Hydration Packs

It wasn't long ago that I had found my perfect Hydration Vest. However, you know as well as I do that things change and keeping an open mind is paramount. I had recently come across a reinvented vest from Salomon in the hopes that I could find something a bit lighter that sports a lower profile than my everyday wear. Enter the ADV SKIN 5 SET, a sleek, low-profile, lightweight vest from the team at Salomon. Not only is it very light, it looks good too.

Call me crazy, but for some reason, I get excited about shoes and hydration packs. I don't really know what it is about them. They don't come with a manual transmission, girls don't go gaga over them, and they don't come stuffed with wads of cash. When I got my first taste of Nathan, it was while shopping for the perfect pack for my Ultra Beast. Nathan VaporCloud seems to have all the features many of us are looking for on paper, but how does it fare in the real world.

If you have ever competed in a long race, or plan on running one (cough upcoming NJ Ultra Beast), you may be asking yourself if you should try a hydration pack... and which one is the right one. While your personal requirements for one may vary, there are plenty of options to suit just about any need. Personally, I have yet to NEED one while running, but there have been plenty of times when I wished I had one. Having seen folks running various race distances with hydration packs, I set out on a mission to find the best options, enter the Geigerrig Tactical Rigger.

Wearing hydration pack during an OCR is not something that many consider mandatory, unless you running your Beasts, Ultra Beasts, BFX’s or Burning Hot Race Days. However, using one could be the difference between finishing a race, or being Medically DNF’d (Did Not Finish). There are plenty of choices on the market but the version I decided to move forward with, and use regularly, is the CamelBak Baja LR.