xhikingmen

About backpacks....... MY TWO CENTS.....

By my opinion, it sure that backpacks having few inconvenients
as to be hard to clean, the liquid is freezing into the pipe at cold times,the valve(mouth piece) is leaking sometimes depends for the brands and the models buy and also the fact that you are sweating at your back under the backpack and it turns moist and unconfortable after a hard/hot time.

By anyways ,I got 2 of thoses at home and all considered for me it`s a god gear to buy. Here `s few tips and advice I suggest you to " over pas " theses severals incovenients.....

CLEANING; Use A CAP of bleaching water wing arm`n hamer to

disinfect the tank of liquid, use water only!

AT WINTER TIMES; Put the pack under your jacket , get the pipe

out from the "under arm "or the neck

LEAKS (valves): Use BLACKBURN `s valves with the "tongue

bouton" to avoid leaks; Is the best mouth

pieces you can get on the market.

I SUGGEST; 2L Playtipus flex bottle syst./ (also in 1 L)*and bag

with a Blackburn valve this way you have a great alternative about price/quality before to buy a camelback (tm)
awsome but more costly.
Good luck!

* Cascade desing,Seatle, WA

fubar5

I've never had a hard time cleaning my CamelBak..There is a cleaning kit available. I just throw a cap full of Cool Mint Listerine into the bladder and scrub it out with the scrubbing brush. I used to use water bottles for MTBing, it was a huge pain in the ***. My biggest problem was that you had to ride one handed the whole time you were getting a drink, but with a hydration pack, once the mouth piece is in your mouth, you can ride with both hands. I used water bottles for riding road too, and that was a huge pain in the *** too. Sometimes when I was putting the water bottle back I would miss the cage and drop the bottle.

Crazy Cyclist

I have a Platypus,and I was wondering if I can use a CamelBack bladder instead of the Platypus one, it leaks way too much,and the hole in the screw top is so small that i can't put any ice in it, and the water turns warm in about 1/2 hour. How about a Blackburn valve?

fubar5

I've never used a Blackburn valve..Are those the same as HydraPak? I know BlackBurn owns Hydrapak. If it is a Hydrapak valve, they are supposed to be a real pain.
It seems like you could switch bladders, just make sure they are of the same capacity. Obviously if your pack is made for a 70 oz. bladder you don't want to switch with a 100 oz bladder.

aerobat

I don't see why you couldn't use any bladder in any backpack, as long as it physically fits, and the access for the tube is in the right place.

BTW I tried mine out skiing again today, -26C, windchill -36C, and it was OK as long as everything was under my outer fleece layer, including the mouthpiece. The only thing is I look like the hunchback of Notre Dame with the backpack under my jacket!

I found the neoprene insulation for the tube at the MEC store last week and it was $16.00 Cdn. I think I'll look in the plumbing supply and see if something there will fit!

xhikingmen

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Crazy Cyclist
[B]I have a Platypus,and I was wondering if I can use a CamelBack bladder instead of the Platypus one, it leaks way too much,and the hole in the screw top is so small that i can't put any ice in it, and the water turns warm in about 1/2 hour.

Let`s making clear a thing or 2 about Blackburn`s valves;

THE BEST VALVES YOU CAN GET ON THE MARKET...HERE `S MY REASON;

1- The sping into the valve who`s keeping the gear SHUT and

sealed.

2- Maybe just one inconvenient about the price of this and all the

gears around when you`replace something you better pay

a complete kit instead or a new pipe,bag or valve.

Dirtgrinder

Might as well get my 2-cents in. I've read several reviews and comparisons, and the one's I've read the Camelbak won. Especially because of the bite valve. This is a quote from a review in MB mag. "No one, (not even the guys at Hydrapak) liked the hard-plastic, push-with-your-tongue bite valve."
I have 3 Camelbak's, and haven't had a problem with any of them. No leaks whatsoever. The new ones even have a shut-off on the bite valve for transporting.

stumpjumper

Well, here goes...

Blackburns valves suck (no pun intended) because:

1. They actualy take thought to operate
(I mean realy, the last thing I want to be thinking of while doing 40 down the side of some trail is *grab, bite, twist, push AAAAAHHH tree!!! all with one hand on the bars.*)

2. They are impossable to clean. I dont mean dificult, I mean it is simply not possable to take them apart. (except in the case of #5 below)

3. The soft outer liner slips around while your messing with it.

4. Its complicated. So many moving parts, Why? A bite valve has 1 part and never breaks.

5. Its junk. Mine came appart in my hand while trying to remove it trying to clean the tube per blackburns directions. They dont go back together without glue.

6. They hurt my teeth. Hard plastic????

7. Bulky.



Why make something more complicated than it has to be?

stumpjumper

Oh, yeah-

8. They leak like a MF, even with the valve locked in.