Source Tactical Hydration Pack - 3L WXP Widepac Water Bladder with External Fill Port - High-Flow Storm Drinking Valve - Dual Function: Backpack/MOLLE Mounted Modes

This is an outstanding hydration system! There's an excellent video from Source (the vendor) on YouTube that demonstrates all of the features. I'll attempt to sum up the features and my observations: Bladder/Tube... - Does not impart any kind of plastic or chemical taste to the water! - Soft, glass-like lining inside the bladder to minimize bacterial growth and keep the lining easy to clean. My observation is that the bladder feels *slightly* more rigid than most competitors - Has a patented top slide across the bladder that allows for easy cleaning/access to the inside of the bladder. I haven't had to reach in and clean anything yet, but it makes it easy to prop open to air-out after draining/rinsing out. - Uses an excellent clip system to easily connect/disconnect the tube from the bladder and from the drinking nozzles (and supports different types of compatible nozzles). I upgraded the nozzle to the Helix QMT valve system. Other reviewers mentioned it being a wise move - it's a nice upgrade over the standard one included with this system, IMO. - Feels very durable. - The bladder can be purchased individually so if you ever have a problem and/or want a backup/second bladder, easy to do without buying the whole system. - The tube is thick/sturdy. The insulation is 'okay' (water will warm up if you leave it in the tube) - 3-liter capacity. The extra water really helps - I easily drink 2+ liters on a day-outing, but rarely run out of the entire 3. Pack... - The pack is a very heavy duty, military grade canvas-like material. I can't imagine anything short of a razor sharp knife or bullet being able to cut or penetrate it. - EXCELLENT insulation quality. After several hours in the hot Utah desert sun, the water inside was still cool! - The pack very securely fastens to the bladder using the cap. This makes it very easy to fill/drain without opening the pack and/or removing the bladder. - The straps are comfortable, but do not provide much padding. In practice, I think it's sufficient - I've taken it down into the southern Utah canyons and Uinta mountains and never felt uncomfortable with it. - The chest strap helps secure the shoulder harnesses in position and offsets some of the load across your sternum. - A velcro strap secures the tube over the shoulder - the tube was always easily accessible - The straps can easily tuck away to support dropping this system into a backpack - It's MOLLE-compatible so you can store the straps and connect it to the back of a MOLLE backpack. Pretty common configuration with military. I know there's more to the system than I'm listing - again, check out the video. Overall, I love the system. My one grip is that there are no additional storage pockets - it's not designed like many camelpaks that are more like hybrid backpack/hydration systems. This is purely a hydration system. Other than that, I can't think of a single complaint. If you're looking for an excellent, durable, well-insulated hydration system - you can't go wrong with this. The bladder and pack are both outstanding and the modularity of the system is fantastic.

This is my first ever Amazon review and seeing how I am in such a good mood today, I would like it to be a pleasant one (this is a little out of character for me) so I chose what may be my favorite purchase from Amazon to date. I really like this hydration system. In my opinion, the style of Source products is way better than those silly looking Camelbaks, and at least as good a quality if not better. I had a Camelback when I was in the Army and it took a beating so don't get me wrong they are great hydration systems, but I find that the leak-proof slider and wide opening alone make this a superior system. Look, I will try to make this short and sweet without bragging about how many miles and how often I hike, and what an extreme Survivor Man I am(like some reviews I read). This is an awesome hydration system that delivers what it claims, tough and tactical with great clean taste. One more great selling point is being able to fit huge chunks of ice in the slider opening and trust me, that puppy IS leak proof.

I use this pack/bladder system for wild land firefighting and I really like. I wanted a hydration bladder that was in a pack to keep my water a little colder and secure than just being in a plain old exposed water bladder. I put the whole pack inside my Mystery Ranch line pack and it fits great without taking up a ton of room. With all the attachments points, buckle straps, and webbing loops, one could easily hook it to the outside of a bag/backpack as well. Water doesn’t seem to have much of a plastic taste (if at all) like with some other hydration bladders I’ve tried in the past. The whole thing seems really durable. Being on a wild land hand crew we use things hard and put equipment through it’s paces. We’ll see if it holds up the rest of the fire season but I feel pretty confident that it will without issue. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for a quality hydration system! Source Tactical seems like a dark horse company quietly making high-end products.

This is a really good product just not perfect. I would say 4.9 stars if I could. I have used this several times for both hiking and mountain bike trail riding. The bladder does not give any rubber/plastic taste, seems like very high quality. The pack is also very high quality and seems very durable. The biggest issues are no front pockets to store small items (wallet,keys,phone), even if they had installed webbing(MOLLE) so you could buy a small pocket and install it yourself would have been great. The other small issues are the water in the insulated hose does warm up quickly, I don't know if the insulation even helps and might be more for looks. I also the push/pull regular valve does allow some very minor leakage (just drops) but, it can get annoying when you pull the cap off and water drips down the front of your clothing. I think during purchase, I should have had the choice between the regular valve or bite valve or the product should have come with both. Specially since the way it was packaged, the mouthpiece was installed but the empty consumer packaging for the mouthpiece was attached - telling me they could have simply swapped the regular valve for the bite valve. I think I might buy the bite valve and optional magnetic tube clip but at that point I would have spent about $70 and still would not have a front pocket. I would recommend this product but you might want to try contacting the seller and see if you could get them to give you both mouthpieces or at least your choice of which mouthpiece you want.

This is fantastic. It doesn't change the taste of the water at all. It doesn't even really require cleaning, just rinse it out and store it. (I'd still store it dry for long term storage, but for the summer, I'm just leaving water in it.) The refill adapter is a must. You can swap out the nozzle for the refill adapter and it lets you refill the pack from a faucet or disposable water bottle without having to take the pack off your back. This doesn't come with a normal bite valve unfortunately. The thing it does come with is more like a sports bottle. You have to get the bite valve separate (it's the "Helix QMT Valve"). But it is nice being able to have all three and swap between them as needed. The pack itself has a long thin pocket on either side for small stuff, but there's not a whole lot of room. It also has a pocket at the top to stuff the straps in if you aren't using them. The pack also has little straps strategically placed that fit a molle vest quite well. If you have a molle system, this is a must have.

Leaks like crazy, company sent me to extra lids but like I told them you need a damn rubber seal in the like all the other ones out there to keep it from leaking. Well its completely obvious, you cant have a plastic on plastic seal and expect it TO NOT LEAK!

Well-made, with careful attention to detail. Being able to open the bladder to clean it is a massive convenience, though it’s unlikely to be needed often because of the anti-microbial nature of the bladder material - another great feature. Tuck-away carrying straps make it very versatile. I wish they were removable, but that’s just a personal preference. Overall, well worth the cost!

As expected from source, a great hydration bag that can function as either a standalone hydration or inside a bigger backpack - the bag includes slots to hide the straps when not needed. Though intended for military use, I had no issue using it as hydration in a backpacking trip. Also the tip and whole tube can be replaced if needed using source's connector valves. No hesitation giving it 10/10.