Nathan Intensity vs. Synergy packs

[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.