Five Things to Consider When Purchasing a Hydration Pack

Like anything else, it helps to take some time to think about your requirements before spending the money on a hydration pack. In fact, this is particularly true for hydration packs since some of them can be very expensive. So here a re five little things you should keep in mind before deciding which hydration pack is best suited to your requirements.

1) What do you intend to use the hydration pack for? There are a number of relatively sport specific hydration packs, such as packs specifically designed to be used on bikes (bicycles or motocross) or ones specifically designed to be used under certain conditions (like winter sports or water sports). If you intend to focus on one sport primarily, shopping around for a hydration pack designed to work with that sport might be a good idea.

2) How much water do you really need? This is somewhat related to the specific sport, but also ties into how and where you perform your sport. For example, if you are a marathon runner, you may not really need to carry near as much water as a hill runner simply because all marathons include multiple hydration stations along the route. Likewise, if you are a cyclist and just ride for a few hours a day, you probably do not need near as much water as serious endurance riders do.

3) How much additional space do you need? Hydration packs come in all shapes and sizes, but most of them are designed to be worn on the user’s back. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind how much other gear you also need to wear on your back. You can easily find a hydration pack that is likely to accommodate whatever additional gear you need to carry, but it is something you should keep in mind before you buy a new pack.

4) What level of quality do you need? Hydration packs have become extremely common today and can be found at almost all price levels. If you only need a hydration pack for a one time event it probably does not make a lot of sense to purchase an extremely high quality (and thus more expensive) pack. The opposite is also true: if you intend to use the pack a lot, you might as well invest in one that is likely to last for a long time.

5) How easy is the pack to maintain? This is something that a lot of people overlook; especially people just out to buy a cheap hydration pack. Quite simply, the entire hydration system – being warm and wet – is ideal for all kinds of microbial growth (moulds, bacteria, fungi) which can result in ruining your hydration pack. Therefore having the ability to properly clean and maintain the hydration packs is a serious consideration.

Buying a hydration pack is the same as buying any other piece of serious equipment; a process that deserves some forethought. Since many hydration packs – especially the higher quality ones – can be quite expensive, it really is worth taking the time to carefully determine what you need before you begin shelling out your cash.