What Outside Magazine has to Say About The Raptor 6 And The Octane 18x

Outside Magazine (http://outside.away.com/) is one of the most famous – and most influential – magazines in the United States dealing with outdoor travel and sports. With a circulation of well over half a million subscribers and numerous newsstand outlets, Outside has a lot of influence on what products people buy for their outdoor adventures, which means that both Osprey and Camelbak should be very happy with the recent reviews of two of their hydration packs. The reviews by Shauna Sweeney and posted online on July 7 had a lot of nice things to say about Osprey’s Raptor 6 and Camelbak’s 2010 Octane 18x packs. Of course both companies have excellent reputations already, but the recent review just goes to show that neither company has lost its touch when it comes to hydration packs.

Osprey’s Raptor 6 has been the most popular model of the Raptor line and offers six litres of space, two of which are for the hydration system and the other four are cargo space. After complimenting the basic look of the Raptor 6, Shauna Sweeney points out that this hydration pack was the most durable of the packs she test and specifically praised the 180° On-Off Pivot Bite Valve and its magnetic clip. While she felt the pack might be a bit too much for hill running, she said it was perfect for hiking and mountain biking, meaning that it was perfect for what the Raptor 6 was designed primarily for. As an added bonus the reviewer apparently left the pack in her car for twenty-four hours and was amazed to find that her water remains just as icy cold as it was when she had filled it up the day before.

The Camelbak 2010 Octane 18x hydration pack carries two litres of water and has another 18 litres of cargo space, making it a larger pack that is designed to carry a lot of equipment. Pointing out the fact that the Octane 18x is made from special modern ultra-light materials, Shauna Sweeney first points out the pack’s general comfort and repeatedly emphasizes this throughout the review. She really liked the intuitive design of the pack and it was the only one she felt worked just as well both on and off the trails. Though the pack costs more than the Osprey Raptor 6, assuming you want a bag that works equally as well both in the great outdoors as well as just around town, then the 2010 Octane 18x might just be the right pack for you. 

As anyone familiar with the industry knows, Camelbak is the industry leader when it comes to hydration packs. Osprey is newer to the hydration pack market, but has expanded on its long standing reputation for designing state of the art backpacks and other gear and its two lines of hydration packs have introduced some revolutionary new concepts to the industry (some of which Camelbak is even imitating in their 2011 line). In either case, both of these companies have well deserved reputations for creating excellent hydration packs so the results of this review should come as no surprise to anyone.