My BlackHawk HydraStorm 100 OZ has sprung a leak. I need a replacement. Suggestions for replacement? BTW, the carrier is fine, but the water bag is not.
CamelBak Omega 100oz Mine survived two deployments to Iraq, and served as a pillow on rocky ground for months during training. Replaced my bite valve a few times. Should be able to find them for ~$20.
Camelbak is the standard to be judged by in my opinion. I have two, both have been all over the world in all sorts of environments and one is over ten years old. No issues.
I have to agree with the rest on the Camelbak. I am on my 3rd deployment and it is all I use. snakeman
My Blackhawk was made in 2002, my understanding is they have changed. Do you know if all of them have detachable tubes now? Is there a on/off part? (My old one had an item I pulled on to turn it on. This worked very well while on the bicycle.) What else has changed?
I have some of the older camelbaks. So, I researched. The original blue bite piece can not be replaced by the standard current part. You need to go to the big bite piece. This is according to Camelbak in Petaluma who I called this am. What got me started was that an Amazon review of the current bite piece said the same thing.
I am so glad that this was about backpack water carriers. I thought this might be a true survival situation. I was going to refer you to this article.: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/03/AR2006040301387.html I you needed an actual bladder replacement, you would have a REAL problem. Now you just have a minor annoyance, that can easily be solved by going to REI, or Dick's (no bladder pun intended) or hundreds of web sites.
It looks like the blue portion is hard plastic? Can you measure accross it? I am not sure it will fit the bag. BTW, I think having a big open end would ber great for adding ice, but I wonder how it would be if in the bush trying to pump water in.?
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUuWPAtgXGU"]Testing camelbaks claims. - YouTube[/ame] I don't trust an open top bag like Source. To each their own.
I would go with Camelbak & I'd also suggest you look at getting the 100oz with a new bag. When you look at the price of the bladder by itself and a bag/bladder on sale - the bag is very inexpensive. Shop around. $70 http://www.rei.com/product/830501/camelbak-alpine-explorer-hydration-pack-100-fl-oz
Source makes both open top, and traditional screw top bladders. That said, I took 4 of them to OIF/OND 2010-2011, and I've had no issues.
IMO, the source bladders are tougher than the camelbak ones. they also have the ability to open the whole end of the bladder to clean/fill with ice/water etc. They're just handier, nicer, and all around better IMO.
I decided to order a Platypus Big ZipTM SL 3.0L. This will probably not be my only one, but this one is for bicycling. I should be able to load it up quickly with ICE
I see you've already ordered a replacement. I was going to suggest a dab of Aquaseal on the leak. That is my go-to product for anything that needs to be leak proof but also has to stay flexible. That stuff is awesome.
I finally figured out where the leak was last night. It is around the area where the cap is attached. I will probably try to fix it and keep this one as a backup or maybe use it for a backpack. To be honest I am amazed that the one I had lasted this long....I should probably have a couple backups.
