Hi C,
Thank you for sharing your experience with the IMS Combo. We appreciate your honest feedback and value your perspective.


To address your points, it's important to note that you're investing in more than just R&D. Our IMS Combo is 100% made in the USA from American materials, designed for performance-minded end-users with durability and guaranteed by our Forever Warranty for hard duty use. Supporting American-made goods keeps American dollars within our economy, supporting local businesses, labor, and manufacturing. We prioritize quality assurance and our company values, choosing not to outsource duty-rated goods to foreign manufacturers. This ensures that our products are reliable and consistent.


Our ICEPLATE® itself exemplifies this commitment to quality, being an FDA-approved, BPA-free water bottle. This provides a level of safety and assurance that is often lacking in products made in the People's Republic of China, which, while cheaper and better suited to the commodity-minded consumer, may not meet the same safety standards.


Regarding your expectations, the IMS Combo offers robust hydration with our durable ICEPLATE® hardcell bladder, designed for external mounting on any MOLLE plate carrier. For those seeking additional features, our IMS Pro Combo and IMS Versa Combo provide internal mounting to leverage ICEPLATE® Curve's capability for powerful cooling or heating when worn against the body, along with the same durable hydration.


For a detailed comparison of the IMS, IMS Versa, and IMS Pro options, please refer to this INSIGHTS article: https://www.qoreperformance.com/blogs/military-insights/what-is-the-difference-between-ims-and-ims-pro-iceplate-molle-sleeve-vs-iceplate-molle-sleeve-pro

We hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.


#StayFrosty


Qore Performance Customer Support Team

Hi Michael,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share an honest account of your IMS Combo experience. We really appreciate it!

In an effort to empower all of our customers to the maximum extent possible, we thought it might be helpful to share some additional background information on why ICEPLATE® Curve is 1.5L. Here is a link to our ICEPLATE® Curve FAQ, where, if you scroll down to #22, you will find a detailed answer to this exact question:
https://www.qoreperformance.com/blogs/military-insights/iceplate-faq-a-deeper-dive-into-the-why-the-science-and-the-design-of-the-worlds-most-capable-water-bottle

Additionally, while IMS is an incredibly popular and capable product, it is not consistent with our original vision and the 'why' behind ICEPLATE® Curve. We created IMS at the request of our customers and it is one of our ten best selling products to this day. However, as an external hydration-only solution, IMS deprives users of ICEPLATE® Curves most differential capability: conductive thermoregulation. As you'll see in the link we provided above, when used as intended, as frozen ICEPLATE® Curve can reduce hydration requirements by up to 50%, making it exponentially more efficient than a 3L/100 ounce hydration bladder because you are carrying half the weight for equal or greater physiological performance gains. To help end-users harness this tremendous capability, we created IMS Pro and IMS Versa. This INSIGHTS article provides a detailed comparison between IMS, IMS Versa, and IMS Pro:
https://www.qoreperformance.com/blogs/military-insights/what-is-the-difference-between-ims-and-ims-pro-iceplate-molle-sleeve-vs-iceplate-molle-sleeve-pro

We hope this helps, but please let us know if you have any additional questions. #StayFrosty
Qore Performance Customer Support Team