The quality of the backpack that I’ve used for school and such for the past few years is rapidly deteriorating and the time has come to purchase a new one. However, I’ve also been hankering to buy a Camelbak or similar to keep me hydrated on long distance uni rides I’ve recently been undertaking (thanks to my V2). Is there any model that is capable of holding school supplies (notebooks/folders, perhaps a laptop and a change of clothes)?
I am planning on commuting to school via coker (maybe three miles). Could a Camelbak function both when I commute and on longer rides? Or am I condemned to buy two seperate packs?
The HOSS and HAWG models look enticing, but the internal storage capacity is given in cubic inches and I don’t have a well-developed sense of what that means.
Almost any backpack these days has a way to keep a hydration pack internally; it doesn’t need to be a Camelbak brand. A big bookbag will be kind of bulky if you don’t have much in it, but it will still work.
Camelbak make walking/climbing backpacks which are okay for this kind of thing. I have a cloudwalker, which is great, but that might be slightly small if your laptop is at all big.
I think they’re worth getting, as they seem to be built very well - my camelbak is still okay and it is about 8 years old.
Last year on a muni trip in the Peak District I forgot to pack my camelback. I remembered the bladder though, and luckily had a the laptop backpack that I bought the laptop in. So, no worries for me, I just went muniing with a laptop bag with me!
You could always just buy a camelbak pouch and a regular backpack.
EDIT: And therein lies the problem with the internet connection at my mom’s house. While I was trying to load this post, I went off to do something else. It loaded (with no replies), I posted, and then see ~3 other posts that have the same answer as mine Go figure.
I have a ‘camelpack without the pack’…its called a platypus and is really easy to use. You can buy them in Blacks although I think there are cheaper camping shops too.
Most hiking day bags will have a pouch in them for a bladder; they just drop in and the tube can be fed through a little hole somewhere. It would only take seconds to put in.
I would suggest bying the Dakine Helipack, or Helipro if you need somthing larger, and a sesperate dakine, playpus or camelback bladder. The backpack has a pcoket to hold the bladder and routing down the strap for the tube which makes it as functional as a normal camelback, but wiht some serious lugging capacity too.
camelback makes bladders that slip into insulated sleeves that keep them cooler and I believe are also supposed to keep things around them from getting wet. They have loops on the sides of them so you could string it into a normal backpack. I also have a daypack-sized backpack from camelback that has an internal frame, but its probably too heavy and bulky to ride with
Go figure.