Wingnut Hyper 1.5
By James Sharp

Hydration packs have moved far from the original "carry water and nothing more'. Today, you can buy a pack that holds body armor so you don’t have to struggle up the hills wearing it (including the bulky full-face helmet). You can buy child sized hydration packs. You can even buy a pack that holds two different kinds of liquids. This is in addition to every other pack that allows you to carry tools, tube, patch kit, pump and food. What most have in common is how they carry your stuff; just like a backpack with the weight at or above the center of your torso. Wingnut didn’t like this approach since it placed too much stress on the upper back, so they designed their packs to carry the weight on the rider’s hips with shoulder straps to stabilize the load.

We picked up the Hyper 1.5 at the 2004 Interbike and have been enjoying it ever since. The Hyper 1.5 is a smaller pack, with 540 cubic inches of cargo room. It is made for a 1.5-liter bladder, not included. There are three main compartments; a large middle pocket with a waterproof zipper and two side pockets on the "wings" of the pack. In addition to these, there are two large mesh pockets, also on the "wings" and a small mesh pocket on the left shoulder strap. The four "wing" pockets are accessible while riding (more on that later). The Hyper 1.5 also has an elastic cord on the back, useful for stabilizing a light load or stashing a jacket that won’t fit in the main pocket. The shoulder straps are mesh for breathability and are very adjustable. The Lowrider System means that the pack sits like a lumbar pack, held securely by a waist strap that is truly at the rider’s waist. The shoulder straps don’t carry too much of the load, but they do help keep the pack in place. The drink hose is routed under the arm of the wearer, rather than over the shoulder. This negates the need for a 90-degree bend in the hose. There is a hose keeper on the right shoulder strap. The buckle for the sternum strap incorporates an emergency whistle. This last feature is especially nice for adventure racers since an emergency whistle is part of the required gear. It’s a good idea to have one for us non-racer types too.

The adjustability of this pack is simply amazing. The should straps adjust like normal, under the arm, but they also adjust where they attach to the back of pack, allowing users of all torso lengths to give the pack the right - most comfortable - fit. Wingnut has gone one step farther and made all of these adjustments accessible while wearing the pack, even the adjustments on the wearer’s back. It does take a little time to get everything just right but the reward is a pack that doesn’t shift or get in the way, no matter how vigorous the activity, including mountain biking and hiking.

I mentioned before the accessibility of the "wing" pockets now let me illustrate the point. On my commute in to work one cold morning I was wearing this pack. The night before I was making some adjustments to my commuter and I didn’t get the bars back into the right position. I didn’t discover this until I was riding in that morning. Rather than stop, I reached back, opened the pocket with my multi-tool, removed the tool from its pouch, stowed the pouch in one of the mesh pockets. I then proceeded to loosen the handlebar clamp on the stem enough to rotate the bars to their correct position. After tightening the stem I returned the tool to its pouch and then to the pocket and zipped the pocket shut. I never stopped. It was dark and cold out and I really didn’t feel like stopping on the side of the road. Now, I don’t recommend that anyone loosen their stem or other controls while riding, the point is that I had at my fingers everything I needed. Had I needed an energy bar, I could have reached it. Changing gloves as the weather cools off, or warms up? Easy, just reach back and get them. This is the best part of the Lowrider System. Sure the packs are comfortable, really comfortable. But, how many times have you asked a riding buddy to get something out of your pack so you wouldn’t have to take it off? That’s what I thought.

Was there anything that I didn’t like? There was. The pack weighs only 16 oz empty and without a bladder. In order to do this, Wingnut used lightweight nylon webbing on all the straps. This is the problem; lightweight webbing can fold in the buckles making them hard to adjust at times. Really that’s it. I would happily carry an extra ounce or two and have stouter webbing. My only other complaint is that I tended to get really sweaty right where the pack sits. I tended to wear the Hyper 1.5 tighter than my other packs due to the lumber pack-like design and this probably contributed to the extra sweatiness.

Summary: If you are looking for a small, lightweight, comfortable hydration pack, look no further than Wingnut’s Hyper 1.5. It fits well, has on-the-fly accessibility that’s second to none and is a well thought out design that takes the ergonomics of the modern hydration pack one step beyond any of the major hydration pack players. The Hyper 1.5 costs $70 without a bladder.

James Sharp is a contributing editor for GearReview.com specializing in road biking, mountain biking and staying hydrated.

For more information, contact:
Wingnut
251 Upper North Road
Highland, NY 12528
Phone: 845-691-7278
E-mail: info@wingnutgear.com
www.wingnutgear.com