Best Hydration Packs For Snowboarding

Updated August 28, 2020

Like most outdoor activities, snowboarding is all fun until you start feeling dehydrated because you couldn’t bring a water bottle down with you since it’s bulky and poses an inconvenience, especially during extreme sports. Here is when a hydration pack for snowboarding can come in handy. A snowboard specific hydration pack allows you to carry a water bladder on your back in a compact and stable manner that will give you the needed stability and take away the hassle of going out of your way to stay hydrated during your day.

DolfinPack Extreme Sports Hydration Pack

The Best Snowboarding Hydration Pack

The DolfinPack is one that offers straight-to-the-point functionality with its light and minimalistic structure.

Our pick

The DolfinPack is one that offers straight-to-the-point functionality with its light and minimalistic structure. Made out of weather-proof material, it weighs only 5.6 ounces and fits snuggly onto your upper back that you’ll barely realize you have it on. The elastic straps on this pack ensure a form-fitted and comfortable carry on top of or right under your snowboard jacket. The Velcro straps that replace the usual plastic buckles on most hydration packs allow you to easily adjust the straps on this pack and even more easily, take it off. It comes with a BPA-free 1.5-liter reservoir and features a neoprene tube cover to prevent freezing in the tube during extremely cold weather.

Aduro Sport Hydration Backpack

Largest Capacity

The DolfinPack is one that offers straight-to-the-point functionality with its light and minimalistic structure.

Made out of Ripstop materials, this pack is durable, breathable, and comes with easily adjustable straps. It’s extremely lightweight at only 0.8 lbs but at the same time, offers side storage pockets and an easy-access front storage pocket along with a roomy main compartment so that you can store all your snowboarding accessories, like gloves and such. It has a bounce-free chest strap that secures the pack in place without having to worry about it sliding from side to side. The straps also include a tube port on each side allowing you to place the insulated tube of the included BPA-free bladder on the side of your preference. It comes with 3 bladder capacity options; 1.5 liters, 2 liters, or 3 liters.

MIRACOL Hydration Backpack with 2L Water Bladder

Best Insulation

The pack comes with multiple storage compartments large enough to fit your accessories. Although it is made out of hefty materials, it remains lightweight and durable.

The Miracol hydration pack comes with multiple storage compartments large enough to fit your accessories. Although it is made out of hefty materials, it remains lightweight and durable. The interiors offer full thermal insulation and the exteriors include Molle webbing to attach several different items to. The pack is highly stable because of the strapping mechanism which includes a waist belt with side pockets, a chest strap, and easily adjustable shoulder straps. It can carry a hydration bladder of a capacity up to 2 liters and offers dual tube ports on both shoulder straps along with an insulated tube for thermal protection.

InnerFit Hydration Backpack

Best Insulation

The InnerFit is made out of durable Ripstop material and feature 6 storage compartment on different areas of the bag to allow for maximum versatility and ease of access.

The InnerFit is made out of durable Ripstop material and feature 6 storage compartment on different areas of the bag to allow for maximum versatility and ease of access. That includes side, front, top, and bottom pockets. It also comes with 3 different body straps to ensure a snug and bounce-free fit through all your activities. It comes with a BPA-free, taste-free, and leak-proof 2-liter bladder that is fed through dual shoulder tube ports. And worry not about your tube’s mouth-piece getting dirty, this tube comes with a mouth-piece cap to protect your water supply.

CamelBak Phantom Snowboard Hydration Pack

Best Insulation

One of the most compact designs that manage to pack so much more than you’d expect, the upgraded Phantom has an avalanche gear storage compartment within its main compartment.

One of the most compact designs that manage to pack so much more than you’d expect, the upgraded Phantom has an avalanche gear storage compartment within its main compartment. And then it also includes cargo pockets on the hip strap giving you and easy-access pocket whilst maintaining the pack’s stability. The external straps on this pack provide several snowboard-carrying options; A-frame, diagonal, or even vertically with a snowboard. The pack also comes with helmet hooks to hook your snowboarding helmet on. It comes with a 3-liter hydration bladder and includes a therminator harness that protects your water supply by zipping the tube up in an insulated sleeve embedded in the shoulder strap.

CamelBak SnoBlast Winter Hydration Pack

You can attach your snowboard, snowshoes, or your helmet to any of the external carry points and hop straight on the lift.

The Snoblast pack is one that is actually comfortable on chair lifts, imagine that. You can attach your snowboard, snowshoes, or your helmet to any of the external carry points and hop straight on the lift. The bag has 3 zippers to the roomy main compartment, making it a lot easier to access your belongings in the bag. The pack also has a side expansion panel that when released, can give your pack an extra 6 liters of storage. It also features 4-point compression to keep your stuff safely stowed away without damaging the pack. It comes with a 2-liter reservoir – just 1 liter short of the Phantom model – and features the same therminator harness that prevents your water from freezing in the tube. A plus though, is that with this pack you can completely zip away your tube to keep it clean and out of sight.

CamelBak Bootlegger Snowboard Hydration Pack, 50oz

It’s very light, at only 13.6 ounces and has dual sternum straps to ensure stability while snowboarding.

This CamelBak model can fit snuggly right under your snowboarding jacket without any discomfort. It’s very light, at only 13.6 ounces and has dual sternum straps to ensure stability while snowboarding. This pack is only made for hydration purposes and does not feature a storage compartment. It includes an insulated reservoir compartment that carries a bladder of up to 500 milliliters and like all CamelBaks, has an insulated tube cover to protect your water supply and a valve cover to keep your mouth-piece clean.

What features should you consider before buying a snowboarding hydration pack?

Here are some things you may want to consider before purchasing a hydration pack for snowboarding:

Hydration Capacity

Figuring out whether or not you’ll be needing capacity for storage beforehand takes out a lot of thinking from the purchasing process. Some hydration packs come with extra storage space for stowing away your gear and accessories. Others are simply made to carry a water bladder and nothing else.

However, packs also differ in their storage and reservoir capacities. You should keep in mind how much water you intend on carrying during your activities. One of the packs mentioned above carries as little as half a liter while another carries an astounding 3 liters. You should also keep in mind that the more water you carry, the heavier the pack will be so you should find a balance between the weight and the reservoir capacity that best suits you.

Hydration Pack Size

One other thing you should consider is how compact the pack is. Some snowboarders prefer smaller packs due to the fact that they can be worn right under their snowboard jackets while others wouldn’t mind a larger pack that can only be worn on the outside of their jackets due of the extra storage space it provides.

External Back Pack Straps

This can be a deal-breaker for some as some snowboarders need hydration packs that double as carrying straps for their gear. Some packs also mentioned above include external straps where you can hook your snowboard or even your helmet on to and take out the need to carry your gear yourself. You should be aware though, that when the snowboard is strapped onto the back of your pack, it might make it a little more difficult to ride on a lift.

What makes a good hydration pack for snowboarding?

Here are some of the essential features you’ll need in a snowboarding hydration pack:

Hydration Pack Insulation

The proper thermal insulation is essential for any hydration pack to be functional during snowboarding especially since this kind of activity is performed in what is almost always sub-zero weather.

Sometimes, because of how cold the weather is, a snowboarder may find that the water freezes in the tube making it a lot
harder to sip water through. A handy tip if that ever happens is to blow into the tube until it’s cleared and then drink.

To spare yourself this inconvenience, however, you should find a hydration pack that offers some sort of thermal insulation for the water reservoir and the drinking tube. A proper snowboarding hydration pack will have a tube cover, usually made of neoprene material to offer some insulation and protection for the tube.

Backpack Stability

Stability is a big deal especially during snowboarding; you don’t want to worry about your hydration pack bouncing around or sliding off to the sides as you snowboard. Usually, a snuggly fitted pack will not move around too much, however, the addition of straps definitely helps. Some packs are made to stay put, others come with chest and waist straps that help them stay put. You also want to find a pack with adjustable shoulder straps. This will allow you to get the best out of your pack by adjusting it yourself to fit you perfectly.

Drip-free Hydration Valve

The tube on your hydration bladder has a mouth-piece at the end of it where you drink from. Most mouth-pieces are made out of a valve that only lets water through if you bite down on it; this ensures that the tube will not drip or let water through unless the valve is in your mouth, making sure that none of your water is wasted.

Some tubes also come with an on and off toggle that completely shut off the water during downtime and allows you to turn it
back on when you will be needing to drink.

Wrap up

Your choice of what snowboarding hydration pack is best for you ultimately depends on your needs. For instance, someone that needs the extra storage space would probably opt for the CamelBak Phantom unless they’re on a tighter budget, then I’d recommend the Miracol model. For someone that is not very concerned with extra storage then a simple functional pack like the DolfinPack would be the best fit.