Bladder durability

Thanks David.

Just through personal experience, I think Camelbak must be making a cheaper product these days. My old ones are tough as nails. I've never had a problem. Even filling one with scalding hot water over and over again for a week after breaking my water filter on day one. My recent purchases have been pathetic to say the least. I've had two break within one day of use. I dropped the last one from a height of about 3 feet and it sprang a leak around the filler cap. It hadn't even landed on that side. What a joke.

Platypus seems to be okay so far. I've had one leak on me thus far. I think I must have snagged it on something while on the trial. It had a small tear in the plastic. I can't really blame it on the bladder.

I'll stick with Platy for now. Anyone else notice QC issues with Camelbak?

I own 2 Camelbak hydration bladders, and have never had a problem with durability.

One is a smaller backpack style where the bladder cannot be removed (still Camelbak brand, not a cheap knock-off). Good for bike rides. Works fine, the only thing I miss on that pack is a bite-valve cover. The other is a Camelbak Viper, which was designed for the military. The 102oz. capacity bladder is tough and so is the insulated hose. It has a bite-valve cover and an on-off switch, which is completed by the quick-release ability of the tube to detach from both the bladder and bite-valve for cleaning. It has neoprene insulation for the hose to help keep water inside it cooler longer. I have put hot water in it to clean and used dish detergent and bleach too, and it still works fine with no leaks, signs of significant wear, of anything of the sort. If anything were to break first I think would be the bottle opening ripping out of where it attaches to the plastic. But it so darn tough, I don't see that happening.

Besides the other obvious caveats of "hydration systems", e.g tubes freezing, hot water in the tube, blah, blah…)
The big disadvantage of this bladder and many other bladders is that they tend to be heavy. My 102oz.er' (which, don't get me wrong, I love it) weighs in a almost 9oz. And with all my water in such a large vessel, purifying with tablets is much more complicated.

My CamelBak Viper has now served me well for about 3 years and I am certainly not getting rid of it! Still is my go-to for bike rides. But for backpacking, I'd rather have 2 quart-sized bottles.

Both of my Camelbaks have gone through normal usage for 4 and 3 years, respectively, and show it. But neither have gone through severe abuse, because I take care of my gear. Either all these posters seriously mistreat their Camelbaks expecting them to be able to handle it, or, Camelbak and other companies producing knock-offs are all lowering the quality significantly enough to where their products are failing more than succeeding these days.

Like others have stated:
A water bladder is not inherently inferior/superior to water bottles. When it comes to hydration, each individual can only decide for himself by which means work best for personal hydration his scenario.

good luck, HYOH, and cheers

Just for grins & out of curiosity I filled a couple of different platys and took turns standing and bouncing on them, trying to blow them out. I've done this a few times, just… because. Might as well try to make them fail at home. So far haven't destroyed one, haven't had any leaks. My confidence in the product is pretty solid.

good to know Brad!

I have a 3l and a 1l platy of the new design, so they don't have the "flat" bottom. so far so good. I also have two of the oooold style camelbaks (from like 12 years ago) a 100oz and a 72oz(?), I need to replace the tubes and mouth pieces for them though, which is why I bought the platy bags (plus they are lighter).

I have to agree the older camelbak bags are pretty bomb-proof.

I have a pair of older Platypus 1L bladders which have developed folding marks along the middle of them. I wonder how much more folding the bladders will take before they fail? So far with many nights and day's of abuse of use they've never failed me yet. I was cautious of them when I transitioned from the dreaded lexan Nalgene, but bought them at REI so that I could return them in case of failure. My dad uses only a 100oz hozer for hydration, while I prefer a 70oz hozer with a 1L backup/reserve. I'll always have a backup water container if one fails and I'm not as concerned about over hydrating and running out. I would take caution in cold weather to allow for expansion should the bags freeze overnight.

Just through personal experience, I think Camelbak must be making a cheaper product these days.

This might result from camelbak's expansion into the civilian market. I suspect many of the earlier bladders were made specifically with military use in mind.

For perspective: in my 5 years in the Army I used one camelbak bladder almost exclusively and it is still good for use today. And of the others I used from time to time I still have them laying around too.

Charles, any idea who the military is using for their current hydration bladders?

Charles, any idea who the military is using for their current hydration bladders?

Camelbak is currently the only bladder used by the U.S. Army. Check out their website, they have a whole military section.