Bring your own bottles?

When I did my HIM I took a few "throw away" bottles.  In my case they were just convience store water bottles (AquaFina or some brand) with the squeeze top.

I threw them out and replaced them with the ones from the course at the next couple of aid stations.

Of course they were not insulated so considering the extra time in the water etc you might want a better bottle.

Even for distances up to HIM/IM, I only have 2 bottles on the bike -- one primary fuel bottle (3-hour mix) in a nice Camelbak podium bottle, and one throw-away bottle I swap at each exchange. 

Start the race with both full bottles on board, as you are enroute, drain your old beater exchange bottle so you can swap it at the exchange, and go from there...  By the end of the bike, you are left with a "new" exchange bottle to use at the next race.  Rinse, race, repeat

Cheers, Chris

Depends on where the aid stations are, but in general I bring enough fluid for about half the course, and grab bottles at aid stations. I try to have one extra just in case as I go along. If I have one left upon entering an aid station I will take 1 bottle of water. If I have zero or less than 1, I'd take two. 

It depends on what you drink on the bike. WTC IM brand 70.3 often hand out something different than at independent races. By using water that I add a nuuns tablet to, my nutrition plan works for all races no mater the sports drink they give out.

I brought 2 full bottles on the bike during my HIM.  I didn't finish what I put in them so didn't do an exchange.

I was told during a HIM clinic that, for aero purposes, you should always keep a bottle (empty or full) in the water bottle cage on your seat post.  I have no idea if that's good advice, but I followed it.

I think it depends on what you use as your nutrition.  I use Infinit so I don't live off the course for anything except water and fruit.  On the bike for my HIM I carried my aquacell and then two bottles.  My plan was to empty a bottle early on and then exchange it for a plain water bottle at an aid station.  This bottle wouldn't be for anything other than as a backup in case I consumed more than I anticipated.  Since I use liqud nutrition, I would have had all the calories and electrolytes I needed up to that point, and would simply need the fluid.  I ended up not using it. 

If I didn't use Infinit and used gatorade or something else that's available on the course I wouldn't worry about carrying so much.

As for the bottle itself, I picked up a couple of inexpensive bottles that I was willing to throw away and lose the money on.  I think I got the $5.99 bottles at my local shop.  I just considered it an expense of doing the race.

Good luck,

Shane

I only carry water on the bike.  All my calories come from gels in a flask.

The HIM I have done (twice) has aid stations every 10 miles, so I could easily just start with one bottle, toss it, then use on course bottles the rest of the way.

However, as a MOP swimmer and FOP biker, I usually try to avoid the first aid station as it's very congested and I'm usually still passing a lot of people.  So I start with 2 bottles to make sure I can make it to the 2nd aid station where things are a lot less congested and I'm not passing people as often.

How much of a geek will I be if I carry my camelback ?

If it suits you, go on with it. Some can live with one bottle all the way until the next station, while others use more than two. It's an individual thing. Sometimes I would kill for another sip of liquid, and aid stations are loooooooong away.