I haven’t been able to find any recent reviews of the Dakine Drafter, the bag itself appears to be perfect for my needs, but how is the bladder?

Always been a camelbak fan but recently am getting fed up of leaky bite valves, having to pour boiling water over the tube to get it off the bladder for cleaning, and stuff puncturing the bladder as it shares the main compartment of my existing bag.

So is the Dakine roll top bladder any good? Any issues with the quick release tube leaking? Bite valve nice to use?

My gf and I are both looking to buy one so its a lot of money to spend if it turns out to be a mistake.

Thanks 🙂

I’ve got the nomad, the bladder i think is excellent. I also have a camelbak, but prefer using my nomad for comfort, and ease of use of the bladder. Probably the best thing about it, is you can get your hand in the to give it a scrub when it goes a bit manky (i use mine everyday so it’s usually always drink in it.

HTH

Have a look at the Hydrapak Big Sur. I’ve just got one. Seems good, bladder turns inside out for cleaning and drying, pipe attaches to bag with QR stop valve, bite doesn’t leak (yet). First negative I’ve found is that the lock on the bite valve is a twisty thingy and it’s a 2 handed job.

The bladder Dakine use is made by Hydrapak, just had to go check, thought it sounded familiar!

i have recently gone from cheep packs to a Dakine nomad. the bladder is massive 3L and there is loads of room in there for other stuff. easy to clean out and the removable hose is great. as other people have said the lock on the valve can be a two handed job.

The bladder itself is good, the bite valve is really stiff to lock/unlock.

I have the Drafter, and the pack itself is superb, enough room for most stuff plus straps for pads etc

i use a nomad. well made, well thought out, comfy and the bladder and bite valve are great.

The pack is really nice, well made but the bladder in mine leaked like a very leaky thing.. pretty common for Dakine packs, dont know if the later ones have bladders that are updated though..

Thanks guys 🙂

I went for the Nomad in the end, gf went for the Drafter. All is good except that both bite valves drip if you leave them unlocked, combined with the ‘just doable with one hand’ lock this is a bit of a pain, but I can live with it as the bladder seems better overall.

(I take it they all drip?)

No. They should only drip when they are compressed. Something that happens either when you bite the valve or when its stored in the car and you accidentally put something on it (that’s why it’s useful to lock the valve when it’s in transit).

I had the previous Dakine bladder in my Nomad and had to replace the bite valve after 12 months, because it started to drip and I had to keep locking it. Then the connection started leakingat the bottom of the bladder. So I replaced it with the new Dakine roll top bladder, which is much better. Seems to be much better quality. No drips and no leaks so far…