Mountain Biking - Hydration Pak Prevents Injuries??

Anyone have any stories where they feel that wearing a hydration pak may have saved them from some sort of more serious injury?

I'm wondering how valid of an argument this is for wearing one?
It sort of makes sense that the extra padding of water may help, but Im not sure to what extent.

Unless you fall on your back, they are better used to stay hydrated than they would be for padding. I live in las vegas and it gets hot out there on the trails. A 70oz camelback full of water will last you about an hour.

Yup! Several years ago, when I was riding a dirt bike, I crashed and went over the bars and landed with my back to a tree. My back smacked the tree rather hard, but my Camelbak (very primitive @ that time - only a bladder) acted as a sort of airbag.

My bladder broke, and I remember thinking that something was terribly wrong as I could feel this fluid draining down my back. I was very happy to find that it was the water from my now busted hydration bladder! As it turned out, I was fine. Would I have been so fortunate without the Camelbak??? I dunno, but I doubt it!

Well, It has not prevented me from any serious injuries but it really helped when i was manualing and didnt pull back my feet intime to run it off. Plus, it's a great thing to have. I got heat stroke (i think) and was throwing up when I was riding. After that went out and bought a camel back.

Originally posted by bac
Yup! Several years ago, when I was riding a dirt bike, I crashed and went over the bars and landed with my back to a tree. My back smacked the tree rather hard, but my Camelbak (very primitive @ that time - only a bladder) acted as a sort of airbag.

My bladder broke, and I remember thinking that something was terribly wrong as I could feel this fluid draining down my back. I was very happy to find that it was the water from my now busted hydration bladder! As it turned out, I was fine. Would I have been so fortunate without the Camelbak??? I dunno, but I doubt it!

bac - I had exactly the same experience. I too remember that cool feeling upon my back and immediately thought of blood. Camelbak saved me that day.

roommates experience:

going down gravel road.... lose control.... rolled over on his back and slid on his camel back

probably prevented some scrapes and cuts... i wouldn't say major injuries though.

Before the "DH Armor" became readily available, it was pretty common to see DH racers with a Camelbak on for precisely the reason that they can shield one from injury.

Not a DH racer by any stretch, but very adept at crashing, I've thanked my Camelbak for saving me when tumbling over rocks and etc... many times over the years. My buddies and I used to call them our "water armor".

The only case it can prevent an injury of some kind is when you fall on your back and pray that all the ice cubes have melted:p

I remember one issue of MountainBike Action where they had a bunch of guys riding down a DH course fully clad in bubblewrap. I think they said it had adequate disposable crash protection but breathability left a lot to be desired.

I've fallen numerous times where I feel my Camelback has provided me with a little bit of needed "cushion".

I can also recount the time where my Camelback caused me to crash. I was ducking down under a fallen tree limb (big one) and I guess I didn't duck down far enough. My bike ghost rode for another 15 feet!

I just sat on the ground laughing.

L8R

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
I can also recount the time where my Camelback caused me to crash. I was ducking down under a fallen tree limb (big one) and I guess I didn't duck down far enough. My bike ghost rode for another 15 feet!

Heh heh, yeah I did that last weekend in the same situtation, but I just got jammed down onto the bike and WEDGED under the tree limb. Knocked the breath out of ME and it was my riding buddies doing the laughing. My short riding buddies. ;)

Lol A2, imagine you being suspended from it as your bike gost rides from you. now that would be insane!

For me i have crashed once where i was glad i had one on. went over the bars (superman style) and ended up rolling on some rocks. without the hydro pack it would have been VERY un-comfy and might not have gotten up as quik as i had.

I've done a couple of endos onto my back with my Camelbak on. It does help a little... especially if there are sharp rocks jutting out of the ground. I've also snagged a branch in between my CamelBak and my back... that scratched up my back quite a bit and hurt a lot. The worse part was that as it was healing, it was hard to scratch back there. Then again, you're not supposed to scratch so maybe that was a good thing. Annoying either way.

I've been clotheslined by it before, but it's also provided a little padding too. I fell so hard once that I ripped one of the straps in half.

I've had one similar experence when my riding partner turned in from of me and I crashed hard. I landed on my back and bounced, but was not injuried.