I have recently been pondering at length whether to invest in a vest ( 😄) I have a 10 mile run coming up which has prompted this.
So I thought I’d ask the fountain of running knowledge about the pros and cons.
I can see it would be good to have water and gels etc on tap but do they jiggle up and down, are they hot to wear, obs you can’t take a layer off easily once on.
I seem to find more cons than pros then other times more pros.
What do you guys think of them and if I go down that route which would you recommend?
Thank you
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RosesAreRed777
Graduate10
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I've never tried a vest but the furthest I've run is 10k.I used a belt from Decathlon, lots of pockets for water (soft flask), jelly babies, phone etc. Nice and simple but I'm sure you'll get more specific belt advice 😁
About ten miles is when I’d start wearing my vest. I’ve got a Salomon Adv skin 5 (massively reduced on sale) and I love it. It doesn’t bounce at all. There are loads of pockets for snacks! It’s got elastic straps all over the place so you can tighten it up and stop whatever you’re carrying bouncing around. You just get used to dressing for wearing it and I don’t have particularly problems with needing to remove layers while wearing it. It isn’t particularly warm.
I’ve never got on with belts. If you’re likely to be doing solo runs that are long so you need to carry a decent amount of water, I’d say a vest is probably a good investment. I’d usually take a couple of flasks with me, especially if it’s warm, I’m biased because I really like mine though!
I don't run much more than 12K and I only use a running belt for longer runs to hold my phone when listening to podcasts etc. I would imagine that there will be water stations on your 10 mile route for hydration. All you would need then is perhaps a zip pocket to hold gels or jellies. I've ran up as far as 18K without a running belt or vest before. I just had a water bottle hidden at the 10K mark. I have a LIFEVENTURE PRO RUNNER II running belt which holds bottles and has pockets etc. It was given to me a couple of years ago. I've never used it and will never use it. You are more than welcome to have it if you wish.
Hi RAR, I have one and much as it’s comfy to wear, not hot and holds loads, I hated it towards the end of my first HM race. It wasn’t heavy, but I was aware of it on my shoulders and it bugged me no end.
So I haven’t worn it since! 😂
Not a glowing recommendation, but they’re really handy in theory …
I love mine. I only wear it on runs longer than 90 minutes and it takes two small 250 ml bottles which I fill with Tailwind mix. Once I get going I’m not really aware of it, I guess you have to spend time adjusting the straps so it doesn’t move. It will take a bladder but I haven’t found the need for one yet. It has pockets for my phone, key and snacks. It’s a cheapo one from Amazon and I much prefer it to my running belt. I actually use the bottles that came with the running belt!
I'm not keen on running belts. If I'm only carrying keys, phone, minimal water and maybe a snack - I don't use gels - I stuff them in my pockets. Disclaimer: I only ever buy leggings and shorts with proper pockets.
If I need to carry more, I use my ridiculously cheap Decathlon sale pack, which suits me well. It held everything I needed for a trail marathon event.
Imo much depends on the sort of running you'll be doing in future. I run solo, trails as much as possible, and almost always in rural areas. I'll normally take water and a snack if I think I'll be out for 2 hours or so, or if I don't know the area I'm running in, e.g. on holiday.
If you only ever run in places where you can quickly and easily find shelter and obtain drinking water and food, then a pack isn't essential. However, if you're running in remoter settings or longer events where you don't have water and feed stations provided along the course, then I'd say a pack is essential.
I personally do not use one. I find that provided I hydrate myself well everyday 2-3ltrs of fluid, that I dont need to take on water during a run. Sometimes for longer runs (8-10miles +) I may have a small glass of water before I set off.Any water consumed during a run just sits in your stomach so is of little real benefit unless you are on a much longer run. It will quench a dry mouth/throat though.
So good hydration the day before a run (preferably everyday) will stand you in good stead.
Others will give you advice on brands if you feel a vest is right for you. But I just wanted to post on here and say gou might find you dont need one.
Try one and see how you get on. You can get cheap vests off Amazon. Everyone is different but for me I can go for 10 miles without needing water. Anything longer I will wear a vest. I’ve tried several options but running belts don’t work for me with water - the bottle jumps up and down too much. Belts are fine for gels though.
Make sure you drink before you go out though. That will mean it is less likely to need water on the run unless it is very hot.
This is a great question, and I'm facing similar struggles.
My sense is that the answer is both personal and context-sensitive and I still haven't found my own answer or taken the plunge and bought a vest, despite running increasingly long distances the last couple of months on a marathon training plan.
It's personal because only the runner knows how the runner feels in realtime on runs of varying durations, distances, speeds, and paces.
And it's context-senstive insofar as even personal experiences aren't always consistent across runs with roughly the same properties (as reading these forums will evince!) and runs will feature different terrains and climate conditions.
To date, I've run a bundle of 10-milers, a few Half Marathons, a couple of Metric Marathons, and (the longest run yet) 30k.
My first Half Marathon turned into a Metric Marathon because I felt OK and kept running another five-and-a-bit K, and I wasn't carrying any water or fuel.
That said, I wasn't feeling 100% for a day or two before the run, but I'd committed to it and it tanked my immune system for a while, knocking me off my running schedule for a couple of weeks. The fact winter had started to set in didn't help either. (Excuses, excuses.)
More recently, for runs that need me to keep going for 90 minutes or more (the longest so far being 3h40m) I've taken small protein bars (the ones that look like they might be and are made of actually recognisable foods, and which don't contain any added junk) and they dissolve relatively quickly in the mouth.
As distances have increased, I've taken care to ensure hydration levels are maintained before and after the runs and carried no water on the run.
Same for the 30k, only this time I carried a few Dextrose energy tablets and dropped one of these every half-our or so beyond the first 5k. A friend met me about half-way with some water and SiS gels they'd picked up on my behalf. Quite how anyone get over gels tasting like anti-bacterial Covid handwash might is anyone's guess and, frankly, I don't think they helped much by this point.
However, the water was very welcome at 16k and this lands me back at what might be the answer to the initial question!
I know that I will at least need water 90+ minute runs, and that I can tolerate energy tablets and snack bars for extra energy, so the real question is:
- What's going to make it easy for me to carry sufficient water across long distance/duration runs?
And a follow-up question:
- What things am I going need after a long run to make sure that I can hydrate, refuel, and stay warm and dry enough to get back to wherever it is I need to return to?
The answer would seem to be a running vest of some description, so we've at least solved that conundrum.
But that in itself raises another issue because the next logical question is:
- Which of the hundreds of running vests out there is going to be the running vest that meets all of my needs in a way that works for me? 🤯
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Testing a running vest...🏃♀️
Advice please - Bridge to 10K leading onto 10K race
Running Slower For Endurance.
5k in the morning and (not) Chi Running 
Running with a running club :-)
