Review on 🚴 Stay Hydrated on Your Bike: CamelBak Hydrobak Light Bike Hydration Pack 50oz by Paul Letho

These Camelbak hydration packs are great for hiking and biking and are a must for those long, sweaty days at my son's camp. They retain enough water to keep you hydrated, but not so much that they become heavy or uncomfortable. There's a small front pocket for other small items, and while it's good for things like keys, it does get sweaty and leaky, so don't put anything in it that can't get wet, or at least can get wet. But there are significant downsides. First, the cost is quite high, but to be honest that's my least complaint. The second clue is that the water doesn't stay cold as it has very little insulation. So when the sun hits that plastic bubble bag, it's going to heat up pretty quickly, even if it's filled with ice. It's also difficult to fill and too easy to not fully protect, leading to a lot of mess. You MUST make sure that the lid is properly seated (may look like it but isn't), the gasket is properly aligned (and ALWAYS comes loose) and that everything is perfectly aligned or it will leak. A lot of. But the biggest problem is how incredibly difficult, almost impossible to clean them. Bubbles are difficult to remove, easy to pop when trying, and removing them completely is quite an achievement. They even sell (expensive) dissolution tablets to help with this and honestly even that doesn't work that well. Even a tiny drop of dish soap seems to last forever and no rinsing will make it soap free again. They are also very difficult to fully dry, making thorough cleaning all the more important. Even if you use a stand designed for a wine decanter you can't completely separate the bubble walls meaning the water gets trapped and gets dirty and moldy inside and once that's moldy you're a dunzo. No return. Also, they don't just sell replacement cylinders, you have to buy a brand new unit. And that's why such a high cost is hard to swallow - meaning they're extremely difficult to store without damaging them, meaning frequent replacements are possible. Even if you don't put the lid on and don't open them, they can still rot and need to be replaced next time.