mw from United States, CA Public Profile

when i saw these 8b+ character chalk bags, i knew i had to get one! they are so dang adorable. then i thought, "hey why don't i get one for each of my closest climbing buddies. they would love it!" fortunately, 8b+ has a pretty good selection of different characters. i ended up getting maybe eight or ten different ones. i let my friends pick the bag that most spoke out to them and everyone was super excited and happy. that was a good thanksgiving/xmas!

we've had the bags almost a year now (generally climbing two-three times a week) and the craftsmanship on these bags is excellent, the materials are very good quality. nothing has fallen apart and no threads have unravelled. the bags have a draw string closure that you can close up to keep chalk from spilling. i also like to keep a chalk sock in the bag which helps prevent chalk from spilling out when the bag is open. the brush holders are a little small for my taste, but they can hold small brushes. on some of the bags (like charlie pictured here) the hands are sewn to the bag so you can slot a bigger brush through his arms.

i've had this hydration kit for a few months now and have used it with my msr 4L dromedary bag on a half dozen climbing/hiking trips. it's been very useful and i wish i had purchased it sooner, although there are a few annoying issues i have with it.

the bite valve works very well. there is a shut-off valve which also works well. no accidental leaks as of yet.

with the hydration kit, i'm able to hike and hydrate without having to stop or reach for a bottle. i did not have any fitting issues that i had read about with other people, as mine came with the big cap. so i just unscrew my 3-in-1 cap and replace it with the hydration kit and i'm ready to go.

i do wish that the tube provided were about 4"-6" longer. otherwise, as my dromedary has a tendency to sink to the bottom of my hiking bag, i find that there's just barely enough hose for me to reach it for a drink. also, i feel that while the clip is adequate i do wish there was something a little better engineered. i'm not sure what other options are, but the clip just seems a little hokey. finally, it would have been nice for the little cap (that the hose attaches to) to be able to rotate around the big cap so that attaching/removing the cap is a little more user friendly. as it is, when i attach the cap, all the rest of the hose and everything else has to rotate around with it. however, this feature might introduce other issues which i haven't thought about.

all in all a pretty good purchase. a longer hose would have made