How we review gear...

Product reviews on this site are conducted by DART adventure racing team members and have been used in the field by the author. We prefer our sponsor's product based on our history of use, however we do review sponsored and non sponsored products equally and without predjudice. We will list both pros and cons and will give you the most objective information to help you make critical decisions about what you take into the field.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

No More Leaks

I am finally happy with a water bladder! I have been subjecting Hydrapak hydration bladders to as much use (abuse) as possible over the last year, and I have still not had one of them leak. This is huge, because other bladders have failed on me during long hard races when I really needed water.

These failures originate from design flaws, material failures, and operator errors. Hydrapak designs are well thought-out, and they are fabricated from incredibly strong and stretchy material.

One source of operator error happens when crewmembers fills bladders during an adventure race. For example, a nice person once left the silicone seal protruding from the screw top of a poorly designed bladder in one small area, and I lost all of my water at the start of a long desert run.

The Hydrapak bladders utilize innovative roll top or sliding enclosures. A bomber seal is easy to achieve, and the instructions are printed right on the bladder to make doubly sure.

A cool feature of the Hydrapak Reversible Bladders is their ability to be quickly and easily turned inside out, cleaned and dried. This solves the funk problem that plagues other bladders.

Hydrapak reversible resovoirs can be purchased at http://www.hydrapak.com/catalog/product2110.htm for $25.99.

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