I think I may have made a panic buy in Decathlon yesterday. Following my 8 miler I decided I needed to hydrate at these distances so headed off to Decathlon following lots of recommendations from you good folks regarding hydration jackets and soft flasks etc.
This is a whole new world. And I panicked 🤣🤣.
I must have spent 45 minutes going through the stuff. Mrs RfJ having spent 30 minutes in B&M became quite worried and came looking for me 🤣
Those hydration jackets with bladders look absolutely fabulous. I just couldn't figure out how they worked though and was too scared to ask the teenagers 😆😆 so I went over to the belts.
There was so much to go through but none of the designs met all of my needs. Either the phone pocket was too small or I couldn't get a phone as well as a bunch of keys in. There were lots of permutations but none I was comfortable with.
I eventually went for a belt with two hard bottles with a pouch for phone and keys (just).
Having jogged around the living room for 10 minutes i think it is going to send me bonkers with the water splish sploshing.
I wish I had purchased the jacket now although I wasn't sure how it should fit. I am very broad and big chested 44-46 and the XL jacket was "tight". Are they supposed to be "snug".
All this new equipment is quite scary. May be I should stick to 5ks 😁😁😁😁
Ah! Thank you Ian. That was where my thought process was going. I was going to get the jacket and use it with two of those soft flasks but the price kept going up 🤣🤣.
I think I will have to get it though. I don't think I could do another 13k with those hard bottles in my belt.
With the bladder thing I assume you remove it from the jacket to fill it up?
Me too! I did a test, filling the bladder with water but it felt so heavy, and the pipe so unwieldy, that I rejected the idea and went with the two 500 ml soft flasks My vest looks much like yours 🙂
This is the one I have too - I agree about the bladder, it took me ages sitting in front of the telly working out where all the tubing went, then never used the bladder! Same as you, the little orange bottles work just fine. And there’s room for my Percy Pigs too 😊.
Yes, I bought it after your recommendation, then sent it back as I didn't like the bladder then re bought with the bottles .Amazon prime had its uses 😁
I did recommend it didn’t I! I remember feeling a bit guilty you didn’t get on with it initially. Generally if I say something, you’re prob best off doing the opposite 🤣.
Haha, no, you were right to recommend!The vest is fine but I needed to return it with the bladder to be able to re order with the bottles !
I'm looking forward to needing to use it again 😁
I used a belt in which I stuck a flexible bottle, but it was not sufficient for me in the end (small bottle). I ended up with a hydration vest from Nathan, with LOADS of pockets and 2 flexible 600 ml bottles and with room in the back for a bladder. But I don't use a bladder yet, I just use 1 flexible 600 ml bottle with a long straw. I can just sip from the straw whenever I want, without having to stop. And because they are flexible bottles, they don't slosh around and they deflate when sipping from them and they keep the water 'snug'.
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That sounds perfect BS. Thank you for your guidance as usual 👍
I'm just off out now with two belts attached as a trial. One for water bottles and one for phones and keys. I seriously hope there aren't any anti terrorist police around my route as I may be in a spot of bother 🤣🤣
Oh I faffed around for ages before getting a large, very light, belt from amazon with room for everything, including 2 water bottles. It is really comfy and I wear it with the 'bag' behind me. It has room for phone, tissues, a whistle, food and the water bottles. I can't find the link now though, I will keep hunting.The trick is to do it up really tight, then it doesn't bounce around.
Once I got used to having water bottles strapped to me Roxdog, it wasn't too bad. I think I need to continue investigating. I think I would like a jacket.
I had two of the soft flasks. I had to get used to biting them though. I filled them with coconut water! I'd been reading that these running gels can upset tummies, so coconut water seemed a good option. I seem to have lost them though 😱 I also took sime dried apricots and a few nuts so had a mini picnic on a short walking section. 🤣 It's been a long time since I ran my one and only 10 miles!
I have many permutations and I’ve tried them all, from a hand held bottle (never again) to a flipbelt (likewise) to full on vest and bladder combo (meh).
I agree about the unwieldy straw with the bladder, and also about the rather restricted flow of water. All the effort of biting down on the straw to get a drink, and a minute little trickle coming out! Also, I ran the Bristol HM with the vest last September, and I found it felt progressively heavier on my shoulders the more tired I became, even though it was physically lighter with less water and jelly babies!
So I actually prefer the belt and 2 bottles, like you ended up buying Hidden . The little pocket holds enough for my requirements.
I actually went out today with two belts. One belt contained the 2 x 250 ml hard bottles and the second my phone and keys. It actually wasnt too bad once I got over the initial "odd" feeling of having bottles on a belt.
As to weight, (almost) by definition a litre of water weighs a kilogram.
(It was the original way the kilogram was defined: 1000 cm³ (1 dm³) of water = 1 litre = 1 kg.)
I reckon a litre will do me for most of my summer runs, even up to a Metric Marathon, possibly further.
Yes, they're meant to be very snug, so they don't move when you're running. The only problem I have with the one I have is the paucity of front pockets.
Thank you nowster. It does make sense for it to be snug. I'm now thinking along the lines of soft flasks fitting into the jacket but obviously need to ensure I have sufficient pockets then for phone, keys and munchies.
I’ve now got a flip belt for keys, phone for shorter road runs. My decathlon waist belt wrecked a new pair of compression tights by snagging the material so that was not a good buy for me.
For trail running & longer distance road runs! I use a hydration vest with a normal 500ml Maurten bottle. I’ve tried a bladder which I didn’t like but hubby does. I also had a bad experience with a soft flask not working after a few runs which put me off buying more. They’re expensive 😳
Basically, it’s been trial and error for me. Hope you find something that works for you!
Thank you RunWillie. I'm so pleased to find out that lots of other people go through this trial and error phase. I was beginning to feel as though it was just me who had no idea what I was doing. Phew.
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Run 3 Week 5 Magic Plan - a Wet 8k, a New Car, Calf Compression Sleeves and Fresh Bread
Top of my world 
Nice 5k yesterday
Crappy-de-crap run with a twist.
