When You Meet Your Vecto For The First Time

Oh, hi there. I'm your new Vecto - thanks for giving me a whirl!

We hope your new Vecto will really help to make your next backpacking trip simpler and easier. (If you haven't gotten one yet, find yours here!) 

Despite looking simple, the Vecto is made from relatively complex materials, including a porous, soft, strong TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane). We chose these materials because they ensure the best lightweight performance from your Vecto - but they need a bit of care, too. So here is a little tutorial for what to do when you get your Vecto, and how to get the most of it on the trail.

When You Get Your Vecto

After taking your new Vecto out of its very nice, fully recyclable box, the first thing to do is give it a good clean, inside and out, using dish soap and warm water.

Your Vecto will likely have a bit of a plastic-y smell and some lubricant around the wide opening - those are normal. The lubricant is to make sure nothing sticks to the container when it is cooling down after the bonding during the manufacturing process, and the smell is a byproduct of the bonding and the printing. Plastic smell (and sometimes taste) is a normal characteristic of TPU, as it is porous and interacts with the contents of the container. It is food-grade and safe to use, and the smell will dissipate over time. 

When clean, let rest open over night with the slider holding the Vecto open. The plastic smell and taste should disappear after this first cleaning. If it lingers, check out our FAQ for a few more tricks and tips. 

Before your first trip

All new hiking gear should be tested at home, not on the trail.  Everything can have faults, from production to material or just fit and personal preference. If you plan on relying on your gear to keep you safe and comfortable outdoors, test it at home.

We recommend that you take your Vecto, fill it with water (up to the fill line) and let it rest a few hours: check for any leaks or issues. If anything seems not quite right, get in touch with us at contact@cnocoutdoors.com.

If you are using your Vecto with any other product, from filters to hoses, attach and test them together, just to make sure everything works as it should.

On the trail

The Vecto doesn't need much maintenance (it has very few moving parts for simplicity), it can be frozen and thawed, strapped on the bag and even used as a pillow or a lantern. We recommend washing your Vecto in between trips, or once every few weeks if backpacking for an extended period of time. Make sure it is fully dry before placing it in storage off trail. Most importantly, do not use a regular Vecto as is a hot water bottle - any water hotter than 120°F (49°C) will degrade or damage the material. If you would like to use your Vecto to hold boiling water, make sure the Vecto you have purchased is a VectoX, which has operational temperatures up to 212 degrees F - be careful though, the bag will be hot with hot water in it! 

That's about it! Enjoy your Vecto, stay hydrated, and if you take pictures on the trail, tag us or use the hashtag #adventuremadesimple on Instagram or Facebook - we love seeing all the cool places Vectos end up! 

See you on the trail!