Which Packs Have Easy to Reach Side Water Bottle Holders?

Easier to to get a pair of JustinsUL water bottles holders for your shoulder straps.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1099227829/justins-ul-13g-original-ultralight?click_key=c80250ed0df0785175e6737acaa8d67cf68ade96%3A1099227829&click_sum=005f26c2&ref=shop_home_feat_2&pro=1&sts=1

Thanks, I use one of these but I don’t like having to take my pack off to fill the should strap water bottle with my side water bottle storage.

Maybe it’s not so much the pack, but your body’s geometry? HMG packs have never been an issue for me.

My old Gregory Paragon’s side water bottle access port was a great feature, very easy to get to and the bottle never fell out, but pack is 3.7lbs.

My Kakwa has an aggressively cut slash side pocket and I find bottle access is easy.  Drawback is that the bottle can fall out, but a bit of cordage fixes that and its still easy to access.

@simulacra – 100% my body geometry, I have tight shoulders

@DavidD – I had a Kakwa 40, as I recall I could reach the bottles, but the top of the pack pressed between my shoulder blades and was bothersome. I thought of getting the Kakwa 50 to see if that would fit better..

I am definitely a problem child with packs.

I was reading that ULA OHM has easy to reach water bottles, so I am searching for a used one to try.

The easiest set up is my Hill People Gear pack (4 lbs) because the water bottle holders are on the hip belt. I don’t know why more makers don’t take the approach.

REI Flash 50 or 55. I have limited shoulder mobility and I could still reach the bottle and put it back.

“I had a Kakwa 40, as I recall I could reach the bottles, but the top of the pack pressed between my shoulder blades and was bothersome. I thought of getting the Kakwa 50 to see if that would fit better.

I was reading that ULA OHM has easy to reach water bottles”

The Kakwa has a frame that runs around the outside of the pack, so I’m not sure what would press between your shoulder blades. Could it have been some object in the pack?

For the pocket reach, the main factors here are (1) how low the bottles sit and (1) how much coverage up the bottle.  For #1, a bottle will sit lower if the pocket has a 2 panel design (bottom panel, side panel) since that gives a flat bottom so the bottle can sit all the way down. More often side pockets are a single panel that is folded/pleated at the bottom (e.g. Zpacks, ULA, HMG) but that pinches skinnier at the bottom the bottle won’t sit as low.

I think our pockets are about as low/reachable as possible for our normal side pocket design because they do have the flat bottom and then an aggressive cut to lower the front edge. Measuring from the center of the hipbelt, the top edge of the side pocket is only 3″ higher. Whereas on a side pocket with a single panel design and a bit more coverage such as the ULA Circuit it is 8″. So it’s a pretty sizeable 5″ difference in how high you have to reach. So that spec is a good one to look at if you’re wanting an easy reach.

“The easiest set up is my Hill People Gear pack (4 lbs) because the water bottle holders are on the hip belt. I don’t know why more makers don’t take the approach.”
This can be really good because it is very reachable. There are some packs like this (e.g. Virga, Nunatak) but also some downsides to this style. The downsides are mostly (1) the pack doesn’t sit as nicely on the ground, and (2) you run out of space for hipbelt pockets. A typical hipbelt might have 30″ of padding but about 8″ of that is connected to the pack so the “wings” portions are about 11″ per side. A nicely sized hipbelt pocket is about 7″ long and you’re still going to have 1-2″ of length in front of the hipbelt, so you usually only have 2-3″ of space behind the hipbelt pockets which is probably not enough for a bottle. Usually when a pack does this they omit the hipbelt pockets. So this is can be a great spot for water bottles  if someone doesn’t mind giving up hipbelt pockets. The last downside though is that they tend to swing around more and maybe hit your legs. This is solvable, but some of the designs result in bottles that swing quite a bit.

It definitely wasn’t something in my pack, more like the pack material between my shoulder blades was not sitting flush, or something like that, and the cloth was pressing inwards. I had the large size for my 19.5 inch torso and 44 inch chest, which I think was correct. I was wondering if the Kakwa 50 might fit differently.

Take a look at the Hill People Gear site. Their hip belt pocket measures 6 x5.5 x 1.5 and attaches via Pals webbing. Their bottle holsters come in two sizes, one for a canteen style bottle. The hip belt pocket and the bottle holster both fit well. Their pack sits well on the ground.

https://hillpeoplegear.com/Products/CategoryID/7/ProductID/173

I use a Kakwa 40 and have no problems grabbing a smart water bottle from the side pocket. I previously used a ULA Catalyst and had a hard time pulling a bottle out of the side pockets, and that is really frustrating. My catalyst is probably an outdated model and maybe they changed the pocket design. I am looking at adding a Kakwa 55 or maybe a Zpacks Arc haul to the lineup this year, like you I’m worried I won’t be able to grab a bottle out of the Arc haul since I’ve never used one.

I have the Arc Haul and have to return it. My hand is not even close to being able to reach the water bottle. Otherwise, it’s a really nice pack.

That is really good to know! Thanks!

Thanks for the mention!

I designed the hipbelt mounted bottle holders because I make packs to perform for my personal adventures. If they pass that threshold I consider marketing them.

This benefits me on multiple fronts:

Not many hikers do the type of stuff I do, so I automatically have a limited market.

I need the challenge of innovation (not so much the once ubiquitous belt bottle holder, but look at the oddball Bears Ears!). Otherwise the rigors of daily routines gets me hard

I want to do my part to stir the visually stagnant UL pack market with the same old features rehashed again and again, which arguably is where UL packs are at. Even if it mostly flies under the radar. In that vein kudos to Virga for their attempts to crack this tired mold

“Take a look at the Hill People Gear site…The hip belt pocket and the bottle holster both fit well. Their pack sits well on the ground.”

I see they have them so the bottle rises up from the hipbelt (rather than hanging below). Yes that would sit nicely on the ground and not swing. A question with that position would be whether your arms are going to be hitting the bottle as you walk. It looks in the way in their photo (below) but I haven’t used these to speak well to that.

For the hipbelt pockets, I don’t see how dual pockets could fit. It looks like they are using more of a center fanny pack style pocket than dual hipbelt pockets. This holster is a good 2″ from the pack and looks to be about 4″ wide, so I don’t think you could fit a 7″ hipbelt pocket on there too because that’s already 13″ and you’d have at least an inch in front for the buckle and wings are usually not longer than about 11″ in a medium sized hipbelt.  So maybe the key to unlocking this is a single central pocket instead of dual hipbelt pockets.

I love my 26 oz, 32 L (plus bear canister) Nunatak Bear’s Ears pack with the water bottles on the hip belt. I celebrated my 65th birthday by hiking the Sierra High Route with one. Very easy access, and I prefer the water bottles on the belt because it puts the load of the much heavier water bottles directly on my hips and lowers my center of gravity as well, as opposed to hanging the bottles on my shoulder straps. The much lighter bits of gear and kit that I used to put in the hip belt pockets of other packs I now put in pockets that hang from my shoulder straps. Nunatak also has different size pocket options depending on the size of the water bottles you use.

Seconding David here. Best water bottle access I’ve experienced so far in a backpack.

I use a more conventional model pack that’s a bit heavier at almost 3 pounds, the Granite Gear Blaze. But it does let me easily reach my water bottles. The added structure also keeps stuff in the main compartment from bulging out and making things hard to grab. Definitely having slick-sided bottles, like Smartwater, makes it easier to remove and replace them.

I like the idea of where the water bottle location is on the REI Flash 55. I haven’t used one, but where it is located seems to make sense. I had tried to rig up something similar off the bottom of my shoulder strap bridging to my hip belt but it wasn’t solid enough in the attachment points and had a tendency to swing.

What if a hip belt holster carrier held the bottle at more of a horizontal angle, verses vertical? Would this eliminate swing, balance the weight more equally, keep the bottle out of the arms swinging motion, and be easier to grasp?

Here is a picture of the hip belt pocket next to one of the water bottle holders. I have this setup on each half of the belts. My arms do not hit these components when I am using the pack with hiking poles.

I’m pretty happy with the access to the side pockets on my Seek Outside Gila.  At 62, though, I’ve found that a 500ml bottle on the shoulder strap is much easier, so I use a 1 liter in the side pocket for refills.  I just want to be able to get it without taking off my pack… sometimes not possible in the UL packs I’ve tried.  I had a paragon, and liked the side access port like David for access on the move, but it would slide out occasionally while bending over.  Older Baltoros had a zip out water bottle holster that worked well.  I don’t know if current models have that feature.

McHale’s ubiquitous removable side pockets can be canted and moved forward so one attachment connects to the top of hipbelt. This gives great access.

However they lack just a little in securing bottles from falling out when scrambling. Not bad at all compared to most UL attempts, but a redesigned cord closure would improve this.

+1 for the REI Flash 55 (and some other REI packs, like the Traverse 32). The pockets are dead simple to use, and don’t interfere with the pack sitting on the ground. The hipbelt pockets aren’t the largest but they’re certainly not small. My perfect pack would have a runner’s vest-type shoulder harness and those bottle pockets.

I like the looks of that Hill front pocket. It should hold a Steripen and lunch–nuts and a powerbar. Good enough!