Hydration Packs: Right For You?

Almost everyone involved in any sort of serious outdoor sport knows that hydration packs have become extremely popular, especially in those sports where being able to drink hands free provides a tangible advantage. Not surprisingly, this has also resulted in a backlash against hydration packs by people that do not like them for whatever reason. So the question is, is a hydration pack right for you?

Although a hydration pack can be used in almost all situations – from cross country skiing to walking across town – the primary advantage is that they allow the user to drink without having to stop of having to use their hands. Plainly this offers a considerable advantage to people involved in races or other timed events since they do not have to physically stop in order to keep themselves hydrated. However, if time is not an issue and there is no reason to not simply stop and take a break, then a hydration pack is not really necessary. Some people also have momentum issues as well – meaning that once they get going, they hate to stop or slow down until a particular objective is met – and these people might also like hydration packs since it means that they do not have to stop though they can if they want.

Many of the most outspoken criticisms of hydration packs stem from people whose experience is limited to some of the earliest models, back when sanitation and taste was much larger issues than they are today. Many of the older hydration packs were very difficult to clean (meaning that they were frequently infested by various microbes), tended to taste bad (due in large part to lower quality plastic being used to make the reservoirs) and generally failed to keep the water very cold (result in tepid, plastic-tasting water). What many of these critics fail to realize though is that most of these problems are no longer applicable to most major brands of hydration packs. Today most reservoirs are easily cleans and dried out, most are made of BPA/PVC-free medical grade plastics which do not contaminate the flavour of the water and are further treated against microbial life and most are much better insulated to help keep the water cool despite the outside temperature.   

Another big complaint about hydration packs relates to the general problem of “sweaty back” that is virtually inevitable if you carry any sort of pack on your back while engaged in strenuous physical activity. Obviously this is just as much a problem for people wearing a conventional backpack of anything else with considerable weight on their backs as well, but certainly includes hydration packs. The various hydration pack manufacturers have worked to address this issue as much as possible, devising creative air channels and ventilation systems as well as working to reduce the hydration pack’s general “footprint” on the wearer’s back. However, despite these efforts, the fact remains that if you wear any sort of backpack – hydration pack or otherwise – there is very little that can be done about this.

The complaints notwithstanding, hydration packs continue to gain in popularity which obviously means their critics are growing more vocal as well. Quite simply, a hydration pack may not be appropriate for all users or all people, though they can still offer a competitive advantage in time sensitive endeavours. People that only used much older hydration packs should perhaps consider giving a more modern model a chance since many of the most common complaints related to the older models are not longer relevant today.