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I'm so proud of this, my crappiest invention ever!

I bought one of those insulated Camelback bladders this year because my old one was always freezing up. I guess they couldn't figure out how to put a decent valve on the thing. When the bladder is in my pack & under pressure from all my gear, the bite valve slowly leaks. All year it has pissed Gatoraide all over my car, my clothes, my pack, my gear. Yum!

Anyhoo, I folded the hose in half and ran it through a key ring that I had laying around and now it doesn't leak. Hooray!








I suppose you could alternatively use a rap ring. Never spectra!!

Ooooooo....thats one of the MANY reasons i got rid of that shitty camelback! Nice fix though!

I went with SOURCE. They dont sell them in the US anymore for some stoopid distribution issue (so i heard) but they are fucking amazing! I had to order mine from overseas.

http://www.source-vagabond.com/a-hsystems7.html

They dont leak. They dont freeze (within reason) and you can leave your water in for months at a time because the lining has the molecular consistency (or somthing) of glass so mold and stuff wont grow/stick/somthing.... (no i dont work for source )

Ill never EVER buy another system.

Looks like they have some nice prodcuts. May have to pick a couple up even though I already own 3 camel backs. Where do they ship out of? Are those prices in their site in USD? If so that's a pretty good deal for their stuff. Thanks.

Thats is US price...really sweet. I will NEVER buy anything else.

Im not sure where they ship from.....overseas. Definately order a few because of that!

Thank you SanFran, I have had the same problem, but not any more.

Deuter Backpacks uses the Source reservior (Widepac) for their hydration packs. You can order their reserviors here in the USA. Look on Deuters dealer listing for local dealers.
http://www.deuter.com/cms/front_content ... ucts_id=40

Kelty Backpacks used to use their reserviors as well. Look for closeouts on-line (google kelty/source)!

I used to rep for Source. They are hands down the best reservior system going. I've used these since their debut in the US and have converted many hardcore Camel Back customers... don't buy crap from them! CB is all about pack design and marketing, not hydration technology. Source was the first mfg to offer such innovation. Source also has one of the best designed bite-valves... it does Not leak! It has a spring loaded plug in the valve that closes it shut when not biting. In addition it has a dust cap to keep it clean and prevent compression of the valve, further insuring no leaks.

MSR's Cloudliner reserviors are very simular to the Source... they both use polyethylene for the inner material = Taste Free & Low Maintenance!
http://www.msrgear.com/hydration/cloudliner.asp

Thanks for the advise. Those Source bladders looks rad. Just when I was running out of gear to lust after...

I'm sure some people would rather just buy quality gear in the first place. But if you've already bought a turd from Camel Back...

thanks for the segway sanfran

insulated camelback tube leaking/freezing solution:
blow tube clear. push all water back into the reservoir when done drinking.

some water will still want to come back down the tube once it dangles again. now is when you squeeze the valve open at the tip to let excess water out that remains in the tube.

tuck the tube in your jacket when not drinking to prevernt freezing. all of the tube you can fit.

there will still be a short section of tube exposed to the weather; the part from the pack to the jacket and that part will only freeze in very cold conditions.

this is what i have found. try it out and see if it works for you. my tube has only frozen in single digit weather or less. it helps to take sips regularly to keep the water flowing through the tube as well.

if you use the non insulated tube, you're probably SOL.

Dave, you just said every single point that I was about to say. Agree 100%. Now when it does freeze up, it's usually because I haven't taken a sip for way too long. The regular occasional sips will melt any ice that is starting to form in the valve.

Also, I've been using a DaKine reservoir from my mountain bike pack. The valve is better, and it has a lever to physically disable the valve. The Source ones do look nice. Dunno about the MSR ones but I certainly hope they improved their bite valve over the ones designed to work with their dromedary bags, I had lots of problems with those leaking.

IIRC Source is an Israeli company. Point is, it's cheap here.

If anybody wants me to bring some in feb (shipping from here is probably not worth it) they are about 20 bucks a pop, which is about 25% off: http://shop.harim.co.il/product_info.ph ... ts_id=1257

Cheers,

I'm going to abandon the bladder. Tired of dealing with the freezing. I like the idea I read in Coulior--put warm water or tea into 1 pint size nalgene bottles. Store them inside a spare pair of gloves. Warm gloves and a warm beverage sound good to me.

I'll take you up on that since you'll be in our neck of the woods.

In general I like bladders…just not ones with tubes. More trouble than they are worth for sure. I like my backpack and its contents not soaked in Gatorade thank you.

Not really a fan of Nalgene bottles either (except on an overnighter) because they only hold a liter and don't compress once you've drank your liquid.

I use the 4L Hydromedary bag from MSR. It's nice to be able to carry up to a full gallon of water if I need to and then just an empty sack when it's empty. It'll be nice to upgrade to the more durable and better tasting Source bladder.

I'm not really a sipper so this method of not using a tube works great. I drink a bunch of water right before I leave the trailhead and then I really don't need any more for 1-2hrs. This method could get you into trouble if you aren't already well hydrated.

Deuter offers the same model here in the US at $25/3l & $23/2l. http://www.deuter.com/cms/front_content ... ucts_id=45

www.source-vagabond.com is the official mfg website.

Can you get any of the these models (i.e. H2O or Wraptank)? These models are no longer available here in the US and I'm due for a replacement.
http://www.source-vagabond.com/a-hsystems7.html

As you probably read, I used to rep for Source when they had a US distributer, but no longer .

IMO , they are still the best hydration on the market!

Can you also get any replacement bladders for their hydration systems?