I was looking for a hydration bladder that would fit into my
EXO Mountain hunting backpack. I know there's lots of outdoor adventure brands
selling hydration packs & hydration bladders. I came across the company Source Tactical. It is
a company based in Israel, & its origins are making products for the Israeli Defense Force.
That got my attention. So what I have here is hydration pack from Source Tactical. It
includes a 3L 100 ounce hydration bladder. I'll spin around so you have a look at the back.
I'm really pleased with this Source Tactical hydration pack & bladder. Join me in this video
as I explain to you its features. Let's talk through this product. The RIDER product is
Source Tactical's premier low profile hydration pack designed specifically for ballistic vest
integration, & yet quickly converts for backpack carriage or rucksack insertion. This product
is a component of Source Tactical's Virtus soldier system selected by the United Kingdom
Ministry of Defence in 2015 for the British armed forces. On the front, you'll see 1, 2, 3,
4 X-QCA Quick Cross Connect. They allow the RIDER hydration pack to securely mount to
ballistic vests or backpacks with no need for additional straps or hardware.
How this is achieved is by undoing this buckle & then loosening this
& inserting this into the molle of the ballistic vest or backpack. So through
something like this, & then pulling this clip through. And eventually clipping it back up.
So that would secure 1,2, 3, 4 of those clips to the ballistic vest or the backpack molle.
You'll also note there are 3 rows of molle webbing, & 2rolls of velcro. There's a strong
carry handle. And on both sides, there's an entry portal for the drinking hose to feed through -
including one on this side. On the bottom, there is a belt & tab to secure this lid.
On the bottom of the pack, there's also a drain hole in case there's water collected
in the bag, it can drain away quickly. The lid of this bag actually has a zip,
& it allows the user to deposit things in here - small items. So that's helpful. And there's a zip
on the right - undo that. Zip on the left - undo that. And I'm able to access water inside. Inside
I have the Source Tactical WLPS hydration bladder 3L 100 ounce. I'll take it out for you later.
Looking at the rear of the pack. That's 2 shoulder harness.
And you put the drinking hose either on this shoulder strap or the other shoulder strap.
And it's held in by velcro, & you can adjust the straps for length by adjusting this lower
bottom part. And there is a sternum strap.
If you intend to use this hydration pack together with a ballistic vest
or on the back of a backpack attached to the molle webbing, then what you can do is
undo this shoulder straps by removing the bottom half completely.
& tucking that strap into the pocket at the back.
And you can fold this end in.
There's an elastic band & you can tuck this into the hole
at the rear. So that eliminates the shoulder strap. And you just use the 4 buckles 1, 2, 3
4 to attach to the molle webbing of your ballistic vest or backpack. The rear pocket
is empty but there is a luminous safety strap inside. If you flick that across,
that safety strap can be strapped to the front cover. And if you're wearing this
is a good safety tag. Obviously this is not something to use in a military tactical situation.
But if you're hunting that is useful. Now let's look at how you remove the hydration bladder. At the
top, you see that the hydration bladder is strapped in to the top with a velcro. Just remove that
& then then push on the tab of the QMT Quick Mate Technology to release
the tube. So that is the QMT. This is the SQC. This is Source Quick Connect. They pair together.
The advantage of this QMT technology is even when there's water in the bladder,
there's a valve that stops it pushing out so you don't have a mess & you don't lose water.
So now the hose can be detached & I simply need to take the bladder out.
So this is Source Tactical WLPS low profile 3L 100 ounce water bladder.
Source Tactical makes a few different models but my preference was to go for this model
which simply has a wide access for water at the top. There are other models which have a
wide access at the top, & also a cap access on the side. This bladder has a Widepac technology
which allows the wide opening. You flick it open. So essentially there's 1 layer, 2 layers
& the third layer reinforcement. So when you fold over you're actually getting 5 layers.
So that's very rugged. To put the lock back. So you see where the
string is attached. It's attached to the end of the neck with the wide hole &
the other end has the narrower hole. So take the wide hole. Put it the opposite end.
Slide it in - very easy. If I open up the bladder for you, you see in the middle that there's a divider seam
securing it. That seam runs about three quarter length down the depth of the bladder. When the
bladder fills up, it prevents the bladder from bulging out too much. So the seam allows the
bladder to maintain a low profile. There are 2 other technologies Source Tactical has put into
this bladder. The first one it calls Glass-Like film. The second is called Grunge-Guard.
These 2 technologies prevent the growth of bacteria inside. The Grunge-Guard also exists in
the inner tube. If I push on the tab, I separate the QMT which is the Quick Mate Technology
& the SQC which is the Source Quick Connect. The cover of this tube protects the inner tube from
UV light damage. Source Tactical have 2 models of mouthpieces. The one that comes standard supplied
with this bladder is the STORM valve. This is the STORM valve. There is a dirt shield. All you do is
pull it out. There's a string that retains it so you don't lose the cap. And if you want to keep this
mouthpiece accessible & open for a long time, pull this string through the gap. Lift the string
up. It catches into a narrow gap, so it locks that string in the position. And the cap stays there.
So that's great. It doesn't knock around & annoy you. STORM valve has a lock mechanism. What you do
is you twist it anti-clockwise & it unlocks. Then you pull it out & the water will run. You
do not have to bite on it. If you push it back, the water should stop flowing. And you turn it
clockwise again, it will lock. You can also rotate this completely 360 in any direction & it will
still function. You notice there's a little knob here & a notch. So when these 2 are aligned,
that means it's locked. So if I twist it again anti-clockwise, it's unlocked but water is not
flowing yet. And then if I pull it out, water will flow the benefit of the STORM valve system is this.
There may be times when I want water to just flow continuously. For instance, if I'm washing a wound.
The STORM valve system may not be suitable for some modes of use. For instance, if you're riding a
bicycle then your 2 hands are on the handle. You do not want to have to take one hand off
twist it. Or have to take 2 hands one to grip this, & the other one to twist it & pull it out.
That's not practical. So in that case, there is another valve called the HELIX valve.
I'll show that to you later. The Source Tactical mouthpieces can be completely
dismantled for proper maintenance & cleaning. To do that, push on the tab. Release it & then
it comes off.
And you'll see there's prongs in there. If I use my finger to push prong, it will release
the other end. So all 3 pieces of the STORM valve can be disassembled for proper
cleaning. To put it back again, insert
till the prongs click in. And then push that back in completely &
it's completely assembled. And then push the SQC to the QMT - done.
I'm g1oing to fill this bladder up just from a water bottle through the neck.
As you can see, there's water in there & the QMT valve stops the water running out.
So you don't get a mess & you don't waste water. Let me secure the neck.
Excellent. I'll show you how you put the bladder back into the hydration pack.
Lastly, connect the tube back to the QMT & it's done. Close the lid & zip it up.
And you're good. Everything about the hydration bladder & hydration pack is well designed &
manufactured with good robust material. It is a fantastic product. You've now seen the standard
features of the Source Tactical RIDER hydration pack & bladder. I now want to show you some
optional accessories you can get. Firstly, there is the hydration upgrade kit which includes a
STORM valve & a UTA Universal Tube Adapter. It comes with a QMT Quick Mate Technology. There
is also the HELIX valve you can use instead of the STORM valve . There's a tube brush for cleaning the
drinking hose . And there's an SQC Quick Connector. Let's talk about the hydration upgrade kit. This
kit includes the STORM valve. It includes the UTA which is the Universal Tube Adapter.
It also includes the QMT Quick Mate Technology. We know about the STORM valve already because it
comes standard with any of Source Tactical hydration bladders such as here. So this can
become a spare. So the UTA looks like that. It has a outlet tube that you connect to the
hydration hose. It has a valve & it has a flexible rubber adapter.
This is where you can push in the nose of a water bottle or push this up into a water tap. As you
know, to fill water in the hydration bladder, we can either remove the bladder completely from its
hydration pack. Open the wide excess neck & fill water from the neck. Alternatively, if you
want to fill water without taking the bladder out. The solution is to use the UTA. You push to release
the mouthpiece. Then you take the UTA. You push in & mate it to the QMT. With this in place, you
can push this into the neck of a water tap. Turn the tap on & it will fill the water bladder.
Alternatively, if you have a water bottle, you can invert the water bottle push the neck of the water
bottle into this nozzle. Water will flow into the bladder. So this is a very useful adapter to allow
you to quickly refill your water bladder without removing it from your pack. All Source Tactical
hydration bladders come standard with the STORM valve. To operate the STORM valve. It is in locked
position when the pimple is aligned with the notch. To unlock it. Turn the valve anti-clockwise.
Water will not flow yet until you pull the valve out. Water will then continue to flow under gravity.
So this is useful where for instance you need to clean your wound. And you just want water to
run. To stop the water. Push it in. To lock the valve, turn it clockwise. That's now a locked. The STORM valve
is not suitable for some users like cyclists who have to keep their hands on the handlebar,
& do not have the hands free to operate the valve. Source Tactical have a solution for that. It
is the HELIX valve. The HELIX valve looks like that. Push it in. Mates nicely. It also has a dirt shield.
Same thing. To keep the dirt shield locked in position. Pull it, tug it upwards.
And it stays there. The way the HELIX works is different. It's actually a bite valve. It's not
a push-pull valve. There is still a lock mechanism. To unlock the valve, turn it anti-clockwise.
And you see that the valve moves outwards. I'll show you again. Now the HELIX valve is unlocked.
Water will not yet flow. If you bite the mouthpiece, water will flow. So the HELIX valve will be more
suited to uses such as cyclists. If you've been using the water bladder for a long time, & you
want to clean the hose. Just use the tube brush. All you need to do is remove the mouthpiece &
push that in. Push the brush in fully extended & clean it. You can buy replacement SQC
connectors if you have other hoses that you want to use the Source Tactical SQC system.
You can do that. I do hope you enjoyed this video & found it informative. Do hit the
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