Um, no ... not salty, either. Actually, I personally have never been so thirsty to need to use one of these. But a canteen of any sort would be useful in some instances. During my time in the desert, I carried 2, one qt. canteens on my belt PLUs a 2 qt. bladder canteen over my shoulder. And they got refilled 2 or 3 times daily. You can bet I'd have used one of these "sack" canteens if that's all I'd had!~