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I am not a fan of wearing extra stuff while exercising. The Hydrapak has changed my view of things for long bike rides. I do wish the bag came with cleaning instructions for first-time use, but that’s something that can be fixed in the future.
Hydrapak sent us a 70 ounce back pack hydration system for review. Since I despise wearing backpacks, I decided to review this product. It is amazing how negative I was when I started out the review process for this thing. A back pack is not like a water bottle where you wash it out and then simply use it. With a backpack, you have to disassemble the thing then figure out how to wash it. I did not have any hydrogen peroxide in my cabinet so I cleaned the bag out with bleach. I cleaned it a few times to make sure it was clean. It may have been clean but the water still tasted terrible.
My first trial was a 50 mile ride through the hills, in the wine country, to give the Hydrapak a real test. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out how to adjust all of the straps. There are shoulder straps, a waist strap and a chest strap.
I filled the bag about 2/3 of the way full, adjusted the straps to snug and was on my way. Wearing the backpack was a bit odd at first, but I soon forgot about it. The water tasted like plastic so I did not drink much of it. At about mile 25, I noticed my shoulders creeping up to keep the pack in place. I stopped to adjust the straps and all was good. It was comfortable wearing the Hydrapak for a 3 hour bike ride. I could not drink the water but I had no complaints about the bag.
I cleaned the bag out a few more times and gave it another try. This time the water was drinkable and it stayed cool for the whole ride. I drink cold tap water so I am surprised the water stayed cool for 4 hours in the sun and on my back.
The bag has a pouch for the water bag and 3 other pouches. The way the Hydrapak hangs, I put a lot of stuff in the pouches and was quite comfortable. The big pouch is big enough to hold 2 wine bottles. You will have to keep some water in the bag for it to stay comfortable while carrying wine.
The Hydrapak has changed my view of carrying water in a backpack. I will continue to use it for my long rides. I don’t have a lot of experience with water backpacks so I grabbed one from the garage for comparison. Here are some things I like about the Hydrapak that stand out.
- The quick disconnect hose
- The extra front straps
- The holders for excess strap ends
- The way the bag fits on my back
- The size and organization of the additional pouches
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