01 · The base
WidePac
The foundation. The patented wide slide closure that started it all — easy to fill, easy to clean, leakproof.
Read & specs
WORKSHOP · PROJECT P·01 · HYDRATION
SOURCE OUTDOOR · 2024
LINE · 03 SYSTEMS
FILE · SRC-01
LINE · 3 SYSTEMSYEAR · 2024
Industrial design · Hydration · CMF
SOURCE
Hydration Line.
A modern facelift of SOURCE's flagship hydration systems — WidePac, Premium, and Ultimate. Keeping the patented WidePac DNA; updating form, colour, and accessories — from the bite valve to the carry profile.
Refresh an icon line. Without breaking it.
SOURCE has been making hydration systems for mountaineers, hikers, and military teams since 1989. At the heart of the line is the WidePac — the patented wide-opening slide closure that became the standard bearer of the category. The brief was to update the three flagship systems — WidePac, Premium, and Ultimate — for a new decade.
The studio kept the patent and the silhouette of the original, then redrew the form language, the colour palette, and the accessory ecosystem — bite valve, drinking tube, magnetic clip, and the universal tube adapter. Three systems, one shared DNA, each tuned for a different user.
Three systems, one DNA.
02 · The kit
Premium
WidePac plus the weave-covered drinking tube and the internal divider — narrower carry profile, UV-protected tube.
Read & specs
03 · The top
Ultimate
Everything Premium has, plus the Universal Tube Adapter (refill without removing the bladder) and the magnetic tube clip.
Read & specsOld line to new.
WidePac · the base bladder
Premium · the kit
Ultimate · the top kit
Six things under the surface.
01 · Closure
WidePac Slide Closure
The wide fold-top opening that started the category. Fills, cleans, drains, accepts ice — leakproof.
US Patent 7,648,276 B2
02 · Surface
Glass-Like
Exclusive WidePac sheet technology — a smooth, glass-like interior surface that resists bacteria adhesion.
03 · Taste
Taste-Free & GrungeGuard
A three-layer polyethylene film with an antibacterial agent integrated into the sheet — for the bladder's full lifecycle.
04 · Drinking
Helix Bite Valve
Leakproof, high-flow rounded bite valve with a dirt shield — drinks at any angle.
05 · Tube
UV Weave Tube
Weave-covered drinking tube blocks UV radiation and slows bacterial growth inside the line.
06 · Refill
UTA + Magnetic Clip
Universal Tube Adapter — refill from any tap or bottle, through the drinking tube, without removing the bladder from the pack. Magnetic clip holds the tube in place on the move.
Brief to factory floor.
Discover
Field interviews with users — hikers, soldiers, mountain rescue. Existing line audits.
Sketch & CAD
Closure mechanism, bite valve, fill geometry. Hand models before printed parts.
DFM & CMF
Tooling-friendly geometry, food-grade materials, colour for visibility in pack.
Serial production
Tooling iterations with the supplier; production handoff; serial manufacturing.
Quality & innovation
Since 2026, leading the department — quality across the existing line and innovation for what's next.
Selected plates.
№ 06 · on the process
Manufacturer in the loop, from day one.
The process moved through research, concept, CAD, prototyping, CMF, and DFM — with the manufacturer in the loop from early concept on, so each detail could be checked against tooling reality.
That kept the studio honest. There is no design that survives only on a screen; the geometry has to lift off the mould without a snag, the bite valve has to seat without leak, the colour has to come out the same in the third batch as in the first.
[TBD: specific notes — moments where the design changed, decisions that defined the line, what the manufacturer flagged.]
№ 07 · next project
CUBE / In-Frame Hydration→
All work →