Camelbak Flow Meter Review

Camelbak continues to come up with pretty cool products to enhance your hydration systems. Jon Austen, Camelbak's Director of Product Management, showed me the prototype Flow Meter at the Summer 2009 Outdoor Retailer show. He said the most common request from Camelbak users is, "How much water is left in my Pack?". With the new Camelbak Flow Meter, that question is answered.

The Flow Meter will hit the market in Mid-October. I've been testing the Flow Meter for the last few weeks. It is a nice technology to have, especially when you feel the bladder getting low, and you need to conserve water, but you've not quite sure how much is left. The Flow Meter itself is small enough that it doesn't get in the way. I barely noticed it. You do need to take your eye off the trail to read it, and possibly a hand off the bars if you're switching between modes. The Flow Meter can also be adjusted for the metric system.

Camelbak Flow Meter Amount Consumed Mode

The Camelbak Flow Meter has a simple program and an advanced program. The simple program tracks how much fluid you've consumed and shows the amount remaining with the total volume. The advanced program tracks the basics, and tracks elapsed time, estimated time until the bladder is empty, and sets a personal hydration goal based on your weight. You can adjust the personal hydration goal, if you're not satisfied with the auto-program. Another mode will show if you are above or below your goal.

Camelbak Flow Meter Amount Remaining/Total Volume Mode

I found the Flow Meter to be very accurate, IF you set the total volume correctly. This is very important. You must adjust the Flow Meter to reflect the actual amount of fluid in your bladder, not the size of the bladder. My first outing I set the Flow Meter for 100 oz, thinking I have a 100 oz bladder. I only filled the bladder about 3/4 full of water. I rode for a few hours and looked at the meter. It said I still had 40 ounces left and the bag was empty. Whoops! I figured it out the hard way.

Camelbak Flow Meter Detached

The Flow Meter is easy to set up on an existing drink tube. Just cut the tube and side in the Flow Meter. This was set-up for Camelbak's suggested length between the bite valve and the Flow Meter. I liked this setting, but you can always customize where the Flow Meter attaches to the drink tube.

The display unit simply slides onto the fluid sensor and "Clicks" into place. The display unit is battery powered, and the battery is supplied with the unit. The battery should last up to a year.

Camelbak Flow Meter Close-Up

Here's a close-up of the Camelbak Flow Meter. The black piece is a small turbine that spins around as water flows through the drink tube. As the turbine spins the display unit tracks the number of revolutions and converts that to ounces. Pretty Slick!

Riding with the Camelbak Flow Meter

I added this picture to show the relative size of the Flow Meter and where the Flow Rides on the shoulder strap. I keep my Flow Meter closer to the loop on the shoulder strap to keep it from flopping around.

I noticed now there was is moisture in the tube between the bit value and the flow meter, after my ride while in storage. If you're running anything but water in your hydration bladder watch out for mold.