6° of Cameldam

A part on my CamelBak broke a few years back. The Hydrolock, which acts as a shutoff, to prevent the inadvertent leaking of all of your water from the bite valve.

Rats.

I’m a regular at several outdoor and military gear related forums, so I asked if anyone else had run into this. Were they successful in repairing it, or did they have to bite the bite valve and buy a new one.

One poster who lists his location as being Amsterdam NL, says “Hey I have the very part you’re talking about, it’s of no use to me, it’s still in the packaging, and since you’re a fellow Dutchy, send me an email with your addy, and it’s yours.”

Wow, neat.

I send him an email with my address, thank him profusely and ask him where in Amsterdam he is, telling him where I lived.

He writes me back, and tells me that he lives in a town just on the outskirts, Diemen.

Hey I know Diemen really well. My dad coached baseball there, so my every weekend was spent in that town.
He writes me back to tell me that he used to play little league ball and baseball as a teenager with an organization called T.I.W. in Diemen.
Okay that’s weird, my dad coached for T.I.W. Turns out he played at the baseball field that I practically grew up on.

When his package arrived, I thought the address looked quite familiar. Turns out he lives in an apartment building one over from the building my brother lived in during the 70s.