Re-Review: My SJ Ultra Vest is Hurting Me

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SJ ultra vestIt’s been over a year since I first tried and reviewed the SJ Ultra Vest. While it’s been a work horse for over a year now in most of my long runs, my original complaints about the SJ Ultra Vest were two-fold: 1. The 2x 22oz bottles in the front really takes getting used to and 2. The water sloshing inside masks the ambient noise including your own footfall. That said, the storage compartments are plentiful and you can stash all sorts of stuff in there, from gels, to warm clothes to Succeed S caps and so on. But I’m not exactly sure when the problems started, but after my last experience at Coastal Marin 50K, I’m retiring these for good.

SJ Ultra Vest

The first problem I noticed was a few months ago when I was out on a run and the sternum straps felt a little loose. There were two possibilities: either the SJ ultra vest was sagging or I had lost weight. The latter was unlikely. I went back to the store to check the medium size and realized that my vest had indeed gotten loose. After splurging a fair bit of money on this, I wasn’t exactly going to toss it. So jerry rigged the straps with tie-wraps (can you see the purple ties in the picture?), pushed down the bottom strap further down and it seemed to hold okay for a while.

The thing I realized was I had been running with the bottles never filled all the way. Mostly because all of the races have had aid-stations 5-8 miles apart and this seemed to have worked. However, during the last stretch of the Coastal Marin 50K, it was getting warm and I filled the bottles up all the way. Past the Marincello trail, the bottles were really starting to hurt my chest. I ran most of the way back to the car holding the bottles in my hand. 🙁 Back to the drawing board looking for a hydration pack, but I am eyeing the Salomon Advanced Skin Hydro 5 Set.

What’s your favorite hydration pack for long runs?

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33 thoughts on “Re-Review: My SJ Ultra Vest is Hurting Me”

  3. same. the water bottles up there don’t work for me. i use the vest to hold a very small water bottle and store ziplock bags of Ucan. i have a tiny hydration bladder from a fanny pack that fits nicely in the back pseudo-pocket.

    i’ll keep mine, but not put a few pounds of sloshing water in the front!

  4. I have some pretty strong feelings about hydration packs/vests. First, never race in one. With aid stations every few miles, needing more than a handheld bottle is unnecessary. I do wear shorts with pockets to stash a few gels or a snack.

    For long, unsupported runs they are great.

    • I can do the first 10 miles with no water, but as I get tired and slow in the later part of the “race” (not that I’m really competing, unless it’s 10K and you are leading the pack, ha!) I need the water.

      • I typically race with a smaller (16oz) handheld because I like to drink when I want to as well.

  5. I have the old Solomon one that carries hard bottles in front and has a hydration bladder in the rear. Heavy but doesn’t bounce too much.

    I would give the new one a shot and it works great with the bladder removed. The soft flasks are great because they don’t slosh. And the newer cycling jersey-style pockets look interesting.

    Buy it, review it, and tell me if I should buy one!!!

    • I tried the new Salomon at sports basement and I liked the fact that I can stick the soft flasks in the back. Yet to try it and yes, will post a review.

  12. I have the “AK” vest. The only issue I’ve had is a bit of soreness on my ribs after very long runs. I believe this to be from the bottles. I plan on purchasing their soft collapsible bottles to replace the rigid ones that came with the vest. I think that should fix the rib issue as well as the “sloshing” which took some getting used to. I wonder why they don’t just sell their vests with the soft collapsable flasks, seems silly to me.

  14. Have you seen the new lumbar water storage backpacks? So instead of having lots of water up high, you can have it around your waist. Designed for mountain bikers to keep the CoG low, but I think it might be good for running too. I haven’t tried though – anyone else?

  16. I really enjoyed the SJ Ultra Vest at first. Not sure what happened but one day I just stopped using it. Now I simply carry two hand helds and use a Jurek Essential belt if I need to carry anything extra (which even fits my Patagonia jacket). The bottles never bothered me but I did have a problem with the straps sliding while running.

  17. Have you considered an Orange Mud hydra quiver? I haven’t picked one up myself yet, but the wife loves hers and I’ve heard great reviews otherwise as well

  25. After retiring my mec hydration pack, I did a lot of research and decided to go with the nathan 020 race vest. I love it! It is very functional and it seems like a lot of thought went into the design.
    Cheers!

  26. I ran a 103 miles with the Ultraspire Kinetic it has 2 26 oz bottles in the back. I loved it and had zero issues. Does not bounce or chafe and has enough storage to be be just right.

  27. I don’t have all that many miles on it yet, but so far I am pretty happy with my UltrAspire Alpha. I like the comfort and lightness. I like the magnets on the rear pocket. And I find the ‘trash’ pockets very handy! The downsides have been the stupid size of the zipper pocket that won’t hold a normal car key and that I’m still trying to figure out how to best secure my sunglasses.

  28. I use Nathan 10 oz bottles up front and a fuel belt 20 oz in back. I’ve had 3 half liters back there too sometimes. Improvision has worked for me. My complaint on the original is on the run access to smaller pockets under and on the lats.