Doing some light hiking (<3 miles round trip) this June with the wife and kids at Zion National Park and I wanted to get everyone a hydration bladder.   We have light packs that have space for the bladders, but I haven’t bought a bladder in 20+ years.  Doesn’t have to be top of the line, but something in the 2L size, and affordable.  

Thanks!

Source Tactical gear, they have wide mouth bladders.

I have two Camelbacks and a Source. The Camelbacks are okay, but Source is the way to go.

The CamelBak brand comes in a variety of sizes and is affordable. Go to their website and buy the military varient, not the blue civilian version that many people purchase at sporting good stores

I'm using Source Hydration, available on Amazon

Just one guys opinion but I got away from bladder systems. To much work to maintain but worse, too hard to maintain awareness of water usage/remaining supply.

couple of these.

That one is 1.5L

I like the kleen canteen 1L, you can boil/cook in them in a pinch.

I’m a Nalgene fan, but my wife and girls are not.  Lol

IIRC, the Source and Camelbak drinking tube accessories are interchangeable.

Source

My suggestion is to spend the money on one liter Pepsi bottles.  The are great and if you loose one it’s a cheap fix.

I like the Osprey ones, just bought 3 more.

Same here. Smartwater bottles are cheap, durable, lightweight and just throw away If you don't want to periodically sanitize. Plus the thread on the neck fits Sawyer filters.

Go bigger if your pack will accommodate it. You don't have to fill it all of the way if you don't want but it's nice to have extra water, especially with kids, plus the extra weight just adds to the exercise factor.  I'm still using some old Camelbak bladders with the round caps; one of them has a small patch (Flexseal tape is one of the few things I've found that will stick to them) but they still work just fine.  Nothing but water, rinse and sling excess out then put one of the expanding things in it to hold it open so it can dry. Wash periodically with dish soap or one of the Camelbak tabs or denture cleaner tabs, rinse well and air out.  Easy.

I agree in bottles, I've never taken to bladders (purely personal).

I'd also suggest packing an extra 1-2 liters as a spare.  Zion can be hot  and you don't want to find the hard way that 2 liters wasn't enough.  BTDT.

For day hikes I primarily use the CamelBak. For a little extra capacity or to have the option to add drink powders to water I'll add a water bottle.
If extensive amounts of water were needed I could use the cnoc bag as extra storage capacity. At that point the whole thing would be getting pretty heavy. I'd need a real serious reason to want to pack seven liters of water

I like hydrapak a lot

I have several water bladders. I have hiked in the Desert to North Dakota.

I have civilian and military-style packs from cheap Walmart ones to ones that cost me $350.

Zion has high desert weather! Desert is not forgiving! I see you're from Texas but know how many Good Old Texas boys I had to S&R on because they thought that the Hot Springs hike in Big Bend was only three miles long?

Way too many had to take a dog out also one time! Seeing that I was a Park Ranger and did S&R I'd tell you if you can carry it get the biggest hydro pack you can get yourself. Then look at your family how much can the wife and kids carry? In the desert, you should be drinking a gallon a day that's with you doing just about nothing.

Hiking that can take a lot of you and your kids! You don't want to weigh the kids down with a gallon of water because with most younger kids that 8 lbs from one gallon are going to max or be the max they should carry. Most for a comfortable hike is 20% of your body weight!

So at 100 lbs, you should only carry 20 lbs in your pack. So now let's talk about a child! Kids 50 lbs can carry 10 lbs so a gallon of water that's about it when you add in pack weight be it bladder or bottles!

Bladders are not that bad to clean or take care of I have several and at any time I could add water to them without a problem! Saying this I do follow a few rules #1 water only #2 water only #3 water only #4 empty waters as soon as you get home #5 Let them air dry outside is best if you can.

I have only had one bad bladder that was when I was in the Military and that was because someone used it as a spittoon.

I stick with what works and has worked for me and my family. Going to have to take a pack no matter what! So why add bottles that take up space empty or full?

If you feel you need to carry bottles of water you can do that easily along with a bladder. Easier to get to than a bottle also hands-free.

Taking care of your bladder is not hard at all! Not to say anything about anyone but if drying out your hydro bladder is hard for you then camping and hiking are not for you as I'd hate to see what your tent and other gear looks like. Again no flame.

What you should look at mostly is 20% of their body weight! Don't know the age of your kids but you might be carrying their water also!

Hydrapak/Osprey Hydraulics. The mouth is the same width as the bag, you just fill, fold the top flap, and slide the clip on. Some have a sort of internal bulkhead that gives the bladder some structure and helps prevent sloshing, but if there’s a drawback it’s that it reduces bladder capacity by 1/2 gallon when locked.