You know me. Right or wrong, I just don't do the hydration thing. Leave home with a liter of water, do a fifteen mile hike with 2000' elevation gain and return home with .75l of water.
Why, then, would I want a hydration pack? Truth? I didn't. When I walked into REI I was not looking for a new pack as such. I was just going in to pick up my store-delivered web order of a Crazy Creek folding chair for use at an outdoor music festival this weekend (a review of that piece of gear is forthcoming after said event). But, you know, since I'm there and I have a little time to kill in the lunch hour I might as well look around, right?
To be honest I have passively been in the market for a small day pack. I have my bases covered for large week-long backcountry trips with the fantastic Gregory. Medium-length trips (and all luggage needs) are covered by the REI pack I purchased last year. Solo day hikes? There's a Kelty hip pack which works brilliantly for me. But what about the day hike which requires a bit more material support, such as picnic fixin's? Which pack serves that need? None which I own, that's for sure. All are either far too large or too small.
This in mind, I naturally headed over to the pack section in REI. Browse, browse, browse. Everything is just way too big for what I'm picturing. As I'm browsing I accidentally strayed into the hydration pack region, which previously I had always avoided for the aforementioned reasons. It turns out that this was a very happy accident as my eyes lit on a pack which, in the immortal words of Goldilocks, was "just right."
The CamelBak Helena is designed specifically for women. Despite that (as women's pack usually don't work for me) the fit was remarkably comfortable. It has a narrow form factor yet manages to fit 1300 cu in of space in there, which is exactly what I was looking for. I admit to being put off both by the price and by the hydration feature of it ("Bladder? No thanks, I have one already...") but the size, shape and fit of the pack won me over. Water or not this would be a useful piece of equipment.
The timing of the purchase was ideal. Today it got its first field test as my friend Anna and I did a 10+ mile from the Bootjack Picnic Area on Mt. Tamalpais down to Stinson Beach and back. Unfortunately the scalding hot weather of the previous week did not carry through to today, minimizing the need for hydration. Thus I spent the day carrying three liters of water but drinking very little of it (that's an extra 6.3 lbs of weight, dangitall).
Aside from the self-inflicted waste of water capacity I have to say that the pack performed very well. It was plenty spacious enough to accommodate the meagre but tasty picnic I had brought for us to share on the beach. The Helena features a number of compartments to keep all the small bits of gear (keys, cameras and the like) from getting mixed up and lost. The key clip came in handy and I was grateful for it. The front pocket is perfect for stowing an extra layer and is a readily accessible location for a trail map. The entire pack can be stabilized well using the compression straps. For this trip that mostly just served to keep the food from getting battered against itself, but that was worth it. The shoulder straps are adjustable (though I did not need to change from the default fit). At times they rubbed against my shoulders a bit unpleasantly but it was nothing consistent or onerous. Someone with wider shoulders probably would not have minded. It also might have helped if I had used the chest strap. But as I enjoy, oh, say, breathing I didn't use it. It's just this prejudice I have, thus I didn't even try the chest strap. I did, however, use the waistbelt the entire time. The pack did not feel as comfortable without it. With the belt in use, however, the pack fit great and did not move, even when stooping to get under fallen trees across the path.
And the hydration? My experiences on this front are minimal so I cannot compare it to any other hydration system. All I can really say is that whenever I needed a drink I just grabbed the tube and a drink was there. I appreciated the addition of a valve to keep the three liters from accidentally getting emptied into the back end of my cute little Mazda 3. It was surprisingly pleasant not to have to keep fumbling for my Nalgene, I must admit.
The entire pack is probably slightly more than I care to manage for solo day hikes (high speed, low drag) but it's the perfect size for taking to events like outdoor music festivals and other day-long outings. I am pleased with it (even the hydration feature, I think) and look forward to many years of use.
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