Ultra gear . Whats missing?

Lirish is spot on I think. Ease of access to refill and the fact that I can carry less on my back if I use handhelds. Nothing for under 2 hours, one handheld for almost everything else. If I am going to be a long time without access to refill then 2 handhelds.

I am not a fan of bottles on the front of a pack although the Salomon vests seem to be ok with them.

I also think you can save a huge amount of time at aid stations by being efficient. Certainly over 50 and 100 mile races.

I have a raidlight strap on bottle holder and never could stop it bouncing. The better non bouncing holders are cross linked to the chest strap and thats what stops the bounce. 

 Re bladders I never liked the feel of sucking on the tube plus the fact that water from a bladder always seems warmer. Re filling bottles from streams andc in checkpoints is also much easier.

Cragchick, which model Nathan vest do you have, I've just looked on thier site and theres about 6 to choose from!

i have same as Cragc sunluvva -its the intensity vest for women-its fab- about £65

Thanks Loulabell, I'll have a look at it.

unless in winter when it freezes

our raidlights have the place for bottles and bladder..........i have gone a full circle.started off with bottles.went to camelbacks and then bladders.now prefer bottles again

thanks for replying LLB!! Last week when I was running up Ben Rinnes I managed to somehow get most of the hose into my top and it didn't freeze, but that is definitely a minus point - but tbh it's not often I'm out with it THAT cold, was flippin baltic - three hats and ski mit weather

Cragc thats a good idea threading it under your top.  i havnt had any freeze problems as yet but like you say its rarely that cold it happens.i have worn x2 gloves and socks when out

occasionally I have a good idea ... very occasionally . Think you have more snow than us, now that is a first!!

cragchick wrote (see)

touie - I ended up with a pair of mens compression shorts (skins 200) ones from chain reaction cycles last year (white) ... got REALLY annoyed that the majority of the ladies ones are actually quite short in length ... surely the whole point of compression is that it needs to cover most of the muscle, not just the top few " of quad!!!  end of rant!

I was scratching my head at this just t'other day. What's the point of ladies compression shorts that barely cover any of your quads? Does any manufacturer make womens ones that are just above knee length, like they're supposed to be? Pathetic that fashion takes precedence to purpose. Grrr!

I did the Endurancelife CTS last weekend in South Devon (29 miles) and used an Inov-8 pack (12 litre racepro?) with the internal horizontal bladder. I started carrying 1.5litres of fluid and ran through the first couple of water stops. The problem was I didn't know how much fluid I had left and how much to take on board at subsequent stations. Due to this I overfilled and probably ran carrying more weight than I needed to. I have just ordered an Ultraspire Kinesis pack which uses 2 x 26oz (round 750ml each) bottles for my next race a 50k. 

This will make filling up at water stops much quicker and I will know better how much fluid I have left. Will report back on how comfy the Kinesis is as this will be the first race vest system I have had. I have used a Camelbak Octane, and Inov-8 waistpacks previously for shorter distances.

I tried adding a pair of OMM i-Gamy bottle holders, with their specifically designed bottles to the front of my OMM Last Drop, which in theory is designed to work well with them - it has all the gubbins to connect, etc. Started running, kept hitting myself in the fact with the bottle tops, so emptied one and stuck it in the pack, handheld the other. Most annoying.

Currently using a 2l bladder, but reckon it's a faff to refill once inside the bag. Ran the Kielder Marathon with a handheld and a pouch to stick it into on my belt - that worked fairly well, but the further I run, the less I like handholding anything.

Think if the bladder / Last Drop combo was less of a pain to refill, I'd be happy with it, but as it is I don't think I've found the right solution (for me) as yet. May have to learn to run balancing a jug on my head, or maybe one of those beer hats?

A bladder is useful as it so easy to take a sip when you want to. However it is the faff of refilling it at water stops and never really knowing how much you have left. The Inov-8 horizontal bladder is a bit tricky to get to in their back packs. Although they might have changed the design recently. My camelbak is much easier to access however it's no easier to know what it contains.

I received my Ultraspire Kinetic yesterday and it looks good. Nicely made with plenty of storage and 2 x 750ml bottles which sit nicely at the rear, sort of kidney area. I had no trouble fitting in a phone, Montane featherlight jacket, small first aid kit, gloves, buff, 10 gels, pack of tissues and there was still space for other kit. Will give it a run out at the weekend.

touie2 wrote (see)

The salomon vest comes with an insulated tube and bladder holder is a bit fiddly getting the tube in the tube holder though maybe I should knit a slightly larger one

Hi Touie, which salomon vest is that? I've just got SLAB-5 and tube de/attaches from bladder via an easily accesible clip for refills. Good feature I thought, maybe its only on certain Salomon packs.

Great pack and worth the money if you can hunt out the deals (£85-100 ish) - fit is a revelation compared to old fashioned shoulder and waist strap bags (and I thought OMM ones were pretty good and did me ok for some long ultras). Front pockets fine for bottles too if you prefer - like SerenN I've been through bottles / bladders / bottles cycle but since getting this pack the design/accesibility of bladder is so well thought out that I'm going to use it for all shorter ultra's. Only limiting factor of this bag for long/kit heavy ultra's is the kit storage space, guess the 12L variant will be ideal and waiting patiently for a slight price-break on these.

I have the s-lab 12 pack DEOT  It would be perfect if it was less fiddly to undo and about 1cm shorter in the body!

touie2 - I can live with the undoing especially as I can store many bits of food, gloves, hat, etc... in the various front pockets so it doesn't come off as much (I hope) and its still easier off/on than my OMM packs were once straps adjusted, etc... The 5 is quite short on back, couple of inches shorter than the 12 (if your ever in market for a smaller pack).