Trying Out Wearable Hydration

Brett Zarda does the Camelbak

By Brett Zarda Posted 01.20.2009 at 10:29 am 3 Comments

Camelbak

What do you buy for an avid cyclist that's already spent a fortune on the latest weightless bike, wireless cycling speaker, and a lifetime supply of yellow Livestrong bracelets? How about a shirt full of water? Camelbak's wearable hydration system is a sleeveless skintight shirt with a 2.1-liter (72-ounce) jug of water secured on your upper back (it should work for running as well). We evaluated the pack in our local testing facility (Marina Drive in San Francisco) to the amusement of onlookers wondering how a hunchback could ride a bike so fast. Don't worry, we'll spare you any pictures of me wearing my first tank top since the '80s party last summer.

Filling the pack is simple, through a rather large twist-on cap that's easily accessible from the back of the shirt. Putting the shirt on after filling is probably not the recommended order of operations, but I accomplished the feat with minimal effort. Be careful putting freezing cold water in the bag, unless you want to cool down your trapezius muscles while riding. In the crouched position, the bag felt surprisingly comfortable, and I really only noticed it when a slight slosh would occur after hitting potholes. The support in the shirt and its skintight design ensure a nice distribution of the weight that avoided any sagging lump. The mouthpiece design was a very well designed bite-and-suck valve that didn't leak or require me to unscrew or pull on any tube (just bite and suck). Perhaps the only glitch was a slight itch on the upper left shoulder which remained unscratched till the ride was complete. The pack easily removes for washing the shirt after a your weekly trip up L'Alpe d'Huez.

As a novice rider, the potential benefit of ditching the standard water bottle is something I'll leave to the bike gurus to debate, but as a gadget, the Camelbak fulfills its objective. Ironically, the amateur cyclists traversing the boardwalk on a beach cruiser gawking at the bikini-clad might most benefit from keeping both hands on the wheel when a hint of dehydration presents itself. Whether such casual fashion-conscious riders will brave the awkward look from onlookers is the more challenging sales job. At $100, it seems a bit steep, but it's targeting a market that loves to waste cash on making themselves feel a bit more like Lance.

Camelbak, Side View:

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3 Comments

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bver2

01/20/09 at 8:05 pm

This is actually a great concept. Not only does it carry almost 4 times the water than a water bottle, but it is delocalized over the upper body. If used right it could also prove to be a fantastic mechanism for keeping your body cool and operating efficiently on a ride. The water surrounding the upper body is an important feature to cooling the body because it targets your main blood supply and internal organs that help deliver blood to your extremities.

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jmck

01/22/09 at 2:30 am

This article is a bit misleading in that it suggests that this is somehow a distinguishable advancement from the previous models. This is literally just your typical Camelbak bladder sewn to the back of an under armour-esque shirt. Contrary to the previous comment, its not dispersed throughout the upper body, its just sitting on the mid/upper back, and would only provide temporary cooling to that limited area. But as for the whole concept of hands free hydration and a bite valve, that's old news, it's all exhibited in their earlier models and every other brand of a water bladder. It seems like this is just an unnecessary combination, when it would be much more convenient to have the bladder in the typical backpack form, so you don't have to have a quality undershirt permanently fixed to it when you don't need it.

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Mieoonmeilta

06/18/10 at 3:27 am

This might work as a cooling system without a fact that eventually heat is delivered back to your system by means of drinking the "cooling water". Anyway as a cross-country runner I think this might be a very good design to reduce any uncomfortable fluid movement during running, but a cooling system this can not be.