Water storage on vehicle seat back

[articulate]

I think this is an odd little device, but clever at the same time. Called the Hydra (made by Rompalicious), it's essentially a water bladder that's designed to attach to your driver or passenger seats.

I'm used to packing a 20 liter Scepter water can for filling one-liter Nalgenes throughout the day, and it works fine. I'm going to try this bladder style system for awhile, though, and perhaps use it as a supplemental water source.

It holds 2.5 gallons, uses ballistic nylon, heavy duty zippers, and nylon webbing. It also comes with two hoses, one with a bite valve with a holding magnet, and one with a drain valve.

Bonus usage: It was developed by a "Jeep guy" so it also secures around the side roll bar(s) in the back:

Some other cool details about it: the bladder is made by Nalgene, so it's antimicrobial and puncture resistant. The attachment for the hose uses a very slick quick connect, so you can swap the hoses easily and while the bladder is full of water without losing any.

I didn't verify this yet, but I believe the whole contraption is made in the U.S.A.

Anyway, I picked up two of these Hydras and have been using them for a few weeks . . . here are some photos for you.

The uber-nice quality bladder/reservoir, shown with the drain hose attached:

The quick connect:

You can get a good glimpse of the heavy ballistic nylon, straps, and zippers:

What's cool about the drain hose is that you can take advantage of gravity and use it for general dispensing:

What are your thoughts? How does this idea strike you?

 

[tibaal89]

That's pretty cool.... useful use of not very useful space. Also would free up cupholder space and require less frequent filling.

I like it! :elkgrin:

 

[Ireland]

Cool product, all you need now is a hose through the floor boards for the waste water and you would never need to stop:hehe:

 

[Seth Kendall]

I have been doing a simplified version of this for years in my vehicles using my Camelbaks. They don't hold as much water, nor do they have the neat hoses and quick release, but you can take them with you as backpacks on hikes, and they allow some small storage while driving. The roll bar attachment option is really cool. This seems like a great product... what's the price?

 

[articulate]

Surprisingly reasonable at $89. That's the same neighborhood as a CamelBak (depending on which pack, I guess).

 

[flyingwil]

My first thought it is that it is a good idea.

As mentioned above, it is similar to mounting a camelbak on the seat back. I did that for a while and found the water to get rather funky when the vehicle was parked in the sun for some time. (think of this in the Frontier)...

The weight seems to be doing a number to the seat as well. How well does it hold up on washboards?

 

[Seth Kendall]

That's not a bad price, especially considering the price of most Camelbacks. I think I will still stick with my bags since I have them already, but if I didn't I would definitely look into this product. Costco has some nice knock-off camelbacks that are only $19 that I know my brother-in-law uses. It's a great set up if you have kids too. They can use the water without you having to stop the car and reach around in back to get them a bottle of water.

 

[adventureduo]

Interesting, looks like a big camel back. I dont think i'd want that much weight on my seat, it already has to carry my weight leaning on it. I just went out and looked at my solar camp shower. Why not just take a camp shower and bungee it around your head rest. The hose pulls off and it has a valve already on it. Holds 5 gallons instead of 2.5 (however i wouldn't fill it full, too much weight). $7 bucks. Done. I've had my solar bag on my hi-lift on washboards and it has never ripped off.

 

[Brian McVickers]

Similar to the MSR Dromedary Bags that range in size from 2L - 10L. They also have a sipper tube or shower tube attachments.
http://www.msrgear.com/hydration/dromedary.asp

:snorkel:

 

[BIGdaddy]

i really like these for a lot of reasons:

-----they would be using space in my rig that is not very useful as it is right now. we sometimes pack the area full of blankets, but those could go somewhere else, now that i have my camp chairs/table and ground tent stored up on the roof.

-----one observation for those with jeeps, these would be great to shade little ones in the back seat from the sun...even with the deeply tinted windows on my hard top, they still get blasted when in the rear seat. these would do well to mitigate that, and keep us from having to jerry rig something on the freeway when we realize once again that our kids are in the sun.

-----i also like that I can keep these bladders fully installed, empty in my rig, ready to go, and not impact the load space available with the seat out, as they would hang above the wheelwells and out of the way.

-----as stated on the website, they would weigh practically nothing when not needed. (same with plastic jerry cans i guess, other than the obvious space lost from a hard sided container.)

-----yet another benefit is the lowered center of gravity vs. being on the roof rack. probably about... what?...a foot/foot and half lower vs. a roof rock mount?

-----and yet another is that in the unlikely event of a vehicle rollover, if these became detached, i would think they might be a bit less likely
to do serious damage than a hard sided container [shrug] but i'm not sure on that.

-----i've always been less than happy about storing water outside due to the exposure to the elements...dirt=dirty water, heat=hot water, cold=frozen water, etc...inside they'd at least have a chance at not being effected. i've been down many dusty sierra fireroads, and everything gets coated with that fine bull dust, no matter what. add water to that...yuck...lol


this post sounds like a commercial, but i'm really just thinking out loud.


i'll have to talk to the boss about these.

 

[BIGdaddy]

Similar to the MSR Dromedary Bags that range in size from 2L - 10L. They also have a sipper tube or shower tube attachments.
http://www.msrgear.com/hydration/dromedary.asp

:snorkel:

haha...those are nice, too...probably would be easy to rig up the ties to mount them on the rollbar like the original product posted...

 

[ox4mag]

I've found the Hydra setup to work very nicely on one-day trail rides and extended excursions. Like a Camelback, the system allows accessibility to water while driving without the distraction of reaching down to grab a cup or water bottle. The quality is superb and from my experience, the issue of added weight on the seat was unnoticeable to me. Also, in comparison to the MSR Dromedary bags, this setup has all the straps, etc to make the system work "straight out of the box." IMO it's a quality, practical product that is made in the U.S.

You can check it out in more detail directly on the Rompalicious website at:

http://shoplive.rompalicious.com/

 

[Pad]

I have been doing a simplified version of this for years in my vehicles using my Camelbaks.

X2- and for a real treat...freeze the bladder! Stays froze for a while and oh so cool on a hot day.Sometimes I keep one in the cooler for hiking, can you say personal air conditioning. Sure it sweats and drips down your back, but when its the heat of the summer, nothin feels better.

Pad

 

[nwoods]

Mark, do you have any photos of what this looks like on or from the front of your seatback?

 

[RoundOut]

DevinSixtySeven did this kind of a mod putting them under and/or behind his front seats in the Tundra.


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