Does anybody use one for longer runs?

I need one and I’m going around in circles reading reviews.
I think I’m just going to bite the bullet on a Salomon …. expensive but no more expensive than say Ulimate Direction vests seem to be. I’m only reading good things about Salomon vests…

I ran my first marathon in a plain white vest from C&A in 1980.

It’s a vest, don’t be daft.

I used to buy Ron Hills. I don’t recall them being particularly pricey.

Decathlon kalenji vests for a fiver

They seem to be out of fashion but I prefer them over t shirts. Fit is more important than material or manufacturer.

Whatever is going cheap in the Nike clearance store or sportsshoes.com do loads of cheap vests

Race vest is not a vest.

Did youe c and a vest have pockets for bottles and food ?

My first ultra will be along the coast.

As it goes through a few touristy places I’m just going to stop for ice cream and pizzas!

Oh those!!! No no, this is a vest:

🙂 well I’ve had a good chuckle

One of these …

NOT one of these… 🙂

Clearly I’m barking up the wrong tree here !

Ah!

I’m thinking this;

If it’s good enough for Bill Brown…

It’s called a bag.

I’ve a Sense Ultra 3 – can get everything in it for the Lakeland 50 – worth the money.

Montane offerings are pretty good too.

I’ve got an Ultimate Direction SJ Ultra Vest 3.0
Comfy for me for long runs. Enough space for kit needed on most ultras.
Has handy pockets on the front for phone, camera, gloves, gels etc. Includes 2 soft bottles as standard.

I’ve got an Ultimate Direction SJ Ultra Vest 3.0

Would you mind telling me what size you went for and your chest size?… The UD size guides overlap quite a bit

First I bought a medium size, but it was way too big. So exchanged it for a small. My chest is about 33 inch, depends on how I measure.
Looks like they have now updated the website, with more details of the “bottom ribs measurement”. That wasn’t specified when I bought mine.
Note the sizing is different for the SJ 2.0 and SJ 3.0, maybe confusing.

I’ve got a Salomon S-Lab Adv Skin 12Set (!). It was offensively expensive, and needed a separate bladder on top of that … however it is quite amazing to wear. SO much comfier than previous Camelbaks.

When I was looking (April 2016), there didn’t seem much difference between the UJ and Salomon, but reviews generally favoured the Salomon.

Depending on how long your long runs are going to be, the 12 may offer too much storage. The smaller vest seems to get good reviews too. My 12 carried mandatory waterproof gear, map, phone, food and drink for 30 miles. Just getting back into full training for 33 miles of mud in November. Have you got a race in mind? Happy running.

Have you looked at Decathlon? Race Vest
Brilliant value compared to others. I’ve used one for a year with no issues.

Thanks all… Very helpful. I appreciate it. I feared for this thread at the start 🙂

CraigW – thanks for that. Yes bottom rib measurement I am 34 which puts in small or medium but I have a 38 chest so not quite sure where that leaves me. I think small would be the best place to start …

ML – everything you’ve said echoes my thoughts. The s lab 12 is exactly what I was going to go for. I’m just concerned that the 12l is overkill whilst the 5l looks like it might not be enough. It looks tiny on YouTube reviews.
I have a 60 mile trail run I’m training for. There are checkpoints with food, drop bags etc so I only have to carry the mandatory kit plus my ‘essentials’ – jacket, spare top, hat, gloves, map, small amount of food , the usual stuff really. I’m just not sure the 5l would be enough. I don’t want to be taking layers off and not having space for them…

Does the 12l feel big? There is no between which is why I’m looking at the UD 3.0 as that’s 8.5l which seems a Good compromise.

Dark plunger – I have, thanks..it looks a bargain BUT I want the bottles on the front to free up rear space and make refilling easy. I don’t want to put the bladder in the back – need that space for gear.

I’ve got the s-lab 12,never use the bladder just the front soft bottle’s. Doesn’t ever feel big but fits full kit no problem when needed. Brother has 5 and regrets it,real squeeze and starts bulging out and misshaping when full. Use mine on the bike now and it feels better than any pack I’ve tried.

I’ve got the s-lab 12,never use the bladder just the front soft bottle’s. Doesn’t ever feel big but fits full kit no problem when needed. Brother has 5 and regrets it,real squeeze and starts bulging out and misshaping when full. Use mine on the bike now and it feels better than any pack I’ve tried.

Ohh That might put me back in with the Salomon .

Mind me asking what size you went for vs chest size?
The sizing in these looks pretty straight forward compared to UD..
Thanks !

I’ve got an Inov-8 Race Ultra vest and find it brilliant.
It isn’t for everyone mind and is fairly small in size to keep the weight really low.

If you want to carry loads of water and loads of kit then its not suitable.
I use it with 2 x soft flasks on the front for ~1 litre fluid and then use the bladder pocket for holding kit/waterproofs. It comes with a 2 litre bladder though, so could hold over 3 litres plus small bits of kit.

Vests seem to be alot harder to come by than normal track tops – I’ve just cut the sleeves off a nike running top – really happy with how it’s turned out – it doesn’t have any frayed material visible.. Much nicer than a t shirt in super hot weather – having pockets is nice and avoids tan lines on arms ..

I’ve got both the Salomon S-Lab Adv Skin 5l and a 12l Decathlon pack – the Salomon is more comfortable, but the 5l size is a bit limiting in winter when you need to carry crampons, extra clothing etc.

Don’t diss Bill Brown he was a key part of one of the best football teams ever.

How often are the checkpoints? If you’re doing 60 miles and can top up every hour or so you might need surprisingly little – I’ve done 6 hour runs with a 3L bumbag and not really needed much between checkpoints. I don’t actually have a vest – I use a small OMM sac in the mountains but expect a vest would be nicer/snugger. I know people equally happy with both the SLAB and UD versions. Anyone local you can compare notes with/try something on?

@stox – I think the 12 compacts down fairly well if you’re not using full capacity. I had the same hesitations about going smaller, although tried to balance that with my inclination to take too much stuff with me.

You probably /could/ get away with the 5, or 8.5 UD, but for winter running on these fair isles, the ability to take extra stuff and keep it dry, won me over, particularly during training runs.

I’m in Edinburgh, and happy to meet up, if that helps you.

@stox – I think the 12 compacts down fairly well if you’re not using full capacity. I had the same hesitations about going smaller, although tried to balance that with my inclination to take too much stuff with me.
You probably /could/ get away with the 5, or 8.5 UD, but for winter running on these fair isles, the ability to take extra stuff and keep it dry, won me over, particularly during training runs.
I’m in Edinburgh, and happy to meet up, if that helps you.

Decision made, gone with the UD.

Just had a word with the retailer to gauge his opinion. He pretty much says the same – the salomon compacts down so it doesn’t feel like a big bag and he’d recommend it if I had plans to do runs longer than the 60 but the UD should see me just as well for what I’m doing right now. I think it’d be preferable to the salomon for shorter local runs too. I don’t plan to do more than that (I never had plans to enter a 60!) .
Plus the UD is £30 cheaper which I can’t ignore given the frightful prices of these things!

Thanks for everybody’s advice.
Thanks for the offer ml but I needed to get one ordered or I’ll continue going around in circles over which to choose.

Well done @stox. Decide and get on with running.

I managed to spend so much time researching and faffing around, that my vest arrived the day before my race … as did a completely new pair of shoes. Kudos to Brooks for making shoes you really can just put on and run. :-))

Good luck with your race. Ping when the day arrives.

I’m fortunate enough to live a 30 minute drive from the Montane outlet store. got Fang 5 for 45 quid. it’s very good, and not too big. as others have said, if you have bag drops, and feed stations all you really need is mandatory kit, fluid and a few gels…

Get a proper vest. Rocket Ron winning the Boston Marathon 1970. A string vest was good enough for him although he probably would have nailed the number to his bare chest with rusty nails!

It was the big day yesterday – 63 miles covered. Have to say the UD race vest was spot on. I had quite a bit of kit in it but it felt bulky or uncomfortable. Expensive but well worth it for these kind of runs.

Question – I’ve recently started uploading my runs to Strava (well it’s done via Bluetooth) .. Strange thing is my garmin activity is spot on but Strava appears to have made me run it almost 2 hours quicker… Any idea why that it is? Can I resend it to Strava to try it again?

Well done on the run.

Garmin to Strava sync usually works fine. From memory, Strava removes time you were not moving, so if you were going MEGA slowly for a while, that might affect it. You could try deleting the activity on Strava, downloading the .fit from Garmin Connect, and uploading it to Strava again (+ sign in top right).

Thanks ML. Problem solved … You are correct in that Strava uploaded ‘moving time’ as opposed to ‘elapsed time’. Changing the activity from ‘run’ to ‘race’ resolved it.

Now I know where i can easily make up some time next year!