I love my dual chamber hydration bladder. Took it out for a trail ultra today and loved it. So nice to switch between sports drink and water with such ease. Also nice and easy to clean.
I have been looking for a way to carry my accelerade and water for long trail runs and I was excited to find this. I love my Nathans vest, and the dual chamber bladder is thoughtfully designed, easy to fill and easy to clean. Two minor things: 1. the valve to change between the two bladders is hard to turn especially with cold fingers...necessitating a slowing or stopping to use two hands, (probably not a concern for men...but women who occasionally need assistance to open jars may find a similar problem) 2. I bought the bladder for use with my existing Nathans vest so perhaps the clip attachment for the shoulder strap works better with a different pack. It does not stay well on mine, and the weight of the clip helps pull the hose out of the chest strap and of course it pops out only on steep, rocky descents. The convenience and other features makes these mild annoyance well worth putting up with. Thank you Nathans for another great accompaniment to my sojourns in the woods!
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I bought this in order to eliminate using a handheld bottle with as my nutrition source and a hydration pack as my main hydration source for self supported ultra marathon training runs lasting beyond 3 hours. NOTE: I tried to use this with a Nathan HPL #020 hydration pack which this bladder is not intended for. After trying to fiddle with the pack & bladder combination, I was unable to get it to work well. The bladder itself is well designed and all the parts can be seperated for easy cleaning. The dial works easily and the mouthpiece is well constructed. Overall, it''s a well thought out product but I suggest it be used with the Nathan Synergy pack that it was intended for, which has a clip mount on the shoulder strap that holds the dual lines.
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I bought the bladder because I needed a replacement and it was the only one available. The tubing is a little thin and I fell like it kinks easily but I haven''t confirmed this and I have reinforced it with surgical tape. The secondary bladder seemed like a good idea, but the design makes it hard to drink from. Since it (the 2nd bladder) is behind the primary and there is no ''spacer'' as you try to drink from it you compress the entire bladder so you only get a small trickle with a great deal of effort. Given the choice over again I would not purchase this bladder. As for the primary bladder it works great. Also, I have not experienced any issue with turning the dial, but I''ve stopped using the second bladder.
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I do a lot of hiking in Colorado. I chiefly use this Synergy Bladder for climbing 14ers.
1. Not sure I trust it. The tubes on the bottom of each of the two bladders are push on only. I am constantly worried that one or the other is going to come off.
2. The bite valve has a screw on bushing to keep the drinking tube on the bite valve. It broke on first use. I called Nathan. They are sending me a new bladder because they do not stock this 25 cent part.
3. It''s tricky to fill. If you over fill the water part, you can''t fit anything in the hydration drink part ... and vice versa.
4. It''s very hard to clean and dry. You simply cannot remove all the liquid from either chamber to ensure the units are dry. I have tried everything. I basically leave it full of bleach water until I need it the next time.
5. The Hydration drink portion has a fold twice and Velcro closure system. It seems to seal well, but it is VERY hard to grip the tabs to open it.
6. The little cross flow valve thingy is very hard to turn. You really need to set it up before you put your pack on.
7. The little cross flow valve thingy does not feed well through the holes my pack provides for bladder tubes. It''s too large.
8. Finally you really have to work to suck liquid out of this thing. Bite and suck. I find myself not getting enough liquid unless I nearly continuously work it. My first time EVER dehydrated on a hike was with this Synergy system.
9. It needs some sort of hook so you can hang it while filling and while trying to empty it and dry it out.
10. Good idea, but it might be simpler to carry two separate 1.5 liter bladders.
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I got a few of these in assorted colors and found them to be just what I wanted. The material is sold, alloy of some type, and the silver is even painted in a rubberized paint. The black trim at the top is soft plastic and the entire cage is clean and sharp looking. Bottles fit firmly with a good solid click as the top tab locks in to hold. They come with screws. Bottom line, I am going to ordered 4 more. These are half the cost of a brand name plastic version and should last a lot longer.
