I bought mine after an extremely hot Angry Dr last year. I had no idea how much water I had left and started to conserve to ensure that I could reach the next feed station.
It is quite accurate if you know exactly how much water you start with and weighs almost nothing.
Late last week I ordered the Camelbak Flow Meter from the U.S. as it is not yet/going to be released in Australia. It arrived today and I was lucky enough to have enough time to install it and test it out. The Flow Meter has many functions like measuring the amount of water consumed/left as well as estimated time to empty and personal hydration goals. I only set up the basic functionality today to test out the water consumption accuracy.
The first thing I noticed was the size. Even though I have seen the measurements online, I was expecting something bigger and bulkier then it actually is.
The screen section of the device can be removed from the fluid sensor which aids in installation but could be a worry after a crash. It seems to unclick without too much force, but not so little force that it will fall out with normal riding.
After a very easy installation, I turned on the device and went through the quick setup process. Basically it involves selecting ounces or litres, setting the total amount of water in your bladder, and then selecting advanced or basic features. I was only testing the basic functionality of the device, so I didn’t select advanced at this stage.
I filled my bladder with 2 litres of water, and then held the bite piece open to drain out all the water. At the end of draining the 2 litres out, the computer said 1.1 litres consumed. Hmm? After reading the trouble shooting section, I determined that actually sucking motion when actually drinking the water was required to move the impeller inside the fluid sensor (the flow sensor in the valve). So a ride was required to test it properly. I filled up the bladder again with 2 litres of water and off I went.
While riding I could feel the meter hit my chest during pedal strokes. This started to become annoying after a little while and it will require me to set up my bladder tube on the other side of my pack. The screen is easy to see and the 2 button operation makes it easy to use. I could easily see the amount of water consumed and remained with the click of a button. The screen stays active for 24 hours before going into a sleep mode. This seems like an excessive amount of time and you can not change it.
With the ride over, I removed my bladder from the pack and checked out the remaining fluid using the bladder guides. I had just under 1 litre remaining and the computer said that I had .9 of a litre left and 1.1 litres consumed. So for a short ride, this was pretty accurate.
The plan is to use the advanced features on a longer ride this weekend. It will be interesting to see if the advanced features are really worth using. I will have to wait and see.
Overall, its a good little device to have if you feel like spending 40 or 50 bucks. I feel that the true use for it will be in longer events where I seem to conserve water when I don’t think I have enough to make it to transition. This is where the ‘estimated time to empty’ function will really come in handy.
