As a rule of thumb I never wear any backpacks or anything unless it is a very short ride on my Hawk. Stuff bouncing around on my shoulders gets cumbersome and if you are riding for a while it will wear you down, so when it comes to putting down miles and staying hydrated I keep a bottle of water for emergencies and then I just drink some water or something cool at every gas stop. I seldom go more than about 130 miles in between stops because I have to stretch my legs and knees at that point anyways so that is where I water down some. My last trip from DFW to Toronto I took a camel back and had it in my top box but it ended up being a space waster and I was annoyed with it the whole time because I felt like it was taking up space I could have used for something else, like maybe some additional clothing or gear. If I was camping I might have found it more useful but after the first day I actually thought about finding a UPS or Fedex store and shipping it home. Now in my case I was staying in a hotel each evening, and I have a bajillion points so when I check in I get free water so that is the other point at which I would water up was in the evenings before going to bed.