Water Bottle Belt

"Al K" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi Runners,

We know that we should drink water regularly on a run, but I seldom did
until I started doing longer runs again. I dug out my old
large-water-bottle waist holders, but I didn't like them because they were
heavy, bounced around, and uncomfortable.

So I bought a FuelBelt (see fuelbelt.com) with 4 7-ounce bottles and a
small pack for keys, energy bar, etc. It's a stretch belt which velcroes
together in front. This is by far the best system I've used: very
comfortable, no jiggle, enables carrying various fluids. I even use it on
short runs of around 4 miles.

What water-holder systems do you like best?

Al K

Bottle holder:
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/,82907_.html
I use a 1 liter zefal bike bottle instead of the supplied bottle. The liter
size fits very snugly and is perfect for intermediate length runs in the
heat, big enough for longer trail races and ultras (with refills of course),
and the pack has just the right amount of storage for day-to-day runs
(cellphone, keys, even wallet) or races (multiple gels and/or energy bars,
etc).

For unsupported longer runs I wear this same waist pack and also a 2 or 3
liter hydration pack, depending on the heat and how long I'm going for, etc.
I drink from the hydration pack first, then when it's empty I know that I
have 1 liter left.

I've also done long runs with a 2 bottle waist pack, with one of them a
filter bottle to top off at stream crossings. Since I don't like wearing
backpack systems, I'll sometimes start with the liter belt back and (2) 20oz
handhelds for 73oz total. Drink the handhelds first, and just strap the hand
helds to the waist strap when they're empty so I don't have to carry them
anymore.

The Fuel belt looks comfortable to wear, but also you have to fill many
bottles, which would be impractical in races, and I'd think cleaning them
all after using sportsdrink would be a pain. A large bottle is very easy to
clean, even when stuff like accelerade gets caked inside...

-Tony

Al K said:

Hi Runners,

We know that we should drink water regularly on a run, but I seldom did
until I started doing longer runs again. I dug out my old
large-water-bottle waist holders, but I didn't like them because they
were heavy, bounced around, and uncomfortable.

So I bought a FuelBelt (see fuelbelt.com) with 4 7-ounce bottles and a
small pack for keys, energy bar, etc. It's a stretch belt which velcroes
together in front. This is by far the best system I've used: very
comfortable, no jiggle, enables carrying various fluids. I even use it
on short runs of around 4 miles.

What water-holder systems do you like best?

Al K

I like UD strider with a 24-oz bottle for 1-2 hr runs, maybe a CB Lobo
for a little over 2hrs and not needing gear, Gregory Iso (I think) and
Reactor for longer runs needing gear. Reactor doesn't work for winter,
Iso hasn't been used in summer yet. Old style CB Cloudwalker was
favorite winter pack until about 1 month ago or so. Some of the newer
hydration packs are hard to use with insulated hoses because of the port
opening size or those fancy sleeves. Simple is better.

Sorry, but I can't imagine having to screw and unscrew how many times
the tops of how many 7-oz bottles to get through a multi-hour run. Not
to mention cleaning afterwards. Also the likelihood of freeze-up when
running for many hours near 0F. As someone having worked an aid station,
I have problems pouring water from a gallon jug of water into a
regular-sized water bottle, and can't imagine trying to hit the small
opening of a 7-oz bottle. I like hydration bladders because they've got
really wide yawning mouths that I can hit fairly easily.

Dot

--
"The goal is training and adaptation, not destruction and injury."
- John Hardy
http://www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au/misc/training.shtml

Al K said:

Hi Runners,

We know that we should drink water regularly on a run, but I seldom did
until I started doing longer runs again. I dug out my old
large-water-bottle waist holders, but I didn't like them because they
were heavy, bounced around, and uncomfortable.

So I bought a FuelBelt (see fuelbelt.com) with 4 7-ounce bottles and a
small pack for keys, energy bar, etc. It's a stretch belt which velcroes
together in front. This is by far the best system I've used: very
comfortable, no jiggle, enables carrying various fluids. I even use it
on short runs of around 4 miles.

What water-holder systems do you like best?

Al K

The only water bottle belt that I've used is one that carries a bottle
in the small of your back. I don't remember the name, but it was the
most uncomfortable thing I've ever worn. Since then I've been hiding
a water bottle on my way out on an out-n-back course, I have a drink
on the way out, and several on the way back.

Eric

Quoted message said:

What water-holder systems do you like best?

For runs of 60 to 90 minutes I'll either use a handheld 24-oz bottle with
a strap or REI Single Shot Waistpack. I replaced REI's el cheapo bottle
with a Specialized 24-oz bottle. No bounce and very comfortable. Enough
cargo space for keys, cell phone, pager, camera, and a bungie cord for
carrying larger items such as jacket, gloves, etc. I used this pack in a
marathon. It worked great. I was able to skip 2/3 of the water stops and
only took about 10 seconds to fill when I needed more fluids. I like
being able to drink when I wanted, not when I hit the aid stations. For
runs of 90 minutes to 2 hours, I'll use a GoLite Gazelle 2-bottle pack.
This will hold about 42 oz of fluid, as well as enough cargo space for
keys, cell phone, lightweight jacket, gloves, hat, etc. It has a nice
strap system that keeps the bottles from bouncing around when full. If
I'm running for 2 to 4 hours, then I like to use a hydration backpack.
I've tried a few, including CamelBak, The North Face, and now have found
my favorite with the Gregory Stimulus. It holds about 70 ounces of fluid.
It comes with adequate (for me) storage area in the back as well as side
packets that wrap around the waist strap. This is very handy for getting
items out without having to stop and take off the pack.

REI Single Shot - http://tinyurl.com/38xr5d
GoLite Gazelle - http://tinyurl.com/yt2t7g
Gregory Stimulus - http://tinyurl.com/2zh99t

--
Phil M.

dot.h@#duh?att.net said:

Sorry, but I can't imagine having to screw and unscrew how many times
the tops of how many 7-oz bottles to get through a multi-hour run.

I agree with that. I really like the Specialized 24-oz bottles. Nice wide
lid makes it easy to refill when you're in a big hurry.

--
Phil M.

"Phil M." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

dot.h@#duh?att.net said:

Sorry, but I can't imagine having to screw and unscrew how many times
the tops of how many 7-oz bottles to get through a multi-hour run.

I agree with that. I really like the Specialized 24-oz bottles. Nice
wide
lid makes it easy to refill when you're in a big hurry.

Fuelbelt used bottles with little openings when they first came out and
talk about pissing off volunteers at the aid stations. FB got a little
smarter and now they have a wider opening although the same dwarf size.
I know even distribution and all that hoopla. Fast forward to a race and
a congested aid station where you need to refill those little [censored] or
have them filled as many will do to help you along. Either you or the
person filling for you is tied up with a handful of those runts, while
others stand around with their fingers in their posterior.

Even worse, remote aid station with just gallon jugs of water on a table
or on the ground. For every ounce of water that goes in the runt, 3 go
on the ground.

Use them in training if you want but please not in a race where you tie
up an aid station.

-Doug