Can a Hydration Pack Really Freeride?

WHAT: CamelBak Havoc WHERE: www.camelbak.com HOW MUCH: $100

The Havoc is CamelBak’s freeride hydration pack. What, exactly, makes it a freeride pack, aside from the back-in-black color scheme and the nifty, flaming skull graphic? I imagine you’re asking yourself this question as the pack clearly lacks six inches of rear suspension and a dual-crown fork. I was actually a bit skeptical when I first saw the Havoc in Giro’s catalog, but four months of abuse have dispelled my every doubt.

The Havoc’s exterior consists of a heavy-duty grade nylon that withstood countless crashes and more run ins with small redwoods, blackberry bushes and stinging nettles than I can recall. The pack possesses a large compression panel that you can use to store everything from body armor to a full-face helmet. There are secondary clips and straps beneath the panel, so nothing falls out even when you’re hauling down rocky terrain. While I mainly used the compression panel to store my arm and leg armor, I’ve been using the pack to commute to work these past few weeks and found it works pretty well for carry the odd, random package or bag of groceries. Viva the versatility.

The Havoc ain’t dainty. It’s a full-figured beauty that carries a 100 ounce bladder and 794 cubic inches of cargo. By it’s lonesome, the Havoc weighs in at 2.8 pounds—that takes it out of the running for most weight weenies, but I imagine all the weight conscious types guessed as much already. Like a freeride bike, it weighs a bunch. Like a good freeride bike, it handles just about anything you can throw at it.

Okay, so I’ve covered the durable and big themes, right? What else is there to say? Well, even though the Havoc comes across as a big, bad hydration pack for the jacked-up pick-up truck cycling segment, it turns out that this pack is also a considerate, sensitive piece of merchandise. Example? Zip open the main compartment and you fine all manner of thoughtful features such as a pump holder, a padded MP3/CD player pocket (it ably carries both my portable CD player and a set of car keys), and a warm and fuzzy (literally, it’s lined with some fleecy substance) pocket that’s perfect for holding sunglasses (no scratching the lenses).

As far as the actual water-sipping goes, the bladder is standard CamelBak fare—which is actually a lot sexier and useful than the word “standard” suggests. For starters, accessing the bladder is painless—you reach the bladder by unzipping the back panel of the pack—which is nice as this means that the bladder and all your cargo are stored in separate compartments and you don’t wind up twisting bladder tubes when you go scrounging for pumps and tools and such.

The hose features CamelBak’s Big Bite Valve. It’s doesn’t drip at all and yet water flows freely. It’s nice soft silicone stuff—no hard plastic in your mouth. You can also twist the Hydro Lock valve when you store the pack so that the valve doesn’t open up and gush water everywhere when your dog or riding buddy sits on the Havoc.

The bladder features a 3.5-inch wide opening that seals shut with a few twists of the threaded dial. The wide opening enables you to drop in ice cubes and wipe out the reservoir whenever the mood strikes you. I haven’t had to clean my bladder yet. I don’t know if this is because the bladder is also lined with an anti-bacterial coating or whether it’s because I generally don’t run energy drinks in my bladder. Either way, I’m pleased.

The Havoc is an impressive pack—rugged enough for freeriders, versatile enough for commuters and just plain well thought out. I’m a fan.