Camelbak Rogue Hydration Backpack Review

I bought this Camelbak Rogue hydration pack for the London to Brighton skate this year, as I wanted to carry a bit more than would easily fit into my Lycra cycling jersey pockets.  This backpack looked like the right combination of fluid capacity and cargo capacity for my needs.  It takes 2 litres of fluid, and up to 2.1 litres of cargo, which makes it compact and with minimal cargo capacity compared with many of the much bigger camelbak systems available.  For my needs that's perfect, as I don't want to be carrying a lot, particularly not on a hilly route like the London to Brighton.

I figured that the hydration backpack was worth getting as I can also use it on my recumbent bicycle, where the bladder will work rather better than standard cycling bottles.

This comes with the standard 2 litre camelbak bladder, with a wide mouth.  That's great for filling quickly, and/or putting ice into the bladder as well.  As for cargo, there are two nice zipped pockets, one high up on the backpack, and one on the bottom half.  The pocket on the bottom also has a mesh divider and a keyring clip on a short lanyard, which is a good place to keep more important bits like credit cards and keys to be sure they don't fall out.  The zips are very good, mind, so that's only likely if you forget to zip up a pocket.  There's also an open mesh pocket between the bottom zipped pocket and the bladder, which can take somewhat larger items such as a windproof jacket.  The backpack has a decent amount of reflective piping for visibility, as well as a small loop near the bottom suitable for clipping a rear light to.

I found the backpack comfortable and barely noticed it during the entire skate.  The weather was cool, though I did heat up considerably on some of the uphill climbs.  Sweatyness on the back wasn't so bad given the small size of the backpack and the ventilation channels designed into it.  You'll never be as cool as without having anything on your back, but this backpack is very comfortable.

I like the bite valve combined with the right angle valve, as this lets you close the liquid supply to stop any chance of the bite valve being squashed and the bladder leaking.  Pity I forgot to do this when I got home from the London to Brighton!

In conclusion

A good hydration pack, perfect for both skating and cycling when you need light weight and relatively minimal carrying capacity.

Links

Camelbak home  page

Inline skating lessons :: About us :: Disclaimer :: Press Page

All material on this website is © Copyright 2000-2007 LondonSkaters.com, contributors, and associates. Please do not reproduce anything without permission.  If you wish to use photos or other material from this website, please contact me first.