Geigerrig Pressurized Hydration Engine and Reservoir

I've been using hydration packs since the day they came out. Back in the day it was just a couple of thin, padded straps with a black sack that held the bladder. The hose came out the top of the bag. Velcro held the top closed. The label said CamelBak. People looked at you like you were from a different planet. We have come a long way in all those years without coming very far at all. Does this mean to say that the Geigerrig is just a slight step ahead of the old chew and suck bladder systems? No. It is not to mean that at all. It is a giant leap ahead. We still run water through a hose and compressing a bladder is nothing new when it comes to ideas regarding getting the water out, but Geigerrig makes it a simple science that I suppose they call: "The Engine".Mine had a leaky valve from the get go. It wouldn't hold air. It was awkward filling the bladder all the time. Hehe... sort of embarrassing. But I knew it was just something simple. It ended up being the valve at the bulb. Without talking to anyone at Geiger, I filled out the warranty from on the website, stated I bought it from Amazon etc etc, and I had a new bulb, valve and hose on my doorstep a few days later. Never spoke to anyone. Could there be better customer service? I got an email telling me the warranty was filled and bulb hose assembly was shipped. The level of customer service negated the need for me to talk to ANYONE!!! Think about that for a second...The valve has been upgraded. The "faucet" style twist-on twist-off is much better than the older, push button design. It holds air now. I popped the bladder into a Wingnut Adventure bag and wondered if I would have enough pressure on the bladder for the air pressure to do it's job. It ended up, even with the pack off my back and slung low like Wingnuts hang, it worked great. I added pumps of the bladder only a few times as the water level went down to about 30 out of the 100 ounces. That is about 30 ounces more water than I would usually intake on that ride. Hmm... maybe they are on to something as far as hydration goes.Having the spray at hand seems a bit off kilter at first. I was saying, "Big deal.. I just push on my current bladder with my hand or arm when I want it to squirt". But big deal it is. It's squirt ready, you squirt. If you are tendriled on a steak and eggs climb, you can suck as it squirts. It is a double water wham. That is good sometimes when the heart is at 200bpm. You can breath through the drink... slobber... drip... shoot it at your face at the same time. Clean that crystallized sweat from the brow... wash a pig I suppose.People say the hose(s) is too short. My Wingnut hangs super low. The drink hose is fine for me, and I am used to super long hoses. I just routed it a bit differently than I am used to. The bulb hose is short, but I just ran it under my arm right up to the front strap. It doesn't get in the way at all. If you are super fat, you might need to lengthen hoses... It also doesn't get in the way of my pack coming off and on. It is always coming off to get to the often Katana Boy saw. Putting it back on isn't a problem.I love the way it opens. I dig the fold and slide. It works seamlessly on my dry bags, why not this application? It isn't going to leak. The closure is a proven design. No more threaded cap. No more difficult cleaning. No more difficult drying. Just good thinking.I'm happy with the engine. I'm happy with Geigerrig customer service. I am happy that the weekend is coming, and I can use my Geigerrig in the back country some more. I am looking forward to getting more used to it. Get one and get used to it yourself!I will update this review if anything super good or super bad comes up!Proxy

Great product overall, but I have a few minor issues. This is my first hydration pack so I don't have much of a frame of reference with respect to other products. My first issue is that the pack is very short in the width dimension but fat in the depth dimension. I'd rather the pack be flat and wide to fit into the pack more easily. Once it's packed in it's not really noticeable, it's just during packing where it comes into play. The instructions actually tell you pack the hydration pack before you pack your other gear, so sliding it into the hydration sleeve of an empty pack is not hard, it just makes packing around it a little more difficult/less space efficient.My second issue is the pressurization. When it works, it's great. Pressurized water flows out the mouthpiece with no sucking effort on your part. But the pressurization doesn't last that long (at least with the version of the pack I bought). It's not a huge deal, when you stop and take off your pack you can give the pressurization bulb (pump) a few squeezes to get the pressurization back up. But it would be easier if I could keep the pressurization bulb outside my pack (on my shoulder like the water tube). The problem is, the connection of the bulb to the air tube is VERY loose. I'd rather deal with a loss of pressure over time than the bulb falling to the ground without me noticing. With the bulb in my pack, it could very well be coming loose from the air tube (thus depressurizing the pack) as it rubs against other stuff. Also, the pressure release button on the bulb could be pressed (releasing pressure) by other items in my pack. A few solutions: I could super glue the bulb onto the air tube (there's no reason to take separate the two), and/or I could buy the version of the bulb that has a screw pressure release (I think this is available, according to another reviewer; screwing the valve all the way tight maintains pressure, whereas unscrewing the valve releases the pressure). Don't get me wrong, the pack still works when depressurized (and there is some pressure from the other items in your pack) but the upside of the product is the pressurization system (that's why I bought it).Third, very minor but the mouthpiece seems a little fragile. There is a soft silicone around a rigid plastic piece. Biting down breaks the seal between the two, allowing the flow of water. The plastic piece is shaped like a golf tee or gas engine's piston valves with a disc shape at the end of the mouthpiece connected by a very thin stem. The first time I bit down I used my molars and heard a cracking noise (I was worried it might have been the stem breaking). Upon further inspection I couldn't find any signs of damage, but the cracking noise was really disconcerting. I make sure now to use my front teeth only and bite down very lightly and I haven't had problems. But you would think a product otherwise engineered very well would not have this little flaw.

Mine starts to leak some air and the company replaced it right away. Works well but take a lot of place in a backpack.

I already own a 2L bladder from Geigerrig and love it. Decided to get the 3L for longer hikes and hotter days. Is much better than holding extra water bottles. Very durable material and no worry about it exploding in your pack. The pump is great to give you water pressure as soon as you bite on the bite valve.

I use it in the summer as a part of my inline waterfiltersystem