The first thing that’s noticeable about the Reyes is that it’s incredibly light, weighing just 560g, and is seemingly lacking in rigidity. The bag’s blueprint is simple: a pocket to house a 3-litre Hydrapak bladder, a 5-litre capacity main compartment and a small internal pocket for a phone and keys. There’s also an open elasticated outer pocket that will fit snacks. Compression straps keep everything taught, limiting any movement inside the bag.
The Hydrapak bladder is a patented design and is essentially a tall and narrow open bag with a slide seal closure and a detachable hose coming from the bottom. The bladder can be turned inside out making cleaning and drying simple tasks. We were amazed at how stable the bag felt even without using the chest and waist straps. Water flow is steady and ‘bulging’ was minimal as fluids were consumed. The one big drawback is the lack of ventilation, which after several hours in the summer heat caused unwanted sweats.