During the 1995 Hotter 'N Hell Hundred bicycle race (Wichita Falls, Texas) a former paramedic and novice cyclist, Michael Eidson, conceived of a back-mounted hydration system as a safer alternative to reaching for a frame-mounted water bottle. The first prototype was medical tubing attached to an I.V. bag, stuffed into a sock sewn onto the back of a tee-shirt. The humped shape of the worn prototype gave the company its name.

Camelbak now makes a wide variety of hydration systems, both with and without cargo-carrying capacity. They're used for sports, on some demanding jobs, and deployed on military missions.

We reviewed these Camelbak models, choosing them as to match the buying scenarios we face in our daily lives:

• For the kids: an easy-to-carry backpack hydration system is more enjoyable for them than carrying water bottles. The Camelbak Skeeter.

• For my wife: a mid-sized hydration plus cargo pack, so as to be self-sufficient during a day's hike. The Camelbak TrailBlazer.

• For me: whether I'm on a three-day search-and-rescue trip, a long weekend in the high country, or on a health-and-safety patrol in the desert on a shift spanning the hot afternoon to the freezing evening, I like to carry a good amount of cargo: water, food, clothing layers, medical supplies, a camera, GPS, and two-way radio. The Camelbak BFM.

Thank you, Camelbak, for your generous donation of equipment to be tested.