Keep Your Camelbak Safe

Dehydration ain’t fun!

Going on a photo shoot without adeqaute water supply will mess up your shoot! This is why I use and recommend the CamelBak Unbottle Hydration Pack  for my hydration needs.

Why? The only time I had a problem with my hydration pack was when it was in the ice. What happened was that the water in my flow tube froze and I couldn’t drink out of it anymore. To prevent that from happening again, I bought a thermal kit which is just a neoprene sleeve that covers a tube and it worked to a certain degree but it’s not fail proof.

CamelBak Thermal Control Kit One Color, One Size

The neoprene does offer a bit more protection from the elements but the best feature is the super hard cap that covers the bite valve. The bite valve is probably the main reason I use the camelbak!

the camelbak bite valve
The camelbak bite valve

If anything were to happen to the bite valve I’d be wet, cold, and probably dead.

A Better Solution

A better solution to preventing it from freezing is to use warm or hot water when filling it up. If don’t have a boiler, then simply blow back all the water back into the reservoid. I have my reservoir tucked in nice in my pack near my back that gives out a little bit of heat.

So how do you keep your Camelbak safe?

From what I know, most failures happen when people are playing in the ice either skiing or boarding. So that should be one key information.

Whenever I go in the ice, I place the tube in the bag when doing anything really extreme. Doing this does take away the point of having a camelbak but it does offer real protection to the tube.

Another way to do it is to place the tube under you pack shoulder straps. This will provide a bit of protection but it will cause a bit of discomfort.

Two Major Threats to any Hydration Pack

  1. Seal leaks from valves
  2. a filled pack exploding from compression due to a fall of accident

The good news is, my pack of two years has never leaked on me. However I’ve seen other “brands” fail.

The O-rings that seals the tube and the bladder have never leaked and the bladder itself is pretty tough from falls. I know this because I
had a pretty nasty fall but the camelbak actually cushioned my back when I fell off during mountain bike ride. It actually feld kind of good falling on it!)

camelbak thermal cap protector

Still don’t believe me… then believe the guys that make them…  Check out this video of them abusing it!

Just a note… I’ve had mine for over two years now and the only problem I had was the water freezing in the tube. A friend of mine carried a different “brand” in freezing conditions and it some how exploded because of the water molecules expanding when the water froze. WTF? I wonder if anyone had this kind of experience because that is so unreal!

The Camelbak o-ring and neoprene sleeve
The Camelbak o-ring and neoprene sleeve

If NASA astronauts and the U.S. Military use the camelbak for their operations, then I’m pretty sure that a hike or climb to take some photographs in the wild is nothing to worry about! It’s all about trust… especially when it comes to your hydration needs.

Here’s another vid of NASA astronauts using the camelbak…

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