CamelBak Unisex Adult Cortez 100 oz Paddling Hydration Pack

CamelBak Cortez; basically a nicer, newer Unbottle, but not the end-all be-all I was hoping for paddling.I used to paddle a rec boat in which I'd throw an unbottle along with plenty of other crap and go paddle around a puddle for a few hours. That worked quite fine, but as I started paddling bigger waters and longer trips, and the heat tab started really firing up, I needed something better.Plenty of folks just carry bottles of water under their bungees, I've done that and it works fine. Some carry it in their cockpits and pop the skirt, I don't like doing that as I don't want something rolling around my cockpit and I don't want to pop my skirt to drink, and I also don't want a tube running through my tunnel particularly in rough waters where I need to be ready to exist, so I read about this and took a chance on it.First, the good: I have plenty of other hydration packs already, and actually already had an Omega bladder with the quick release hose connection, so I froze two 3L bladders overnight before heading out the next day. I left the house at 630, and was loaded at the put-in at 730. The Cortez was strapped to my deck, the other bladder in a day hatch for a quick on-the-water refill. Around 630 that evening I was back in the car having unloaded everything and noticed that the bladder that was still in the cortez had a fist sized lump of ice in it, while the bladder that was uninsulated was completely melted and thoroughly warm. That was impressive, and I remember being similarly impressed with the Unbottle: while insulating layers are rather thin, they're surprisingly effective in helping keep your water cool. So does it keep my water cold ? Yep, especially if you throw those puppies in the freezer the night before.The tube on this is rather long as well, and you can mount it either tube-end close or tube-end far to get the tube-length for your preferences. It has tube clips on both side of the carrier to help accommodate that.It uses the latest Camelbak hoses, that is to say it has a quick disconnects both at the bladder end and the bite piece end, but it comes with only a straight bite piece. I prefer the 90 degree ones BY FAR and have a small collection of them in a junk drawer, but they won't work with the quick release so I'll havle to buy one. It does come with a shut off valve and bite piece cover as well. Additionally, the hose is lined with a cooling material rather than the black heating material... I remember when these are all optional pieces, likely around 10 dollars each, so it's nice that Camelbak is including them on newer models as part of the base kit. The quick release system really does make it more convenient to load up the bladder with water and get it back into the sleeve; I remember how I would fuss with that with the older unbottle with fixed connections.The quick connect at the bite piece end lets you connect filters up easily; I do that with my other one while hiking but I paddle in brackish and salt water, so no water resupplies along the way for me; it's a spare bladder in the day hatch or nothing. For hiking however it's great to fill up through the drinking hose and not have to empty your pack to squeeze a full water bladder in. With slightly older Omega bladders that only had the quick disconnect at the bladder end you had to buy the conversion kit to be able to quick connect at the bite piece end, so it's nice that this is included as well.My old unbottle had 4 simple D rings on each corner, leaving the rest to you for attachment: this has 4 plastic clips that you could theoretically not only clip onto declines, but potentially onto the outside of a backpack as well, or rig with guy line like it were an older unbottle. You can also slip this into a pack sleeve and benefit from the insulation.Now, the cons: while this has a bit of rubber on the back, it's not going to grip on a boat that's been 303'd anytime recently; you'll still have to shove it under the deck lines or clip it into further elastics to keep it aligned. Additionally, it raises your deck; more so while it's plump full of water obviously, but even empty this isn't a svelte item; completely empty it's still more bulls than a rolled up pneumatic float; completely full it's about as much windage as a foam paddle float. Additionally, while it has bungee on top so you can kind of "still use the bungee its sitting on", the bungee is very, very small; you wouldn't even get a float in it, but you could potentially show some gloves or or a scarf in it. The bungee has a disconnect in the middle which is convenient, although I find it a bit hard to use with wet hands and especially when gloved. I would have actually preferred to have a pouch running the length of it to store additional goodies instead of bungee.It does not have any sort of clip or attachment to attach it to your PDF. Camelbak sells a magnetic one, but it relies on a disc sitting inside a groove, and the magnet keeps it in the groove; but it's sitting firmly in plastic and not relying on the magnet as it's sole attachment. . This means it's extremely convenient to disconnect for drinking purpose, but not "break free" and therefore I won't use it to connect the hose to my PDF as that would be connecting me to my boat; not good in a wet exit. I've seen other brands ( Platypus ?) whose clips rely purely on magnetic attraction with no other fittings; those would be much safer in a wet exit.There's a bright yellow piece of plastic on the tube that looks like a clip; it's the world's tiniest, most useless whistle. Actually it's better than nothing, but please don't rely on this as your primary whistle; it's really very quiet. Also, it's just clipped on with no tether so eventually it will be in the drink. I'm not even sure why they include this, other than for the sake of being able to say they made a kayaking-specific model. To me its basically a non-feature.The carabiner clips have a small hook to them to make them surer, but I find these annoying when hooking and unhooking it and I'm not sure if they're really a benefit or not. I tend to attach it to further bungee so they're stretched a bit, keeping it well aligned which would also mean that there's constant tension on the clips and they should need that extra hook, but I suppose some people attach it loosely in which case they would be a help.The bite piece really doesn't flow water as much as I'd like so I may take an Xacto blade to it. Unlike hiking, bicycling or backpacking, every time I fiddle with this thing I'm losing momentum so I'd rather gulp the water down a few times a day, then have to constantly sip it down.All in all as an Unbottle it's quite nice, but I would say that it's kayaking optimized features are more notional than anything else.

I bought this to use while kayaking, its intended purpose, and it works perfectly. I lay it in the bottom of the cockpit to keep the weight low but with its low profile I think it would work very well lashed to the deck if desired. Starting about half full of ice it keeps water cold, and still has ice, after a hot afternoon on the water. I have only had it a short time but all materials and fittings seem to be good quality and function well. It has straps at each end for carrying and zippers at each end that make inserting the bladder into the cover and easy task. The plastic clips for securing the pack to deck bungees are a little bit difficult to get snapped over 1/4" bungees but it can be done. I probably won't ever use them anyway. The lightweight shock cord across the top of the pack makes for a good way to secure the hose within easy reach - simpler than attaching it to the clips at the end each time I use it. The water does get warm in the hose between drinks. I tried blowing the water out of the hose and back into the bladder after drinking - that does make your next drink cold but only after inhaling a lung full of warm, plastic tasting air first. I would rather deal with the warm water I guess. I simply used water to rinse the bladder before my first use and I don't notice any bad taste to the water. This sure beats carrying bottles of water and it seems that Camel Bak has good customer service if anything does go wrong.Very happy with this purchase.

Purchased this for a vacation to Kauai, went on the 17.5 mile open ocean Napali coast kayak trip. This held the perfect amount of water and kept it cold. Fits well under water holder bungees, also has clips in case those aren't present. Tipped the kayak over a few times and it didn't budge. That was a pretty crazy long kayak trip for me, most are local and 4-6 hours, so I figure if it worked well for that trip will work well here too. I like the bright orange color, how flat it sits, and the bungee on top. It is sturdy and well made. For this big trip, it was between my legs on the floor of the kayak, and the drinking cord was plenty long. This would also fit well into a backpack for hiking.

It's a better way of drinking water while hiking than from a bottle in my experience, as trying to drink from a bottle while walking will either get it all over your clothes, or you'll trip because you have to raise your head in order to drink. Insulation keeps the water cold for quite a while, which is nice on the long hikes and kayaking trips. But the major downside that keeps this from getting a five-star is the chemical aftertaste the water bladder gives. I've tried using baking soda to get rid of the aftertaste, doesn't seem to work. And yes, I've heard that after a number of uses, the aftertaste is supposed to disappear, but for now the water tastes a bit gross.

I was searching for a hydration option while kayaking in my new Oru Kayak. I ran across the Cortez and figured id try it. It works great. It secures to my deck rigging and keeps my water cold. Holds plenty of fluid. Just be sure to rinse it well first use to get chemical taste out.

Yes! I was just looking for a CamelBak to store water in for a kayak trip. When I ran across this I bought it with high hopes. It delivered and then some. It has clips to secure the bag to your deck rigging. The bottom also has some of the same kind of grip that is on NFL receivers gloves. The color reflect the heat of the sun so even after a full day on the deck of my kayak I wasn't drinking hot water. Oh and the orange sleeve is made out of the same material that cooling towels are. People must have thought I was a klutz because I dropped my hose in the water at the beginning of every day and a few times throughout. As long as it is wet the first sip that you take is cold. I was used to the first sip out of a CamelBak being hot in my mouth. The first time I took a sip and was rewarded with cold water it was such a treat. I hope they keep working on it and find a way to just wrap the CamelBak in this stuff so all of the water gets chilled.

03/01/2016: Good product that will serve me well as a hydration bag that I can attach to my rucksack. I also fitted a camelbak hydration kit connector so that I can pump filtered water from my Katadyn filter straight into the 3L Camelbak bladder without the need to open the bladder cap. It all makes sense with this Camelbak product. The bungee rope can also serve to carry some lightweight items. The clips connect well to most rucksack and I have used additional straps to secure it to the my backpack. It works for me. Horses for courses and I got what I wanted. Terrific!

Necesitaba un recambio de bolsa camelbak de 3 litros con tubo del modelo antídote,el crux tiene diferentes medidas y no me entraba en el hueco de la mochila,esta por el precio me salía más rentable que la bolsa sola y encima tienes la bolsa térmica y el tubo aislado,y un silbato,su uso es para Kayak pero te puede servir para la montaña también

La mochila es súper práctica para convertir cualquier backpack en un sistema camel, la nueva bolsa con esa entrada de 1/4 de rosca es lo mejor, las válvulas mejoradas y el neopreno como en las camel militares , todo esto la hace la mejor opcion