Nathan Intensity vs. Synergy packs

[Catrin]

Can anyone comment on the comparative fit of these packs?

I adore my Intensity pack, but I'm going to need a bit more capacity, since where I'm running now, there's only one route that takes me by a place I can refill, and I don't want to have to run the same route every time. (As for doing loops, ugh. )


ETA: Alternately, the Ultimate Direction Diablo, which looks similar?

Sorry for the hijack, but it seemed silly to start another thread...

I am considering a large Camelbak - I have a 50 ounce right now and where I typically do my long rides there are few, if any, places to get a refill. How would you compare the Nathan hydration packs to Camelbak in general? I do like having storage - which is nice about my Camelbak Aurora. One of these days I will have storage on my bike so it won't be as important, but for now it is.

/end hijack

[OakLeaf]

Sorry for the hijack, but it seemed silly to start another thread...

I am considering a large Camelbak - I have a 50 ounce right now and where I typically do my long rides there are few, if any, places to get a refill. How would you compare the Nathan hydration packs to Camelbak in general? I do like having storage - which is nice about my Camelbak Aurora. One of these days I will have storage on my bike so it won't be as important, but for now it is.

/end hijack

Well, the two we're discussing here - Intensity and Synergy - are built specifically for running/hiking. The Intensity wears like a vest, not like a backpack, and when I'm in an upright position, the weight of it just becomes an indistinguishable part of my torso weight. It seems from Yellow's description and the pictures that the Synergy wears the same way.

When I wear a pack on the bike (not often, but there are some rides where I know that I won't be able to top off my frame-mounted bottles) I like to wear one of my Platypus packs and loosen the shoulder straps, and let the weight ride on my hipbones. If I leave it in the higher position where the Intensity pack would rest, it puts the weight on my upper spine and gets uncomfortable very quickly. The Intensity and Synergy don't have adjustable shoulder straps. In the shoulders, they have a wide webbing. The adjustment is in the ribcage area, which really makes it fit like a garment.

I think to me, the Intensity pack would be pretty uncomfortable to me on a bike, because it would ride so high. The sternum strap is also very low; IME the high sternum strap that the Camelbak and Platypus packs have is really important for side-to-side stability on the bike.

I don't own a Camelbak brand pack - the two I use for cycling, motorcycling and spectator events are Platypus and not made any more, but as far as I can see, the basic suspension system is very similar to Camelbak's.

Now, Nathan does make a couple of packs that they slug for mountain biking, but it seems to me that an aggressive mountain bike riding position isn't so much different from a touring road bike riding position that the packs should be suitable for one and not the other. The one with the larger capacity is called the X-Treme. I know zero about these packs, but if they're as sport-specific and as well-designed as the Intensity, I'm already in love.

Short answer: go start a new thread.



Yellow, glad you're continuing to progress. It must seem like forever. As I think I mentioned before your surgery, my one pretty athletic friend who had a lumbar fusion said that it was two years before he really reached full recovery. Hang in there ...



Back OT, I tried on the Ultimate Direction Wasp at the LRS yesterday. They didn't have the Diablo in stock, but I figured the smaller "unisex" pack would probably fit similarly. No go, at least for short me. You can't really see from the picture that unlike the Nathan packs, the UD's side straps are not independent. There's a loop that comes off the front of the shoulder straps at two levels, and a single sliding adjuster attached to the rear. For one thing, since I have no waist, it made the front pockets totally bunch up. For another, even if it fit, it seemed like this arrangement wouldn't be nearly as stable as Nathan's independent straps.

The Wasp pack (and the women-specific Ringer) did have some features that the Nathan ones don't, that I really liked. A baffle in the bladder, a dry-bag-style roll-up closure, a loop and a bit of shock cord to keep the bladder from sliding down as it empties, and a side-zip rear pocket that's much more accessible on the run than the Intensity. An integrated drink tube insulator. But it just didn't fit. So I guess the Synergy it is.

[yellow]

Oak, I don't think you'll be disappointed with the Synergy. Those side pockets are big and easily accessible on the run, and because they are angled stuff just doesn't fall out of them (at least I've never had that happen). Also, there is a clip system inside to prevent the bladder from sliding down, so that's a non-issue (it even works with non-Nathan bladders). And if you use the dual-chamber bladder (what I call the "gin and tonic delivery system"), it has one chamber with a roll down top (for sports drink) and one standard, screw top chamber.

[OakLeaf]

So, first run in the Synergy yesterday.

Likes:

* It rides as light and as comfortably as I'm used to from the Intensity. It's hard to believe there's three liters of water on my back. Fit is rock-solid - I could often hear the water sloshing, but somehow I couldn't feel the weight of the water moving at all.

* I didn't think I'd have any use for the dual-chamber system, but my very first time out showed me what it's good for. On a steamy 88° day, I could load up the main water compartment with ice, mix Endurolytes extra strong in the other side, and not have the dilution change as the ice melted.

* As Yellow said, elastic clips hold the top of the bladder, so it doesn't slide down as it empties; elastic means it doesn't pull on the top of the pocket.

* The front zip pocket is big enough for my new phone (HTC Incredible)! Yay. It will go into the corresponding pocket on the Intensity pack, but just barely - I have to open the zipper completely and wrestle with it a little, and I'm always afraid I'm going to rip the plastic bag that protects my phone, electronic car key and ID.

* The side mesh pockets are nicely placed and do seem secure. I surely wasn't stowing hat or gloves yesterday, but the pockets would work perfectly for that.


Dislikes:

* #1 is a big one. The final drink tube is too short. What's up with that? If I left the mixing valve clipped to the shoulder strap, I'd have to bend my neck and lift the strap with one hand, and the tube would still kink half the time. If I unclipped the mixing valve, it was a real PITA to clip back in, and it seems that too-frequent clipping/unclipping would create a lot of wear on the strap to where it eventually wouldn't stay put at all.

Luckily, for me this one is easily remedied. When the bladder fell apart on my Intensity pack last winter, I cannibalized it for parts, including the drink tube, so I have a replacement right here that's plenty long enough. But for someone who doesn't happen to have a spare lying around, it could be a problem. Nathan uses a larger diameter drink tube than Camelbak and Platypus (8 mm ID), and they don't sell replacements on their site. Does anyone know if this is the same size that Osprey uses? REI has replacement Osprey drink tubes.

* The bladder is pretty much impossible to dry. The filler cap is even smaller than the one on the bladder that came with my Intensity, and that was already a problem. Camelbak drying jigs won't even begin to fit inside. The only thing that will go in is a narrow wooden spoon (maybe 1-1/4" across at the widest) or my smallest silicone scraper, and neither one of those will stay turned sideways to spread the bladder enough to let the corners dry. The roll-top electrolyte chamber ought to be easier to dry, except there's an anti-reversion baffle that sufers from the same problem.

I washed it as soon as I got it, hung it upside down and propped open as best I could, and the corners were still wet when I took it down to use it five days later.

* I don't much care for the bite valve. I can live with it, but if it were up to me, I'd choose something different. And because of the larger tube diameter, Camelbak bite valves don't fit.



General fit note: It's a little bigger around than the Intensity. It fits me very nicely with the straps cinched all the way tight, and I'm small but not tiny. Very thin and/or small-boned women probably would not be able to wear this pack.