Right, I’ve had my USWE F4 Pro hydration system for a few weeks now and used it on a variety of different rides so thought it time to jot down my thoughts. They’re pretty new to the MTB scene, having established themselves in the moto x community before branching out. I decided to take the plunge a few weeks back and bought one. I haven’t regretted it………….!

The pack:

As you can see the pack has a variety of pockets, the main compartment holds the Hydrapak bladder in a zip-up elasticated sleeve. There’s also room in this pocket for things like sandwiches/windproof/first aid kit. In addition there’s a mesh pouch to hold anything you don’t want rattling around loose. This compartment isn’t very deep so it wont carry anything huge, but its been perfectly adequate for all-day excursions into the hills.

Next up is a small zipped compartment-ideal for smartphones or GPS’s. This has a water resistant zip, but as with any zip of this type if you’re putting something delicate and electronic in there don’t expect it to stay 100% dry should you fall in a river or get rained on all day.

The next section is expandable and held in place with small buckles on webbing and is designed to throw in a jacket or something compressible. This is the part of the pack where you’ll find the helmet fastenings, allowing either a full face or regular helmet to be attached. Its just a simple bungee arrangement, but it works and doesn’t add any weight or bulk.

Up front is another zippable compartment, with a number of organising elements including elasticated straps, mesh and small pockets or varying sizes. This is ideal to put a couple of tubes/multitools etc in, as well as the requisite zip ties! Unfortunately it wasn’t quite tall enough to fit my pump in, but that was easily stashed in the main compartment.

So thats the body of the pack dealt with-now onto the harness. As you can tell from the pictures this pack doesn’t use the same harness design as most MTB hydration packs. It does away with the waist belt entirely, opting for what my girlfriend described as a parachute harness instead. USWE describe it as as “No Dancing Monkey” technology-the implication being this pack doesn’t move about like other packs do.

The harness is fully adjustable using velcro, and cleverly is adjustable whilst you have it on, allowing you to fine tune the fit without faffing about taking it on and off. The straps are all elasticated so the pack really does hug your body. Its secured in the centre of the chest by a standard plastic buckle. The shoulders of the harness are a ventilated mesh construction, which seems to work in preventing too much sweatiness.

The back of the pack has 2 large padded mesh sections running down either side-these have small silicon grippers on them to help prevent movement in the pack. The back is slightly stiffened with thin foam to help it keep shape and stop things from the body poking the rider in the back.

The 2.75l hydration pack is provided by HydraPak and utilised a folding and sliding arrangement at the top to allow a wide fill. Its supposedly designed as a disposable component, but I’ve rinsed mine and put it in the freezer after every ride and suffered no ill consequences. It has a quick release hose at the bladder end, which saves unthreading the hose which is a neat touch. The bite-valve is slightly different in design to CamelBaks offerings, but works well and provides plenty of flow. The whole bite-valve twists to prevent accidental operation-always a useful feature.

So whats it like in use? One word. FANTASTIC! Its a very comfortable pack to ride with-so comfortable in fact that its easy to forget you have it on. Most importantly for me there is NO movement with it on. I always found myself distracted by my CamelBak bouncing about over rough terrain and found it quite annoying. With the USWE pack there are no such issues. It sticks to your back like a limpet. Its big enough for most day long rides and the build quality seems tough without being heavy duty. The hydration system works very well and contrary to some reports seems robust. I had a big crash at speed and didn’t burst or split it.

In conclusion I would go as far as saying its revolutionised riding for me! The bite-valve has a convenient clip on the harness to stop it flapping about-everything about this pack has been cleverly designed to work without intruding on the rider. Yes it is expensive, but so are most of the gadgets we buy for our sport! This is definitely one of those products where you get what you pay for.

whoops, forgot the tags 😳

CORRECTION: On the A and F line of packs by USWE the bladder isNOT a disposable item! I thought it seemed too well built to throw away! The bladder also has a clever baffled design to prevent the bladder slumping as it’s emptied. Its also possible to turn the bladder entirely inside out. It’s certainly bests the bladders in my CamelBak for ease of cleaning and use and the baffle is a genius idea!

Nice review, the strap system is similar to the shimano packs. I can see the advantage as my camelbak waist strap sits too high so it restricts breathing if you tension it.