Gregory Palisade & Hydration

“Alright so I'm sucking it up and posting a newb question cause I'm just confused.
I just got a gregory palisade on REI at their sale, my first higher end pack.
I have a platypus 3 liter hoser that I just figured I'd throw in the top but it makes it a bit top heavy.
Now Gregory sells a reservoir for their packs
Link here
Which makes me believe they've got an idea where to shove it but going through my pack I found no place to shove it.
So uh any ideas where to throw in my bladder?”

“two words, hydration compatible. Usually this consists of a pocket down the middle of the pack and a exit port for the hose neither of which you have.

your choices:
return pack.
sew in a pocket.
rearrange your pack contents.
use bottles.”

“REI's website said it was hydration compatible although Gregorys website had no mention of it.
REI suggested what I linked above but I had no idea where the hell it'd go.
I was thinking somebody knew something I didn't but I'll just go back to my original plan of rearranging”

“see. you did make one mistake, you thought you were wrong :}

from rei:
Top pocket is designed to carry a hydration bladder, sold separately

your bladder should fit nicely in the top lid pocket which can be used separately for day hikes. It is a very rare day when you need to carry a full 3L with you.”

“There's a mesh pocket sewn beneath the top pocket that is the hydration pouch. It has two openings on each side that are too small to easily fit a bladder into. I cut a few inches on one side of the mesh open when I had my Shasta and threaded drawcord though with a cordlock to make it easier. It's a pretty good place to keep your water bladder, but they should have made the opening bigger or added the modification I made to prevent frustration from trying to insert a full bladder in the small opening. My pack was a 2000 Shasta so I'm not sure if they changed since then.”

“I bought the gregory lassen pack. They told me it's hydration compatible. Well, you can see it however you want. The small net part on top under the "hood" is where the water bladder suppose to go. I am sure you figured out by now that no bladder will fit in there. I just put by bladder in the pack. I didn't have a problem yet. Just hope one of those days it will not be start leaking for whatever reason.

Ah, just saw that richb posted the same message. I think the pouch is too small to put a bladder in (too short). At least for a larger bladder. I think if you sow two little velcro loops to the inside of your pack you should be able to hook your camelback bladder to it. That's what I am planning to do.”

“A 2.5 liter MSR bag fits in my Gregory Forester Top Pocket just fine.”