Australian Hiker

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HydraPak Contour Hydration Bladder 3 litre Review

There are two main types of hikers in this world as far as drinking water on the trail; bladder drinkers and bottle drinkers. Talk to either type and they will usually try to convert you to their point of view. Both Gill and I are bladder drinkers and in my case I just find that I will drink more water when I use a bladder as it’s just so easy to access. When you have to either take your pack off or reach around to the side pockets to access your water bottle, out of habit you will just drink less. No a problem on short hikes or on those days where its cool but on long and/or hot days this can greatly impact your ability to keep on hiking. On my biggest every summer day (58km/15 hours) I drank eight litres of water and the bladder just made this so easy.

There are a number of bladder brands on the market and over the past 12-18 months there are a greater number of options in the high end that come with all the bells and whistles and the HydraPak Contour Hydration Bladder 3 litre is one of these. The HydraPak Contour Hydration Bladder 3 litre is one of three in the standard HydraPak range that includes 1.5 litre, 2 litre, and the 3 litre sizes. In addition HydaPak also produces the same size bladders in an insulated version for cold weather users, think snow conditions.

This range of bladders includes a good length drinking tube with an on/off valves as you would expect. A magnetic clip that attaches to the chest clip, and an opening to fill the bladder up easily from the top. The closure slide on top of the bladder also attaches to most of the mainstream pack by a clip or hook system or in the case of smaller packs will sit on the bottom of the pack. its worth noting that this bladder comes with a small lubricant tube to ease the ability to get the slide on and off at the top. If you keep the bladder clean this shouldn’t be an issue.

There is really only one negative on this bladder and that concerns the magnetic drinking tube clip. If you are hiking in areas that are high in iron and let the drinking lay on the ground it will pick up magnetic earth that you will need to wiped off. A minor annoyance I know but I’ve had hikes where was an almost constant problem. To limit this don’t drop the drinking tube into the dirt; sometimes easier said than done. The next downside is that ideally you only want to use drinking bladders when you have a dedicated bladder pocket on your pack  (either internal or external) otherwise you run the risk of accidentally puncturing the bladder if you are rough with your gear (Rare occurrence) or you may need to unpack your pack to refill the bladder. The final downsize is that when using water bladders you will need to replace the soft rubber bite valve on the bladder every so often. I found on my longest hike to date, the Bibbulmun Track hike the bite valve lasted the five weeks, but only just. If using this for day hikes this may only need to be once or twice a year. To be on the safe side carry a spare on long hikes, just in case.

This thing that I like about this particular bladder is that that given its features the weight comes in at 155grams around 85 grams less than my previous bladder.

Price wise the HydraPak Contour Hydration Bladder 3 litre sits at just on AUD $100.00 RRP and at the time of this review is an average price for the high end bladders but you can certainly find this available for less. While there are cheaper water bladders on the market I just love this model and will be hard pressed to replace it with something else.

We Like

• Love the magnetic chest strap clip. The nozzle is always easy to find
• Having the bladder drinking tube easy to find means that I will drink more, particularly on hot days
• Perfect size for me lasting all but the hottest and longest days. 3 litre size makes this one of the bigger water bladders on the market.
• Easy to fill.
• You don’t have to fill this bladder all the way up if doing a shorter walks
• Lightweight bladder option
• 200ml measurements are a nice touch

We Don't Like

• The magnetic clip will pick up dirt if the soils you are hiking in are high in iron
• Bladders in general are best used in packs that have dedicated hydration pockets
• The bite valve on this or any other bladder will need to be replaced occasionally

Best Uses

• For big drinkers, or on those long hot days

HydraPak Contour Hydration Bladder 3 litre. The bite valve and magnetic clip are shown in the centre of the image below the handle

Rear of HydraPak Contour Hydration Bladder 3 litre

Water fill point at the top of the HydraPak Contour Hydration Bladder 3 litre

Handle on the HydraPak Contour Hydration Bladder 3 litre

Buy One

You can purchase the HydraPak Contour Hydration Bladder 3 litre online from Amazon Australia or from Wild Earth

Disclosure:  We may earn a small commission, at no additional expense to you, if you click through and make a purchase. Please note that our affiliations do not influence, in any way, the independence of our reviews. If we don’t like a product, you’ll hear about it from us!

Investment

AUD $99.99 RRP. Can often be found at a cheaper price!

Other Versions

• Hydrapak do a range of water bladders and water storage containers

Product Video

Product video from HydraPak

Disclaimer

This review was done with product purchased from a retail store by Australian Hiker

Last Updated

26 June 2026

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