WE’VE come a long way since a mountain biker (and EMT professional) in Texas ‘borrowed’ an intravenous drip bag from work, stuffed it into a sock which he pinned to the back of his shirt, and pulled the length of tubing over his shoulder. This was 1989, and every modern hydration reservoir some thirty-odd years later, and there are a lot to choose from, owes a design debt to that IV bag. That mountain biker’s resultant company – Camelbak – is now one of the largest and most famous in the outdoor hydration sector.
There are pros and cons to using a reservoir. On the one hand, crucially, you stay more hydrated because it’s easier to grab a sip. No removing the pack, reaching around, or asking a friend to hand you your bottle. They hold more and hold it closer to your centre of gravity. On the downside, they’re harder to clean, fiddlier to refill, have more parts to break/leak, and you can’t easily gauge your remaining liquid. So if you’ve decided regular
