Reddit reviews Blue Desert SmarTube Hydration System

I'm not really sure what you are asking or what you mean by athlete but I hate bladders for hiking and hence never use them, due to the following challenges, they are difficult to clean, heavy, expensive. Its also super easy to stop for 5 seconds to take a swig from a water bottle while hiking and if you need water you could probably use a little break anyways, you shouldn't need water every five minutes. They are also very difficult to fill from standing water sources on the trails so you have to carry all your water, often unnecessarily. My small dayback has a sleeve/compartment for a bladder but I just use it to store some clothing or maps or whatever else I need for the day.

If you could somehow solve these issues, although I really cant see how much you can improve on a $1 smartwater bottle, I've seen these products

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Desert-SmarTube-Hydration-System/dp/B000GM6LWS

but they are still a hassle to clean and don't really solve a problem.

If you are running, mountain biking or skiing this is a different story, in these sports drinking from a water bottle can be cumbersome and then a bladder has some tangible benefit.

Use 1L smartwater bottles and this Blue Desert SmarTube Hydration System https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GM6LWS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ItJaAbNGEABTB

The mouthpiece sucks so browse Amazon for a replacement. I ended up pulling my mouthpiece off an old osprey bag. Smartwater bottles are super durable, BPA free, cheap, and connect well with Sawyer filter products.

I bought this recently. Haven't used it yet. I plan to hook it up to a smart water bottle and run it like a water bladder outside my pack.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000GM6LWS?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_pd_title

This is another option: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Desert-SmarTube-Hydration-System/dp/B000GM6LWS

I use it with a smart water, but it comes with multiple caps for different bottles.

This is exactly what you want:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Desert-SmarTube-Hydration-System/dp/B000GM6LWS

It comes with a Nalgene wide mouth adapter and a small valve for pressure. Careful though, that valve is easy to lose..

you talking about this one?
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Desert-SmarTube-Hydration-System/dp/B000GM6LWS

This is what I use Blue Desert Smart Tube and I use it with smartwater type bottles. I've modified mine some, I cut the hose and added quick connects to make easier for me to remove the bottle from the pack pocket and I replaced the hose and bite valve (I prefer 90°) with a insulated one that I already had.

Nice thorough review. +1.

I have the similar AK rig, and I have to admit, I wish I had gone with a 100% MOLLE rig.

I did a chunk of research the other day, and I think personally I'd have to go with a waist-loaded option. For whatever reason, having straps on my shoulders makes it annoying to really couch a blaster in my shoulder, on top of the straps -- don't ask me why, it's just always... Not quite right.

That said, if I had to rebuy my rig, I'd spend a bit more and get this setup:

• Condor Gen 2 BattleBelt + Condor Duty Belt
  
• Condor Dual AK Mag Pouch or Tri AK Mag Pouch
  
• Single-Point Sling
  
  I'd probably go with a double pouch on each side, carrying 8x18 + 2 or 3 in/on the blaster + sidearm + holdouts. More than enough.
  
  Everything's on the waist, out of the way so you keep utmost in upper-body maneuverability. Everything's also off to the side, so you can go prone/flat against walls pretty easily on either side, whereas the chest rig made bellying up to a wall less than ideal.
  
  If I wanted to go for extras, I'd want to look at a Mag Recovery Dump Pouch for one side.
  
  For those that want the shoulder support, you can get an H-Harness
  
  Now for the really crazy research that I did.
  
  I considered adding hydration of some kind, which gets a bit tricky for waist packs. The slickest hydration pack I could probably find was the Condor Hydro Harness which actually fits nicely with all of their gear -- but you need to have a compatible chest rig to use it properly... Which means things on the shoulders. Even more cobbled together solutions, such as an H-Harness + Hydration carrier has the same problem, although less so.
  
  Fortunately, there are solutions! MOLLE-compatible 'side' hydration pouches, such as the Source Kangaroo 1L or the Blackout! Side Hydration Pouch would take the water off the back. 1L is a lot less, as most backpacks are 2, 2.5, or even more in capacity. The downside of any hydration pouch is twofold in this case:
  
  

1. You don't have any good way to keep the water line near your mouth, since you lack shoulder straps.
   
   
2. Cleaning bladders is a pain!
   
   That said, Source does make some pretty awesome extras, both of which seem really useful the former of which may even work to deal with problem #1 in this case.
   
   There's another alternative to this, too, though! I personally find my Nerf habit totally niche, so I always feel a bit guilty getting something JUST for Nerf... But Nalgene bottles or the like are really useful otherwise, so that's always a nice option.
   
   

• Getting just a MOLLE Nalgene carrier or generic bottle pouch would work fine. Solid Nalgene bottles have pros and cons though. Pros: it's rigid and strong, which means it takes impact and wear very well. Cons: It's hard, so it doesn't collapse, and it's generally more bulky.
  
• You can get soft Nalgene Canteens in 32oz or 48oz and put them in some sort of suitable pouch. I imagine the 32oz canteen would fit rather well in the standard bottle carrier, although I don't know how well the bottle carrier collapses, making the presence of a canteen possibly moot.
  
• Turn any Nalgene (or smaller water bottles, if the usual 32oz is too large) into a hydration carrier with a straw adapter. Popular ones include SmarTube or Source SNEP, both of which include a Nalgene-compatible 63mm wide-mouth adapter, and the Condor Nalgene carrier has a straw pass-thru in the top. Obviously, the downside to this is that the thing you're drinking from generally needs to be upright to ensure constant water supply. Not that big of an issue, but it does limit canteen pouch options to ones that will hold the thing upright.
  
  I personally think I'd lean towards the straw option, as it's easier to clean and more universally usable, although I'm not entirely certain I'd like the bulk of a Nalgene bottle on my waist and the slosh factor, both of which are lesser issues when dealing with a bladder. Maybe I'll try and find a suitable pouch for a 32oz Nalgene canteen and get the SNEP...
  
  EDIT: Malformed link.

Can you tell me how much that hydration tube weighs?