CamelBak Powderhound 12 Ski Hydration Pack, 100oz

I bought two of these, one for myself and one for my brother. We used them for a month in Utah this last season. Both bags are identical in quality.Pros:I previously bought the Snowblast over the Powderhound believing the Snowblast to be a more versatile bag. I was mistaken and I ended up buying this bag instead.- Storage: I was initially worried about this since it can't be expanded like the Snowblast. However, I was able to fit my lunch, extra gloves, large fleece, neck warmer and other randoms with room to spare. I even carried gear from friends. If anything, this bag can feel too big at times. My PBJ sandwiches though always got mushed, probably due to the bladder.- The bag maintains its structure whether it's filled or empty. The Snowblast does not. This means I was able to pack it up without it ballooning to one side which would throw off my balance and you can still use the ski-carry even if it's empty.- The two main exterior compartments are simple and work. The trizip design on the snowblast was too complicated and I had trouble zipping it together. Not something you want to deal with on the slopes. The zippers were well and I was able to get into the bag on the chairlift.- Water hose and mouth piece neatly tuck into the shoulder strap. This bag is just well designed.- Water bladder. For some reason, I thought this being 3L vs the 2L on the Snowblast would be bad since I didn't want to carry the extra weight. Then I had the epiphany "you don't actually need to fill the bladder all the way" was the "ohhhh, I'm stupid" realization. Most days, I only put in 1.5 L. Still, you have 3L if you need it.- Ski carry: The snowblast had a fake ski and snowboard carry which was really just using zippers and ties to do an A-frame. It was tedious and not realistic to use. The ski-carry on this is a million times simpler, more stable and takes seconds to setup. I tested it in my home, but I ended up not using during my trip since all the side country hike-to terrain was closed due to conditions. To the best of my knowledge, this doesn't support a snowboard.- Fits on the chairlift. I never once needed to take my bag off to get on a lift.This was my first time skiing with a backpack. Great investment, super practical at big resorts when you can't get to your car, locker, want to carry extra stuff with you etc... The bladder and ski-carry makes the bag perfect for accessing side country.Cons:- The water hose did freeze once. The temperatures were above freezing most of the trip though. It froze before I even took my first sip. I always blow back. I kinda just expected this to happen. A lot of reviewers warned about this, so I wasn't really surprised. I had to blow into it harder to clear it. It unfroze once I got down the hill. I'll have to see if this performs under more consistent colder temperatures.- This is also the first time I used a bladder. As expected, the water does taste rubbery. I drink pretty quickly and this isn't great for doing that. It delivers the water slower forcing me to take smaller sips. Having water, even just a little bit though was helpful. No more eating snow for me.- Cleaning the bladder after each use is tedious.

TLDR: Buy this pack, you won't be disappointed!The pack is really well thought out and works perfectly as designed. So far I have used this pack for about 5 resort days and 3 short tour days. The water bladder integration into the back of the pack and combination of insulated tube and zipper sleeve have kept the water flowing every day down into the low single digits (I do let the water drain back through the tube into the pack on really cold days). 3L water capacity is more than I can drink in a day and would weigh a lot, so I usually only put 1.5-2L in the bladder.The main pocket has plenty of space for a full day at the resort with food, extra layers and more. The two smaller pockets keep my wallet, keys and other items easy to locate. The tool pockets for the probe and shovel work well for side country and short tour days.Really easy to use the pack with gloves on. The zipper pulls are large enough to grab easily, but haven't gotten caught on anything yet. The clips on the waist and chest strap are easy to clip and undo with gloves on as well. The shoulder straps, waist strap and chest strap all adjust easily to help the pack fit securely and comfortably over a variety of layers and keep it in place when skiing in bumps and trees. Super comfortable fit and slim enough to keep it on my back when riding the lifts.My only critique is that the pack isn't available in any bright colors. I would love to have something besides black or grey that would stand out better.

I looked at a ton of hydration pack backpacks to serve as a hiking bag, as a daily biking/commuting bag (able to fit my work's 16" MacBook Pro), and as a general "bopping around town and need a slim profile backpack" bag. This bag has been perfect for that. Camelbak might have other bags that would fit a MacBook Pro, but none that I could find that were this svelte. It's the exact right size.The 3L hydration volume is perfect for family hikes, as someone invariably forgot a water bottle and I can share my water without worrying that I'll run out by the end of the hike. The 9L of "other stuff" is a great size, too. Not so big that I feel obligated to bring a ton of stuff, but big enough that I can pack a sweatshirt or two, some snacks, and other essentials.I'm a bit worried that they've possibly discontinued this bag, as I'm not seeing it on the Camelbak site and have had a hard time recently finding these to buy, but maybe they were just having supply chain issues? I bought my bag over three years ago and use it almost every day and it's held up really well. I don't need to replace it, but it's such a better bag than anything else I've seen, I'm going to get a second one as a backup.

If youre looking for a small traditional camelbak for use on something like a bike, this isnt it. Ive seen reviews with people griping about how bulky or not sleek it is -- this is the wrong place to look for that. This was designed for and perfectly works for a day on the slopes, or a long hike, or possibly an offroad quad adventure (which I have used this for on all three). It has enough capacity for water that you can do 6-7 hour ski day, sipping water regularly and still have some left. It has plenty of room for snacks and a small lunch and smaller compartments to confidently keep things like keys, wallet, airpod case, etc. and you can fit another layer to wear or remove when its warm. Plenty of space. I havent tried to carry skis on it and that might be a bit much but I guess it could handle it. I own a few camelbaks for different purposes, this one covers multiple uses where I want the extra storage capacity. Worth the cost in my book.

I like it a lot, I was looking for a hydration bag and some room for a few stuff, this is the one for the job.

Great product, feels high quality too. The hydration bag works really well. Feels light on my back and not bulky.