I finally - after three years - replaced the bite valve on my Platy because it was starting to drip. The rest of it is fine even tho it's spent its life being jammed in a backpack behind a bear can. I have some older bottles. However, a new 1 liter Platy I just bought leaks from the cap if I let it lie on its side!

I'm with campermom - unless the kid can suss out the bite valve or just can't stand not having the same thing the "other guys" have I'd give him water bottles, or maybe a SIGG. The hydration bladder would be pretty useless if the kid mangled the bite valve til it leaked constantly or just didn't work.