# All day (epic) hydration pack



## Five0 (Mar 26, 2018)

I’m looking for a new pack. Most of my rides so the cool kid thing and ditch my pack and use bottles. I have a few generation MULEs. But on longer big rides. ie THE in Moab, the MULE gets stuffed pretty tight. 

Looking for a bag that will allow me to carry a tube, food, jacket, tools and. First aid supplies. And plenty of water. I’d like a tool roll. But I could always add one of those. I’m looking at the Osprey Raptor and Camelbak HAWG. Pros on Osprey not too big and you can stuff outside pockets. Pros on Hawg Lumbar reservoir. Cons. Man its big. 

Any other bags I’m missing?


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## MI-XC (Mar 14, 2018)

I’m a racer and like Uswe hydration packs, their chest harness is second to none. They have larger all day packs but I’ve never used them. Might be worth a look into.


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## Bray D (Aug 28, 2010)

I ride packless for most sub 20mile rides. I still rock a pack on big days though, so I feel like we're in similar situations.

I picked up a Camelbak Skyline last year and it works beautifully for my application. 3L of water. Storage for a small first aid kit, air pump, food, windbreaker, and it has external straps for even more gear if necessary. 

I still try to pack as much as possible on the bike. Multi tool, tube, CO2, plug kit, and tire boot are all stored on the bike in a tidy pack just above my BB. That leaves most of my Camelbak storage open for food / layers / etc. 

I suppose the longest ride I've done with this setup was the Monarch Crest IMBA epic outside of Salida, CO. Granted that wasn't a grueling all-day affair, but we took our time and I felt like I was more than adequately prepared for that ride.


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## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

Bray D said:


> I ride packless for most sub 20mile rides. I still rock a pack on big days though, so I feel like we're in similar situations.
> 
> I picked up a Camelbak Skyline last year and it works beautifully for my application. 3L of water. Storage for a small first aid kit, air pump, food, windbreaker, and it has external straps for even more gear if necessary.
> 
> ...


x2. The Skyline is the best hydration pack I have ever used.

Yeah, packless rules but with that Skyline strapped on, I feel very secure and comfortable. I forget it's there. The LR design is genius. The only downsside is that I cannot tell how much water I have left because it feels as weightless at the beginning of a ride, as it does at the end.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

I have an EVOC Stage 18L pack that does well for longer rides. Also good for rides this time of year where I need to fiddle with my layers during the ride. Need extra layers on standby for the downhill, or if there's a mechanical or something.

It has some nice organization inside the pack for most tools I need to access. But I have an old Osprey tool roll where I store other stuff like spare zip ties, extra sealant, extra chain lube, duct tape, etc. Enough room that I've always got some sort of emergency food on hand for staving off the bonk, but I can also specifically pack a lunch if I know I'll be out all day. It'll also fit my Sawyer Squeeze water filter if I'll be doing a ride where 3L of water may not be enough.

And I do keep my first aid kit in there at all times. Plus my tire pump and a shock pump. I used to leave the shock pump at home, but since I started coaching kids, I started bringing it along. I also have 2 tubes in there right now. One is a fatbike tube for my Bucksaw, but the other is a 26er tube I started carrying in case one of the kids needs it. So I carry a bit of extra stuff in my pack right now.

I'm building a 2nd mtb right now, and I'm going to work out a way to carry each bike's spare tube on the bike so I don't have to change which tube I put in the pack depending on which bike I grab. I like those little bags that sit just above the BB.


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## escrowdog (Oct 26, 2018)

mtnbkrmike said:


> x2. The Skyline is the best hydration pack I have ever used.
> 
> Yeah, packless rules but with that Skyline strapped on, I feel very secure and comfortable. I forget it's there. The LR design is genius. The only downsside is that I cannot tell how much water I have left because it feels as weightless at the beginning of a ride, as it does at the end.


Got my first ride with the Skyline LR the other day. Really like it! Had been using an old cloudwalker with a 3 liter osprey bladder. The skyline is great, love the low cg and feel like I can "buckle the seatbelt" on the bottom strap to keep it in place when descending. Only real "meh" is the drink tube magnet thing, why they put a slot on it is beyond me. I'm putting the open magnet from my osprey on the camelbak tube.


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## Five0 (Mar 26, 2018)

I got an EVOC hip pack for Christmas. This will be my go to back for most rides. I have been eyeing a HAWG LR, but feel even for my epic days it’s too much. I had looked at the Skyline. I’ll give it a second look.


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## escrowdog (Oct 26, 2018)

Five0 said:


> I got an EVOC hip pack for Christmas. This will be my go to back for most rides. I have been eyeing a HAWG LR, but feel even for my epic days it's too much. I had looked at the Skyline. I'll give it a second look.


Well, I cant imagine wanting any less room than the skyline. With 3L of water, I've got the included tool roll with stuff in it, a tube and a small pump. Still room for a PACKABLE jacket and some snacks, but it's not huge inside. Probably the outer large pocket would be best for the jacket. I've thought about putting the tools and tube in the bottle holder carrier thing, down low, on my Jeffsy. But probably even less of a big deal now with the LR pack down so much lower than my old pack.


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