I got pretty excited when I saw that CamelBak was making an LR (lumbar relief) pack in a women’s model- the Spark 10 LR. Back when I used to run Ultras, I found that the women’s hydration packs (the ones I liked were made by Nathan) seemed to stay in place better as a function of both the shape/placement of the main shoulder straps as well as the up & down adjustability of the stabilizing strap across the chest.

I’ve been using the original model Charge LR, which is a nice, light pack that holds a 70oz LR reservoir. The LR comes into play with the reservoir shape- it sits low in the pack and  and parallel to the ground rather than vertically from your shoulderblades to your low back. As a result, the weight of your water is carried more by your hips & pelvis instead of your shoulders. I’m a big fan of the design, and I also purchased a Volt LR which is more “all day” sized and holds a 100oz LR reservoir. I’ve yet to go for a ride epic enough to call for that one, though.

My initial impression of the pack was that it’s a nice piece of equipment. It’s got all the bells & whistles of the men’s pack, just in a smaller package… a little too small for me, actually. At 5’6″ I found that with the shoulder straps adjusted long enough to let the pack sit on my hips, the chest strap is as low as it can possibly go, and still maybe a tiny bit too high up. I wouldn’t really call the sizing a downfall to the pack because if you’re smaller, you’re likely going to be super happy with how well it fits you. It’d just be nice to have something on the Camelbak site that’s like, “Hey, this thing is made for people 5’4″ and under. Stick to the other pack, lady.”

The space available in this pack is nice. They’ve enlarged the “wing” parts of it over the previous version, so it’s a lot easier to hold more food and get to them without much fuss. The back storage is bigger, too, but there’s one small detail they overlooked- you have to unclip both sides of the back piece if you want to really get into it for something. First world problems-

I was kinda disappointed in the over-the-shoulder hose routing. I thought that the up & under route of the original Charge was super smooth. That brings me to what I really see as the only super-downfall to this pack. The reservoir has to be shoved in face-first from the “back” of the pack, and, in order to secure it, you have to blindly try and hook the front of the reservoir onto a loop that’s underneath it. No hydration pack is super quick & easy to refill, but this one is downright tedious.

Unfortunately, they’ve carried that design over to the new version of the Charge, as well as to the Volt. I’m not so concerned with the Volt, because I’m not likely to be in a hurry when I’m using it. Along the same lines, if you aren’t expecting to need a refill mid-race (which is likely the case for an XC distance event), this isn’t a big deal for you. However, if you’re doing longer, endurance-type events where you’ll need to refill during the race, just know that it’s not as fast as a lot of other packs.

So, the person who is going to love this pack is smaller than me, and doing rides/races that won’t involve a refill. I’m a little disappointed in it, but, then again, I’m also picky as hell. It is a nice pack, but I’m going to stick with my old Charge LR because of the sizing, hose routing, and ease of use.