That $90 hydration pack that left me dehydrated on a 10 mile hike

Last summer I bought a brand name hydration pack thinking the higher price meant better quality. Spent $90 on it, filled it up, hit the trail. By mile four the bite valve was leaking all down my shirt. By mile seven the tube had detached from the bladder completely. I dumped probably a liter of water into the dirt before I realized. My buddy had a $30 knockoff from a discount sports store that worked perfectly the whole time. Made me wonder if the loyalty people have to this brand is just based on old reputation. Has anyone else had a high end hydration pack fail on them at a bad time?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker_thomas1mo ago

You say "old reputation" but that's exactly WHY people stick with those brands. I've had a cheap bladder split at the seam on a 15 mile day and had to BEG strangers for water. My high end one has been going strong for 4 seasons now. Your buddy got lucky with his $30 one but that's the exception, not the rule. When you're 8 miles from the trailhead and your gear fails, that's when the cheap stuff shows its true colors.

tyler62d ago

leelewis I get what you're saying about it not being a big deal, but I read somewhere that most hydration pack failures happen at the worst possible time because people don't test the gear before a long hike. So yeah, that $90 pack probably should have had the tube secured better from the start, but maybe giving it a dry run at home would've saved me the soaked shirt.

leelewis1mo ago

Maybe it's not that deep, man. A leaky bite valve is annoying but not exactly life or death. Idk, seems like people act like a bad water bottle is the same as falling off a cliff.