FÅ«l Cargo Hydration Pack Review

Recently I have gotten the chance to use & review the Fūl Cargo hydration pack. The pack comes with a 2 liter bladder (a little smaller than I normally use, but still workable) and has a fold over type opening (as opposed to the twist cap like Camelbak) and a push/pull lockout on the bite valve. The bladder has its own dedicated compartment with temperature shielding material to ensure your drink says cool. The pack has four main compartments, one of which is for the bladder. The other two are large multi-purpose compartments, and the last is a smaller front compartment that looks like it is geared toward your keys, wallet, phone, and MP3 player of choice. The main pocket is also expandable via a zippered release. While I don’t have any specifics on the volume of what the pack can carry, with the main pocket fully unzipped the pack can carry a good amount of stuff. (I put a small blanket inside the pack to shoot the picture of it full.) There are two side straps on to lock down all your gear from shifting around during use. There is also a pocket on the front left shoulder strap that could be used for a MP3 player or alternative location for your cell phone. My PDA/smart-phone style phone did not fit well in this pocket, but a standard phone should fit ok. Plus, personally, I would never risk losing or damaging my phone in a compartment that does not seal in one way or another. While the pack does not have a rain cover, it does a have a mesh netting that can be used to carry an XC helmet.

The best thing about the pack is the weight. The pack itself is very light. My normal pack is a Camelbak Mule with a 3 liter bladder. Even when completely empty and unpacked my pack itself still has some good weight to it. The Fūl Cargo however is feather light, and this is by far its best feature. The biggest issue I had with the Cargo was the bit valve. It did not allow enough water through the opening. It was like trying to take a drink through a coffee straw. The other problem with the bite valve is that it never completely closed. If gravity was pulling in favor of the bite valve, it would drip incessantly. I found this out the hard way with a mess on my kitchen floor. I had to always remember to store the pack with the bite valve at the top. The other issue I had was that there was not a good anchor point for hold the tubing during the ride. I can’t stand the end flopping around as I zip through the trails. I ended up looping it through the chest strap to keep it from floundering around.

The other issue I had with was the size of the pack. It seemed to be sized for the typical XC rider, small and thin. I had to wear it with all the straps as their maximum allowance to fit me. In the grand scheme of things, I may definitely be on the larger side, I’m not near any extreme in the size department of mountain bikers. Basically this pack just runs on the small side. This didn’t make it unusable for me, but it is not for the XL+ riders. Overall this is definitely a usable pack, but it also has room for improvement.

Overview:
Pros:
-Good amount of storage room
-Lots of pockets
-Will carry a helmet
Cons:
-Bite valve
-No rain cover
-Small & Narrow (at least for bigger riders)

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