Hydration hose

Where would I buy a long drinking tube?  I currently use a generic (wal-mart in USA) hydration bladder placed in back of Mocke PFD.  The clear hose is ~2 feet long.  It is fine, but I now want to put the hydration bladder in front of foot pedals.  This will require a much longer tube.  I assume I can pull the 2 terminal pieces off store bought system and reattach longer hose on.  What material is it?  Of course it has to be drinking safe, and be able to perfectly attach to basic hard plastic terminal pieces.  Thanks.

Hi Mickey, 

I simply use DIY-store-bought clear plastic tube with internal diameter of 6mm. This is originally meant for fish tanks and the like, but I have not seen any particular problem uing it for hydration. It is a tight fit on the connectors of both a CamelBak and Platypus hydration pouch.
 
Cleaning such a long tube is difficult. I am using a brush that was part of a CamelBak cleaning set, but it is too short to reach the middle of the tube. So even if I insert it from both end, there is still a section that is "unwashed".
Against bacteria and other gunk in the tube and pouch, I have switched from the CamelBak cleaning tabs (very expensive) to more generic tabs meant for cleaning dentures. Much cheaper and works just as well, albeit with a longer soak time.

When in doubt about the cleanliness of the tube, and since it is so cheap, I just replace it...

Thanks.  So what comes with camelbacks, et al is not “food grade”?  I see one on amazon under search of “6mm plastic tubing” that says “food grade”, but it is 6mmID/10mmOD.  That seems too thick to be able to maneuver onto hard plastic pieces.  6mm/8mm seems more pliable as I know it will be a very tight fit. $8/16’. Sound right?  Thank you.

Around here Home Depot carries a great selection of food-grade tubing. I think it's used for beverage dispensers or something. Should be easy to find the right fit.

Amazon has a huge selection of food grade vinyl tubing. If you're worried about getting the tubing over hard plastic fittings, heat the tubing end 20-30 seconds under a hair dryer and it'll soften the tubing enough to get it over the fitting. Helps a little to dampen the fitting first.

If you have a concern about cleaning, I suggest you simply drain the water out and toss the bladder and hose into the freezer after a session rather than continually hassle with cleaning and drying between uses.

The aforementioned has been working great for my hiking/backpacking/surfski hydration kits over the last 10+ years.