MSR Dromedary Bag Water Reservoir

I have purchased and acquired a lot of gear through my time in the US Marine Corps, specifically for training operations and deployments. This is by far one of my top purchases / acquisitions I made. Among the things I have noted about the MSR Dromedary, these are the biggest strengths.Durability- By far the biggest selling point for me. The Camelbak bladders I used to use had no reinforcement, and would pop under a little bit of weight. That is a major issue when you consider the bladder is in a rucksack packed for an operation. The Dromedary, on the other hand, is reinforced and is near impossible to pop (from my experience).Capacity- The Dromedary has a variety of sizes, I have the 4L. That gave me 33 percent more water than my old water bladder while still fitting into my bladder pouch on my pack (although it is a tight fit when full).Water Flow & Leakage- I not noted any leakage aside from minor leaking at times if I do not tighten the screw cap on all the way. Water flow from the hose (from the conversion kit) is perfect. I haven't had issues with it getting kinked or knotted much, which would reduce or stop water flow.Straps- The Dromedary has heavy duty straps that outline its edges, which I have used to be able to secure it into packs and pouches in multiple fashions.Overall, this is one of my favorite purchases I have made as far as my gear goes. I highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a water bladder with a little extra durability.

I had owned one of these previously during a seasonal NPS Summer/Fall work session doing trail construction in the American Southwest, and recently had an upcoming multi-day backcountry hike where I would need to supply water for myself and others, and this was exactly what I came back to because of the rugged durability I knew this dromedary could handle - I have used this as a pillow, solar shower, sat it on jagged volcanic rocks, scraped it on trees/branches, and have never had it leak once, at camp or in my pack. I have never had any sort of a plastic/rubber taste in either that I have owned, and the ability to convert it into a hydration bladder with a hose kit (albeit an obnoxiously large and heavy hydration bladder) was the cherry on top of it all. The stock lid that it comes with does have two spouts for various flows, but I personally use the MSR hydration conversion kit to attach a tube for pack carrying/drinking. Overall a great versatile piece of hydration equipment if you need a lot of water in remote environments, or if you need to carry hydration for others.

We had to rinse a bunch of times to reduce taste, added a touch of vinegar, and after a number of times it actually is pretty solid, we used it to carry water on a 3 day backpack trip. If I could have I would have gotten a carabiner on each grommet and probably put my own string through those and hooked it to my bag. When full the 6L size was a little snug but eventually fit into the top bag compartment of my backpack. I did have it leak once but I think that was because somehow the little valve got pulled up on something. I took note of this going forward and just made sure I knew how I was positioning the top of the bag. On the trip though no leaks and it was fine and worked well and can even handle boiling water in the winter and stuff. We carried water in this and in smart water bottles which are each a liter. We filled the smart bottles from this dromedary bag. They where just lighter being 1/6th the size to use and maneuver. Plus they acted like a decent measure of how much water was left in the bag as if we used 3 of those bottles we knew there was 3 liters left. Otherwise this was good and to clean we just washed with soap and stick a paper towel roll into it to keep it open and let it try, you can even clip the cap to the string around it to keep it all together while drying. Quite good.

Very handy, excellent quality . I took it on a 12,000 mile motorbike trip to Alaska, camped all the way. Used this every day, highly recommend

I had water bladders intended for hydration systems and bought a water bladder intended for ultralight backpacking but these seemed too fragile for motorcycle camping. The MSR Dromedary bag is tough and I fully expect it to be a lifetime purchase that won't ever let me down. Losing your water can be fatal when camping in the desert.PROS: Heavy duty. Durable. Reliable. Flexible storage allows it to conform to the available space and it will cushion other items. High capacity water storage that only occupies the volume being carried. Three different opening sizes for different pour/fill rates. The large opening is great for filling, including ice cubes if you'd like.CONS: Flexible bladder is less convenient to use than rigid bottles. The smallest opening is a tiny dribble that seems too slow for most uses including hand washing or dish rinsing. The medium opening is way too large for low flow uses, and maybe too large for controlled water transfer to a pot for cooking. The two lids (one within the other) are easy to lose. There was a thin retention cord securing the smaller lid to the larger lid but it was too short and I was forced to remove it to be able to unscrew the smaller lid for the medium opening. I'll probably replace it with a longer cord. Both lids should be secured to the Dromedary to prevent loss. The heavy duty shoelace along the outside is there to facilitate carrying or hanging but it's simply laced through the grommets. Trying to use the cord to hang or carry the Dromedary results in the bladder collapsing to the opposite end. This seems very poorly designed, as if the feature was added and nobody tested it before shipping the product. I need to replace the shoelace with my own paracord that's securely tied at each grommet, with a longer loop on the end opposite the pour spout so I can hang the Dromedary in camp, probably with a small carabiner, to make it much easier to use. The Dromedary needs a flip top spout or similar valve with a much higher flow rate. Unscrewing the small cap to fill a pan with water using the medium opening would result in an uncontrollable deluge.Overall, I love the durable materials and manufacturing quality but the carry cord and cap details would benefit from some thoughtful design.