CountyComm Hydrant
CountyComm, if you're not familiar with them, carries a variety of cool gizmos and gadgets. One of the nifty-looking items on their website is the Maratac Hydrant. Unfortunately, the Hydrant had been unavailable for some time. Well, it came back in stock so I ordered one. My Hydrant arrived today. Overall, my initial impression is positive. The zippers aren't quite as robust as I'd hoped for but everything else is pretty much what I expected.
Overview
It does have YKK zippers and they slide smoothly - well, as smoothly as possible. I have yet to purchase one of these tube-shaped carriers where the zipper slides really smoothly around the top. Zippers, it seems, were intended to go in straight lines and not around corners.
As far as capacity goes, the Hydrant will hold two one-liter water bottles. The top one will extend past the insulation slightly as shown below. However, the top will zip closed over two bottles.
The Hydrant has a pocket on the front that zips open smoothly. Inside the pocket are two rows of PALS/MOLLE webbing and one row of elastic webbing.
On the back of the Hydrant are two long straps that could be woven into PALS/MOLLE webbing on a pack.
The carry strap is nice and wide. The hooks seem to be of excellent quality.