"Almost great" - Review of The North Face Snowday Hydration Backpack

I'm the guy who's waiting at the ski lift before it opens and I get kicked off the mountain at the end of the day. I never go in, I use this pack to eat lunch in the woods. This pack has good pockets, a dry area and it's easy to fill the hydration bag. It doesn't stick out all that far so it doesn't interfere with being on a chair all that much. The heater system, well.. it works and it doesn't. The heater element goes from the bag down to the mouthpiece and this never froze, even after 8 hours in 10 degrees. I was surprised by how long the batteries lasted too, over 4 eight hour days in 10-20 degrees. The problem is that while the tube is heated, the mouthpiece isn't. Even though this is stored in a pocket, it did freeze. Usually this was if I went 2-3 hours without drinking. Still, sticking the mouthpiece in an armpit for 5 minutes was enough to bring the warmer water through and melt the mouthpiece ice. Not perfect, but certainly much more useful than an uninsulated and unheated hydration pack!
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