Gear

After much agonising, the Macpac Pursuit Classic is looking like the new rucksack - although it wouldn't kill them to knock a couple of hundred grams off it.

Anyway, the biggest annoyance seems to be that Macpac don't support hydration systems. Has anyone managed to rig their own on this sack, or am I back in water bottle land?

I've used hydration bladder thingies with old sacks: I simply fed the tube out under the lid and pulled it round over my shoulder, and it seemed to work fine.

I have a MacPac and its got a hydration pouch in the rear but no holes to pass the tube through because macpac believe this goes against their waterproof rucsac ideal. I pass my tube out under the lid and then over my shoulder too. By using and elastic band on the shoulder strap you can stop if from disappearing behind you.

If you don't have an internal pouch I would recommend the bladder systems that come in stand alone insultated form like my 3l camelbak. This will stand up in the rucsac anyway and can be moved to a point of balance to suite you. As its insulated it doesn't freeze in winter