So I've been hiking a lot more lately and unhappily using my little brother's old "Outdoor Products" hydration pack. The thing was flimsy, not very well made and felt like it did a really bad job of distributing the weight on my back, so I decided to invest (somewhat heftily) in a Camelbak hydration pack.I went with the Camelbak H.A.W.G 500 (don't ask me what h.a.w.g. stands for). It's the second iteration of the H.A.W.G. and the "500" comes from the fact that it's made from 500 denier cordura nylon material, which is half the denier rating of the original's 1000 denier (which is what the best military equipment manufacturers use). Denier is a rating for strength in cloth products.
The 500D makes it lighter, which is great by me, and I don't really need something to be a full 1000D for my purposes anyway. The 500D material feels PLENTY tough in it's own right and loads tougher than whatever the hell the last pack was made of.
Having never owned or experienced a real Camelbak pack, I was a little wary of spending $125 on a hydration pack, but after getting this thing I'm a firm believer in the brand and the quality they put into their products.
This is actually from Camelbak's military line and I wanted it because I knew it should be made to last and the PALS webbing on it will be ideal for mounting a tear-away velcro first-aid kit (makes no sense to have to take extra time to dig into my pack if I or someone else get's injured.)
Anyway my pack is shown up there sitting happily with my 1-liter Camelbak water bottle and my Leatherman Wave.
Here's the product page for all the details:
http://www.camelbak.com/government-military/hydration-packs/hawg-500.aspx
