Karrimor Hydr8 20 Hydration pack

[Hog_]

After picking up my water bottle a few times while at Logwood (drove over it once, almost saw my ass!), I decided to look at a hydration pack. When I was the prices of the Camelback range I nearly had a heart attack though, so I decided to look for alternatives.

 

I popped by Sportsmans Warehouse in Fourways. In the cycling section they had Camelbacks and some noname pack. The Camelbacks where obviously out of my price range, so I started checking out the noname one. For R250 it was a tad crappy - 1,5L bag, pretty much zero storage space. I thought "Oh well, it'll do the job". 

 

Then I started looking around the store and I stumbled apon the Karrimor range in the hiking/outdoor section. It was like finding the holy grail!! I picked up a 20L backpack with 2L bladder. The pack is big enough to comfortably hold all the extra crap one usually carries around, plus a whole lot more! No more saddle bag, frame-mounted pumps, bottle cages!! Excellent! The quality looks very descent as well, and it's comfortable enough.

 

I'd definitely recommend it to anyone not willing to fork out big money for a Camelback.

 

Link: http://www.karrimor.com/1SS06C13.htm

 

 

[AndreZA]

Good news, thanks. I see they chose the best bladder aswell namely the Hydrapak. I already have the Streamline Hydrapak so I can get this for the bigger storage and still use my bladder.

 

And I'm a sucker for back packs. I've got about 6 of them.

 

 

[AndreZA]

Okay, so I got me one of these this weekend and wow, what a bargain. This thing is huge and is more aimed at long treks or AR events. It's available in four colours and even has a rain cover hidden away in a pocket. All zips are water proof and comes with a lifetime guarantee. The only bad thing is that it does not have a conection on the inside for the hydration pack so it can not "hang" and just lays there. And it does not have a hole for any devices you might want to use externally like lights or mp3 devices. But for R299 it's a great bargain.

 

 

[Hog_]

There's a cover???? I don't think I got one. Will have to check! I also found it a bit wierd that there's nothing to hang the bag from, but when you put it in the pocket at the back it fit's nice & snug. I haven't had any problems with it, so I still think it's great.

 

Just a note though: The pack is on special till 15 July, normal price is R499.

 

 

[AndreZA]

There's a cover???? I don't think I got one.
Just a note though: The pack is on special till 15 July' date=' normal price is R499.

[/quote']

 

It's tucked away in a little zipped pocked in the bottom.

 

I think the colour choice was very difficult. They come in red/grey/black, blue/grey/black, yellow/grey/black, grey/black/orange.

 

 

[Hog_]

Cool thanks! I'll check tonight.

 

I was hesitant about the colours, until I found the orange one - looked the best to me.

 

 

[Slowbee]

dug this thing up from the archives.

 

being a karrimor fan, would you two guys still recommend this hydration pack?

 

 

[Ox_Wagon]

Hog where did you get yours,  I am having a hard time finding them.

[Slowbee]

Ox, Hog posted this in 2007, but I think there is one on "the thugs" website

 

http://www.kreature.co.za/cgi-bin/hse/HomepageSearchEngine.cgi?title=on&meta=on&text=off&alt=off&hits=20&sort=date&and=on&conf=2&cat=5&terms=kreature

 

[AndreZA]

dug this thing up from the archives.

being a karrimor fan' date=' would you two guys still recommend this hydration pack?

[/quote']

 

I still have not used mine. It's just too big.

 

 

[Slowbee]

its to big ?

 

it is a 10l capacity, which I agree is to big?

 

But for someone who is starting out and likely to take lots of parafanalia?

 

 

[AndreZA]

its to big ?

it is a 10l capacity' date=' which I agree is to big?

But for someone who is starting out and likely to take lots of parafanalia?

[/quote']

 

For how long are you planning to ride? Will you be spending the night on the trail.

 

 

[Slowbee]

lol, if i get lost i will !

 

but serious, not really, would a 2l hydration and 2l storage do ?

 

[Hog_]

I got mine from Sportsmans warehouse.

 

I agree that it's fairly big, but I'm pretty much used to it. The only issue I've had so far was that the bite valve tore on the bit that goes into the water pipe. That is due to my own stupidity though - I used to remove it quite roughly.

 

I've been tempted to get a second, smaller backpack for when I don't need to carry around 2 tubes, 3 bombs, 1 pump, 1 multi-tool, tyre-levers, a few allen-keys, lube, chainlinks.... I think there may actually be an extra bike in there somewhere

 

 

 

 

[Slowbee]

Hog, all that stuff .... do you have room for anything else?

 

I am just wanting to get an idea of what size to buy to have enough space, but not to much space.

 

Maybe a 3l storage capacity?

 

 

[Ox_Wagon]

Sportmans had the 10 which is a cool size but they are nou out and it sounds like they are not gettting any again.