Hydration bladders

This one is subjective.

Plenty of people pack their water bladders inside their packs as you described.

For me, I prefer sticking two 1L bladders — one in each of my pack's two side pockets — and connect one to my hydration tube to get the same "hands free" advantage — but without need to open up and partly repack when replenishing water.

I pack mine in the side pocket of my Murmur primarily for easy access. The other thought is that a small leak in the bladder because you didn't close the cap completely could result in a lot of water dripping into your bag and accumulating at the bottom – where most of us put our sleep system…

Personal preference and convenience aside, how you pack your water may affect the comfort of your pack. Water is heavy, and different packs carry differently. In some packs you may want the water right against your back, and in others, it may fare better sitting on top. Or, as Benjamin said, utilize the outer pockets.

I have been thinking about doing this. The one thing that bothers me about using my large camel-back reservoir is i have no idea how much water I actually have. Sure I can guesstimate but I would much rather know if I need to stop and add a of pumps.

I carry my platypus as a bladder in the pack next to my back. Never had a leak.
Regardless, my insulation and sleep system is in a WP liner with the bladder outside of the liner.
When I use a pump filter I don't remove the bladder to refill. I just remove the bite valve, attach the pump, and fill (I know how many strokes to fill the bladder).
Tim

Although, I don’t use a bladder, this was a big issue for me. Camelbak now has a flowm eter which you can find here

If it works with the water flowing in both directions, if you connect your filter and then pump water into the bladder, the flow meter should tell you how much water you have in the bladder.

Wow, Tim, that's a pretty darn good idea. My wife just picked up a platypus bag for her new pack. I'm jealous because it weighs half as much as my camelbak bag that I just happened to have when I bought my pack.

I'll have to check out her bite valve and see if I can do something similar. Might be possible with the camelbak, too. I'll have to give it a look.

aarn front pockets son, so comfy to carry water, practically weightless.