Camelbak Helena

Excellent – Overall I LOVE this day pack. I bought a second bladder (1.5L) to use in conjunction with the 3L bladder this bag comes with for very long day hikes where refilling isn't an option and also so I could have the large bladder w/ sports drink and the small one with water. This works ok except the 2nd bladder will not comfortably fit inside the bladder compartment so I had to rig up a hanger inside the main cargo compartment of the bag (I sewed in a string to hang the small bladder off and wrap it in a sturdy plastic bag for protection).

Mine did not come with the side compression straps joined together as they are in the photo. This is good because I feel being joined it creates big loops that are perfect for catching on branches as you walk.

The Air Director back panel is pretty good at keeping you dry and isn't too hot(still gets a bit sweaty).

I am soooo happy I bought this bag and I thoroughly recommended it for the shortest or longest day hikes. Love it!! The design is great, its lightweight, with the 3L bladder it holds enough for most days. Obviously you don't have to fill it to full if you don't need to. The pack looks awesome and its very comfortable on.

Its pretty easy to stuff your outer layer into the big overflow storage pocket on the back and this keeps your jacket or whatever more protected than it would under elastic like on other bags. But it will get wet there if it rains and you don't put a pack cover on.

The little sunnies/ipod pocket is tops (soft and fluffy on the inside).

With the compression straps totally loose there is actually quite a lot of room for cargo - at first you think there is hardly any room cause the bladder compartment curves into the cargo hold and takes up a lot of room, but all that water has to go somewhere right.

I love the side pockets which can store heaps especially snacks that you can access on the go (if you are nimble) and smaller mesh side pockets on the waist straps to hold tissues or whatever even closer to you for on the go access (again nimble finger help here).

I like the organiser in the front pocket - with keyhook so you don't loose them! And the water resistant zip on the front pocket is good.

I also love the fact that the sternum strap is adjustable up and down the shoulder straps, I saw my friend's expensive pack didn't have this feature and the strap was in totally the wrong position for her! The only main design flaw I've noticed so far is on this and other womens fit Camelbaks the bladder tube goes through elastic which is sewn into the circles on the top of the shoulder straps. The mens have the elastic separate to those circles. The drawback is that the elastic is tighter and shorter meaning its quite hard to get the drinking nozzle through and the elastic is starting to get ruined already after 4 uses. But this is minor and will be unlikely to alter the performance of the bag significantly if at all. In the event of the elastic breaking or pulling out it would not be hard to sew on new elastic albeit not looking so good.

Th only other con is I THINK the waist and chest straps slowly slide looser as you walk. Im not sure about this yet but again it is a marginal issue.

On the organiser it needs a zip up small pocket for little valuable easily lost items (in my case my wedding rings) there is a velcro pocket but it doesn't seal up so little items could fall out. BTW 'pull out organiser' doesn't mean removable, just in case you thought it did. You can pull it out to access things in it but it doesn't come out. Not that you would want to take it out cause it's cool.