lot since then just for car camping mostly, and have never had an issue. The zip-lock style top closes easily for me, and as the recommend I flip it upside down to make sure it's properly closed, and I usually don't see a drop.
Finally, as some users have mentioned, it is compatible with the rest of the platypus line which means you can screw a platypus hose on it, or probably their filter although I haven't tried.

Carried the 6L tank in the Grand Canyon for 5 days. Carried between 1 an 4 liters at any given time. The size and design were what I wanted but was leery of the zip-lock type top opening. I had no spills or issues with it in the bottom of my pack under my sleeping bag. Kept it bottom down with water in it, wouldn't trust it on end without some more experimentation. It seems durable, for the price I'm happy. My buddy carried the 1 and 2 liter Platypus bags and we both liked them too.

This bag combined with a Sawyer screw on filter is a match made in heaven. Especially if your collecting water from a lake rather than a flowing river or creek. With my 4L platy tank, I filled 7 liters of nalgene a day for 6 days. The seal blew open on me only once, thus learning the pressure limit of the bag. Durability showed well too. I rested it on twig covered dirt, rocky shore etc. No issues. Easy to clean too with the big opening and all. A +

This little tank is pretty useful, and has been fairly durable. I've had some Platypus products leak after some use, but this thing is going strong, probably because it never spends time full in a pack getting beaten up.
It does its job well, but sealing the top is an exercise in frustration. I'm not sure I've ever gotten the top of it to seal. The little zip lock top has become the butt of jokes for us, and is essentially just aesthetic.

I purchased this needing a water reservoir for around camp when backpacking. It does that just as expected. Highly recommended for that.
I just finished a short backpacking trip where no water existed at camp - hence we had to haul it all in. We ended up strapping it onto a pack. I was worried it would potentially break and start leaking. Just the opposite, though! It held up very well - no holes or cracks to speak of. Great product!