Reviews at Hydrapak

The crew at Hydrapak took a few days to head down to Monterey to take part in the Sea Otter Classic. We had a great space to show off our new Hydrapak & Gel-Bot canopies. We all enjoyed the positive responses when we would demo our Reversible Reservoir II and the Gel-Bot. The weather lived up to Sea Otter expectations with a chilly Saturday that was filled with dust and wind, but the days of relaxed sunshine were welcome change to the rain that hit event last year.

“‘Exactly what a daypack should be,’ said one tester - and that’s the best way to describe the Laguna. With the ability to expand from 500 to 800 cubic inches, the Laguna’s just big enough to fit a shell, snacks, and a few extras. The airflow system’s mesh padding doesn’t overwhelm the pack but still keeps your back from soaking.”

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“Hydrapak.com is a smaller company, but for the past few years they have consistently turned out some of the nicest packs available with some pretty clever features. The newest hydration pack to come our way is the Laguna ($80). This pack weighs 1032g pack with an empty reservoir), has a 500 cubic inch (expandable to 800ci with a bellows zipper), cargo space and 100oz liquid capacity.”

“Some of the nicest features of the Laguna, and common to most Hydrapak, er, hydration packs, center around the reservoir. First, Hydrapak, gives the reservoir it’s own top loading sleeve; you don’t need to fight through a full pack to fill it. The bite valve is round, so there’s no “right” way to put it in your mouth, and it’s comfortable and tasteless to bite on. Flow rate seems similar to current Camelbak bite valves. At the other end of the hose is one of Hydrapak’s best features: a quick disconnect where the hose meets the reservoir. This greatly eases filling, dumping, and cleaning the reservoir because unthreading/rethreading the hose is not necessary each time the reservoir is removed.”

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Gel-Bot Receives 4 out of 5 Star Review in the Thrash Test

“This is the most efficient way to ingest energy gel on a number of levels. To drink water, open the nozzle like on any waterbottle and suck or squeeze the bottle. The Gel Bot eliminates all the hassles of opening a gel pack while riding. There are no messy wrappers to stuff in your jersey or get your hands stick. You don’t have to down a full packet at one time. You can ingest the gel and chase it with your water in one simple motion.”

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“A 3.2 ounce energy-gel flask that screws into your water bottle. Squeeze bottle with valve open for plain water or closed for a water and gel combo.”

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Trail Runner 

“Energy gel is an easy-to-eat, fast-acting food that noticeably improves a rider’s performance. That makes it pretty amazing stuff. And while the ubiquitous single-serving gel packs are very convenient, they have their drawbacks: Tear-off tops that can be awkward to use while riding; small portions that make us carry, and open, several packs to get the nutrition we want; and let’s not forget the environmental cost of all those tiny packs. Even if the packs or tops don’t become litter on the trail or road, they still become landfill mass.

With those things in mind, consider Hydrapak’s Soft Flask, a reusable gel reservoir that can carry up to 8 ounces of gel, and has a bite valve that’s always at the ready. Fill it from a Hammer Gel 26-serving jug ($19) (the packaging of which is recyclable, or, even better, reusable) and not only have you, in theory, reduced your footprint and increased convenience, you save money: the flask and bulk gel total $29 for 26 servings. Hammer’s single-serving gel pouches sell for $1.25, so 26 servings would cost $32.50. Once the flask is purchased, your cost per serving would drop to 73 cents using the bulk Hammer gel.

Back to the Soft Flask: It’s seven inches long and two inches wide when full, so it fits easily in a jersey pocket. The material is very supple and pliable, when filled it feels a bit like a water snake toy, and is very easy to squeeze, even in the cold. Unfortunately, there is a single, and quite glaring, issue with the Flask. The Nalgene Bite Me valve doesn’t flow gel well. Even relatively thin gel at room temperature oozes more than flows. That the Flask has a Nalgene valve when HydraPak makes their own valve is probably a sign that the company is selling though old stock (HydraPak purchased Gel Bot, the Soft Flask’s creator, in 2007). Hopefully, Hydrapack develops a gel-friendly valve soon because the Soft Flask makes sense in every other way.”

Bicycling Magazine 

“A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, but a squirt of energy gel keeps you going during long workouts. For fast, easy access to energy gels try Hydrapak’s new Gel-Bot. The inner canister holds 3.2 ounces of gel; the rest of the plastic bottle holds liquid. Just pop the spout up for liquid, down for gel. The running bottle holds 21 ounces of water in a countoured, easy-grip shape with an adjustable strap. The bike bottle holds 24 ounces in an hourglass-shaped bottle for an easy, on-the-go grip. The best part: no sticky gel-packs in your pockets.”
Her Sports Magazine 

“Noone wants to fool around with gel packs during a race or even a training run-your hands get sticky and usually there’s no place to stash the empty wrapper. The Hydrapak Gel-Bot solves these problems by integrating a 3.2 ounce gel container inside an ergonomically shaped running bottle that has the capacity for 21 ounces of thirst-quenching liquid. Access either liquid or gel through the Gel-Bot’s dual function cap that’s a snap to open and close on the fly.”

Inside Triathlon Magazine 

“Hydrapak’s first Reversible Reservoir solved two common problems of hydration bladders: the difficulty of cleaning and refilling. To clean the Reversible Reservoir you simply turned it inside out. To refill it without having to extract the drinking tube from your pack, you just unfastened the tube from the reservoir by way if a waterproof valve. The only drawback was a rolltop closure that didn’t look all that trustworthy. Not anymore. The Reversible Reservoir II has a zipperlike sliding seal that cinches securely.”

Skiing Magazine 

“Hydrapak has been in the hydration pack business for a long time. They are well-know for producing great products at good price points. I’ve used their products in the past and have found their packs to be stellar and their bladders to be about middle-of-the-pack as far as likes and dislikes.

For 2008, their hydration bladders are new and improved. Gone is the rolled-over Velcro top and in its place is a new zip-top clip that greatly simplifies the closure and allows the material to be a little more substantial instead of the older, flexy material. On top of that, the hydration lines are all plug-and-play to eliminate the need to haul your pack along to the water dispenser. Just unclip the line and take the bladder to the spout–a nice feature that is pretty standard these days.

Another new item from Hydrapak is the Gel-Bot bottle, which integrates a standard water bottle with an inner bottle for energy gel. Just load the inner container with your favorite gel, then fill the bottle with water and with one motion, you can get water and gel.

Hydrapak Laguna Hydration Pack

The mountain bike crowd will like the new Hydrapak Laguna pack. A versatile pack that sports 500 cu.in. of storage capacity, but is expandable to 800 cu. in. by unzipping the accordion-style extension. This pack also sports a deployable mesh helmet retention system, 100 oz. bladder, hydro tunes port for headphone lines, fleece-lined sunglass pocket and plenty of small sleeves and internal pockets for storing the slew of tools and necessary gear for an all-day epic. MSRP is $79.99.”

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