I have used 3 or 4 other brands of hydration bladders, and this one by Osprey is by far the best. They call it the “hydrafoam reservoir”, but let’s just call it a bladder for simplicity. All the others made the water taste like plastic, but not this one. There is no funny taste with this bladder. The handle is also really handy… very easy to hold and fill by your self. When you grab the handle, you are able to keep the entire thing flat and level to minimize spills. Not so with every other bladder I’ve used. The bite valve can be turned left or right to shut off the flow, and straight ahead to get your water. I also happen to own an Osprey Aether 85 backpack, and the sternum strap came equipped with a circular magnet clipped to it which you can then connect to the magnet on the back of the bite valve base that swivels. This keeps your bite valve in place while you hike.
The only real downside to the hydrafoam reservoir is the extra size and weight compared to Camelbak and other brands. Worth the extra weight for me. Osprey claims 8.8 ounces, but my scale says 10.8 ounces.
