This Siren carries a Camel on her Bak
Written: Aug 04 '04 (Updated Sep 05 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Small, easy to wear, has compartments, durable.
Cons: none that matter
The Bottom Line: I love my Siren. It fits my needs perfectly. The price was right and I do recommend it.
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| jo.com's Full Review: CamelBak Siren |
At the beginning of our 3-month cross country trip my husband and I felt that even his Aqua Day Hydration Pack with a 100 ounce bladder and the additional Platypus bladder with 80 ounces of water still wasn’t enough. A couple of long hikes on hot days left us using all the water and that’s not a good feeling. There were also times that I wanted a drink and it wasn’t convenient to stop him and ask for some so I wanted my own hydration system. I bought the CamelBak Siren for a couple of reasons.
I want to comment that I read some reviews here and one of the 3 salespeople at REI agreed with at least one review that there was a taste of rubber when drinking from the CamelBak’s Omega Reservoir. I knew I could return it so I decided to try it for myself. I will address the taste later in this review.
Its features:
The Siren isn’t a backpack like our Aqua Day is. I didn’t want to carry more than I had to and we didn’t need the additional room so a smaller hydration pack was what I was looking for. The Siren as opposed to the less expensive CamelBak HydroBak (also holding 50 ounces of water) is very narrow, particularly at the bottom. The company claims that the Siren has an ergonomic design (made so your back won’t ache). I agree with this claim. It is really very comfortable to wear. I don’t even know it is on my back!
I think it is very attractive. Since it has a shorter length than other CamelBaks it really is perfect for someone short – I’m 5ָ” and it is perfect for me. My husband- a couple of inches under 6'- would not like wearing it. I see a lot of children using this or one of the other smaller CamelBak products and they look like they fit them well. My CamelBak measures 16 ½” in length, 9” at the top where it is the widest and 6” at the bottom where it narrows. There is a loop at the top so you can carry it there or hang it if you wish.
It comes in two colors. Cirrus Blue/Graphite is the one I have. The front of it is a light blue and the sides and back are a shade of gray. It also comes in Graphite/Chrome.
A couple of features sold me on the Siren. It has a sternum strap. Many packs have this strap but the HydroBak I saw did not. I felt this added to its comfort and took weight off my back. This strap is the one you will see that connects in the front high on people’s chests. This strap has a plastic closure where one side fits into another as you would see on a traditional backpack. I have found this strap to be helpful. It allows me to wear the pack and never have it feel like it is falling off my shoulders which is what I was afraid might happen with a pack that had no sternum strap. This strap can be bought separately but there are other features on the Siren that sold me as well.
Although as I said I didn’t need to use it as a pack the siren has two zipper compartments. Granted they are small, but it is all I need. The way the Siren works is that it has a top that comes over the front of the pack and hooks into another hook which is at the base of the pack. Under the top piece is a decent sized zippered mesh compartment. It will hold a snack, lip balm, small tube of sunscreen. It is 8” long x 4” across.
The other compartment is much smaller (6 ½ “ in length x 3” across) but I use it for my license, tissues and anything small and flat.
The front strap that secures the top to the base is a reflective strip so I can be seen at night.
The shoulder straps are made of a loose weave mesh. The rest of the pack is also mesh or mesh like making it light and comfortable. The back of the pack is made of a “superknit fabric with wicking treatment.” The claim is that is “ensures that your back stays cool and comfortable even during hot summer days.” In theory this is great but in reality on hot days, my back is soaked and the wicking material doesn’t make a different. The back is padded and that contributes to comfort but I can’t say the wicking material keeps my back cool. This padding is actually what is called the reservoir insulation. It is “closed-cell foam” that is said to keep liquid colder, longer. I do find my water staying colder longer than my husband’s Platypus though I like the Platypus as well.
I like what is called “strap management.” What this means is the strap that is used to adjust the height of the CamelBak like any strap has extra material. Rather than just having this extra material hangs loose I can roll up the material and wrap Velcro around it keeping it out of the way. This seems like a small and simple design, but I like it and it works.
One thing I didn’t like and had to adjust though it adjusts simply is what is called the tube trap. I didn’t realize how easily this can be taken off and moved so the first time I used the pack I couldn’t use the trap because it was stopping the flow of water. The tube trap is just a plastic piece on the shoulder harness where you slide in the tube of the water hose to keep the hose from moving around and to keep it close by. This is a great feature but only if it works. So just be aware that it comes off in 2 seconds and can be adjusted. I found that when I moved it high on the shoulder harness, the water flowed fine.
If you are not sharing a pack with someone else and you are hiking long distances, then this pack will not be large enough. It won't hold the safely items you need. In addition I did like the bungee cord on the HydroBak which our Aqua Day has. This is a great feature for our hiking books or sweatshirts. However since my husband has one I didn't need it on mine and I preferred the compartments.
Durability
I have to make mention briefly of how amazing this product withstood what for some packs I think would have been their ruin. For hours we were lost. I won’t go into the gory details but getting out and down the mountain we were on took hours (if we hadn’t had cell phone service- well I don’t want to think about that – we did have cell phone service and search and rescue would have been coming had we not emerged within a couple more hours!) and obstacles I never thought I could overcome. This pack endured my sliding down gravel on my butt so my back was in contact with the gravel a lot. This pack endured brush and branches that should have poked holes in it. This pack endured climbing on, over, sliding down and rolling around boulders with no adverse affects. In spite of my pants being ripped to shreds and filthy, this pack looks exactly as it did when it was brand new.
The Omega Reservoir:
I am going to review this reservoir by itself so I will not go into the extensive details I will in my review.
Using the bladder took some practice. The first time I used it I filled it while it was in the pack. When I went to close the bladder it was necessary to touch the pack, obviously, causing much of the water to come pouring out. Now when we are out on a trail and we fill the reservoir with the extra bladder my husband carries, I don’t fill it to the top! However the bladder comes out of the pack very easily and that is a much easier way to fill the reservoir.
A feature that comes in handy is a strap on the pack that loosens and tightens depending on how full the reservoir is. If I put a lot of water in it then I loosen the strap. As I drink or if I don’t fill it up then I can tighten the compartment the reservoir sits in.
I don’t like the cover of this reservoir. Although it is easy to get to it is really hard to unscrew.
Perhaps CambelBak has been working on the taste of the water. Since the reservoir is made of Polyurethane this could give off a taste of rubber. The polyurethane feels like rubber while the Platypus is plastic. I don’t find the water tastes anything but like my water should. That was an extremely important factor to me and I would have returned it had I found that I tasted the reservoir.
The mouthpiece is called a Big Bite Valve which is made of “medical grade silicon.” This isn’t all that different than the mouth piece on the Platypus though I find it easier to use. I bite down on it and just suck on the water. The water comes right out.
The filled reservoir weights 4.06 pounds and is 13 inches by 7.5 inches by 1 inch.
Jo’s final thoughts:
I really like my Siren by CamelBak. It totally fits my needs. It has enough water to last me for hours; it is small enough to it doesn’t get in my way or my bike helmet and is small enough to be very comfortable and the water tastes fine. In addition I like the couple of compartments. Those are really nice to have in this small hydration pack. I can’t say it is perfect since I don’t care for the reservoir cap but I’m not going to rate it down for that reason. It has too many good points and it may have saved my life. Another pack could have ripped open during the above ordeal and I wouldn’t have had enough water or been so uncomfortable I wouldn’t have been able to maneuver through the various terrains. This is a great pack and I won’t hesitate to recommend it.
I paid $40.00 for the Siren and feel I got my money's worth.
Please feel free to leave me a question or comment.
Recommended:
Yes
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