Owner Review by Scott Thompson

MSR DromLite Bag (4 Liter)
Owner Review

October 13, 2005

Name:     Scott Thompson
Age:       22
Gender:   Male
Height:   6’5” (1.96 m)
Weight:   215 lb (98 kg)
Email:      mwasa254@yahoo.com
Location:   Provo, Utah
Background: I have been hiking and backpacking longer than I can remember, my father started bringing me along before I could even walk, and I have not stopped since. Over this past summer I went on about a dozen or so 2-5 day trips along the Wasatch front, mostly in the Lone Peak Wilderness Area. Rarely do I set up camp at established sites or even stick to established trails, I much prefer to navigate ‘unexplored’ terrain and practice leave-no-trace ethics.

Product Information:

Manufacturer:     Mountain Safety Research (MSR)
Year:                   2003
Website:              www.msrcorp.com
Listed Weight:   3.6 oz (102 g) (bag) 2.5 oz (71 g) (hose & bite valve)
Tested Weight:   3.6 oz   (102 g) (bag) 2.5 oz (71 g) (hose & valve)
Retail Price;       $19.95 (bag)     $12.95 (hose & valve)
Capacity:       4 Liters (135 fl oz)

Field Information:

Locations:     The Wasatch Mountains, Uinta National Forest and Lone Peak Wilderness Area
Description:   Mountainous backcountry, few or no established trails in places, elevation from 4,000 to 12,000 feet (1219 – 3658 m)
Weather:     4 season, sunshine to blizzards and everything in between.

Review:

Having abandoned the standard Lexan water bottle years ago as a result of self-imposed size and weight restrictions, I quickly fell in love with hydration bladders.
After taking up trail running, I quickly realized that the standard plastic bladder would no longer be enough for me. I blew out two of them with the constant pounding of running. As I was explaining my dilemma to an REI associate, he recommended the MSR DromLite Bag.
   The MSR DromLite bag is made of 200-denier Cordura, and is laminated with food-grade polyurethane. I have not noticed any lingering tastes after using it with sports drinks, as long as I wash it out when I get home. It has a medium grommet on the end opposite standard “Nalgene” size lid. I have since added a small grommet with a piece of accessory cord in the end with the lid to make filling it a bit easier. It comes with a small canteen spigot that screws into the bigger lid, this is what I use when backpacking, as it saves me a little more weight and makes it easier to regulate my water intake. I use the hose when running or day hiking, but found that their Bullet Bite Valve leaked after about a month or two of use. I have since replaced it with a superb bite valve made by another manufacturer.
I have been using it on at least a weekly basis for over six months now and have not experienced any problems with it. Filling from a pump is easy when I hang the bag from my wrist with the customized cord, before I added that it was a very difficult one-man job to pump it full. I have beat the daylights out of this bag, it has run hundreds of miles with me and backpacked hundreds more, and it seems just as strong as the day I bought it. MSR’s website claims it will handle freezing and boiling temperatures, though I have not experimented with either.
This is a great, lightweight, very durable hydration bladder that fits in most hydration packs designed for 2-4 liter bladders. It is great for everything that I do outside and I plan to continue using it exclusively for a long, long time.

Likes:
-Size – very small when empty
-Weight
-Durability – absolutely bombproof from what I have seen.

Dislikes:
-Very hard to fill by myself without an MSR pump or a customized hanging system.
-No volume markers (the flexibility makes this difficult to be accurate, but I have added my own.)
-Bullet Bite Valve leaked after only a month of use. I have been told that they have redesigned their bite valve, though I have not tried the new one.

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Reviews > Hydration Systems > Bladders > MSR 4-liter DromLite Bag > Owner Review by Scott Thompson

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