SkinTrack

Hydration

Review of Hydrapak SoftFlask: Practical little helper

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soft-flask-250Hydrapak SoftFlask quick overview:

  • Usual full price: $13.99 USD
  • Weight: 24 g (250ml Energy Flask)
  • Pros: Light, Versatile, No Waste, Ease of Use
  • Cons: Durability, Hydration
  • Suitability: Rando racing, ski touring, ultra running, scrambling, alpine climbing, trail running.

Bottom line:

Relatively cheap and an improvement over individual gel packages.

Product description and How we tested it:

Hydrapak is a relative newcomer to the hydration market and primarily a producer of standard plastic water bottles as well as Camelbak-style reservoirs. They also produce a slightly more niche product however, the soft flask. This is a collapsible soft plastic flask in various sizes with a small bite valve at the top. They come in two designs, one in more of a bottle shape ‘for hydration’ and one in a flask shape ‘for energy’. Both types have several size options.
I’ll admit to getting inspiration for this idea by seeing an athlete in one of the ISMF World Cup videos racing with a soft flask taped to their backpack but after a season of running and skiing with versions of these flasks, here are a few of my thoughts:
The 250ml ‘energy’  soft flasks are very useful for skimo races. Around the 2 hr time duration, these races require calorie intake but dealing with the hassle of several gel packets or chewing solid bars is not ideal with gloves and cold fingers. Additionally, cold temps make gels much harder to swallow. My solution has been mixing four gel packs (or using bulk gel from Hammer Nutrition) into a soft flask with water. You avoid any packaging issues and the now slurry like mixture is much easier to swallow. I tape it onto my shoulder strap for no-hand access when it is warm and keep it in my skin suit pocket when it’s cold.
soft-flask-500These flasks are also useful for similar length running races and fit well in a vest pocket or just as a handheld. Once you finish the flask, crumple it up and stick it in your shorts pocket.
150ml soft flasks are less useful, but in a short race, where only one shot of gel slurry is needed, it is sufficient and ultra-light.
The 500ml ‘Hydration’ flask is more of a bottle type design. It has a different shape than the ‘nutrition’ flasks and fits well anywhere you would put a standard bottle (vest pockets). I use these to replace the bottles in my vest primarily because they are lighter. Slightly smaller than a standard bottle, they don’t hold as much fluid but are easier to carry as a handheld, even without a strap.

Pros:

  • Eliminates individual gel packaging. No fumbling with package tops. All ready to go at your finger tips.
  • Allows you to create a gel ‘slurry’ by adding water. Much more friendly for consumption during a race.
  • Ease of access – tape it to the strap of your pack for hands-free, or stick it in a running vest pocket or even the pocket of your shorts!
  • Easy to take apart the nozzle for cleaning out scuzzy old gel.

Cons / What can be improved about this product:

  • These are not particularly durable – be careful with duct tape and scissors. Also will not cushion a fall very well if you land on it 🙂
  • Some older/smaller models do not have a function to lock the flask shut. This means it could potentially leak in your bag if squeezed at the nozzle properly. I haven’t really had this happen and the nozzle is pretty well sealed. Not a big deal as long as you are careful

Product Specs (250ml Energy SoftFlask):

  • Weight: 24 grams
  • Materials: Silicone/TPU
  • Size: 150ml and 250ml ‘For Energy’, and 350ml, 500ml, 750ml ‘For Hydration’

Online stores that carry Hydrapak SoftFlasks:

Hydration & Overhydration in Endurance Sports: Book Review of Waterlogged by Tim Noakes

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waterlogged-book-tim-noakesWaterlogged book overview:

  • Usual full price: around $25.00 USD
  • Pages: over 400
  • Pros: lots of details, very useful, fairly easy to understand, chapter summaries
  • Cons: lots of similar stories to drive the point home
  • Suitability: from beginners to serious athletes in any sport, lots of great knowledge and practical advice
  • How we go it: Birthday present (disclosure notices)

Bottom line:

In my opinion, “Waterlogged – The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports” is a must read for anyone that is interested in hydration. Tim Noakes – a well respected and credible sports scientist – effectively dismantles lots of myths and pseudo-science that were promoted onto the sports community in the last 30+ years.
In order to get the most out of the book you do not have to read it cover to cover, unless you need every single detail to convince you he is right.

Amazon carries the Waterlogged:

Book description and Our review:

The book was published on May 1st, 2012 and the 400 pages make quite the bible! However, once you start reading you quickly understand that Tim Noakes spent over three decades to research hydration and overhydration himself as well as he reviewed over thousands of scientific papers and books published on these subjects to present us with his conclusions.
Noakes mostly wrote the book to prevent any future deaths from overhydration during endurance sports but in the process he also answers why, what, and how much do we really need to drink to maximize our performance.
He also exposes the hydration industry for its misleading information:

Dehydration in those who drink ad libitum (at one’s own thirst) has no proven detrimental effect on athletic performance. – Tim Noakes in Chapter 5 where he discusses Gatorade at length
Neither muscle cramps nor heat illnesses are caused by sodium deficiency. – Tim Noakes

Waterlogged chapter list to show you everything Noakes discusses:

Chapter 1 – Perspectives on Human Physiology and Hydration

Chapter 2 – Thirst as a Signal for Fluid Intake

Chapter 3 – Water’s Role in Thermoregulation

Chapter 4 – Salt Balance in the Body

Chapter 5 – Emergence of the Sports Drink Industry

Chapter 6 – The Shaky Science of Hydration

Chapter 7 – Early Drinking Guidelines

Chapter 8 – Discovery of Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia

Chapter 9 – The Biology of EAH

Chapter 10 – EAH and EAHE on a Global Scale

Chapter 11 – Guidelines for Fluid Intake

I went on to read this book some months after watching couple of Tim Noakes presentations that I found on YouTube. Through those videos as well as further reading-up on him as a scientist I opened the book with great enthusiasm and a general belief that what he concludes should be true. This allowed me to skip pages occasionally as Noakes, for me, went into too much detail and repeated similar examples/stories too many times.
Each chapter seemed to be constructed roughly the same – he presents what he found or thinks, then provides overwhelming evidence to support this, dismantles old beliefs, and nicely goes onto summarizing the whole chapter knowledge and recommendations on just one page. So just like a I said above, if you believe him as a scientist, you do not have to read every single paragraph or even page.
In this 4 min video Tim Noakes discusses basic principles of hydration:

And if you care, in this 15 min TEDx talk Tim Noakes discusses his body of work which also includes Central Governor theory that basically states that not (only) muscle fatigue but brain regulates athletic performance:

Pros:

  • Tons of detail and scientific evidence.
  • Lots of practical advice and knowledge you can apply to your every day life and training.
  • Superb value for the buck.
  • Fairly easy to understand.
  • The summaries at the end of each chapter are well done and easy to understand.

Cons:

  • It’s long.
  • You might need to look up some medical and biology terms, but not too often.

Waterlogged on Amazon.com:

Ultimate Direction SJ Ultra Vest Review: For runs when you need more than just a water bottle

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Ultimate Direction Scott Jurek Ultra Vest quick overview:

ud-scott-jurek-vest

  • Usual full price: $124.94 USD
  • Weight: 368 g with 2 UD bottles
  • Cost per gram: $0.34 / g (w/ bottles)
  • Pros: Light, High Capacity, Breathable, Versatile
  • Cons: Durability, Protection
  • Suitability: Ultra running and scrambling, but even short rando racing workouts.
  • How we go it: Paid full price (disclosure notices)

Bottom line:

I paid full price and will happily pay it again to replace it when it is worn out. Make sure you chose the model that suits your purposes (AK, SJ, or PB) or get a combination.

Photos:

Product description and How we tested it:

The SJ ultra vest is the middle in a series of three running vest models from Ultimate Direction. The AK comes in as the smallest model designed mainly for racing (review coming soon). The SJ (subject of this review) is the middle-sized model for racing and long runs or scrambles. The PB is the largest capacity for long distance adventuring.
I tested the SJ pack over the Spring/Summer/Fall 2013 running season which included some long races (Squamish 50k) and some runs and scrambles from ~2 to 8 hours long.
The pack is designed to allow quick easy access to essential gear with good weight distribution by putting the water bottles on the front of the vest.  Also on the front of the vest are two large electronics pockets, four gel pockets, and two Velcro pockets that fit a small ipod or electrolyte pills. The sides of the vest have a zippered pocket that overlaps a Velcro opening stretch pocket. (These pockets are hard for me to reach and they overlap so if you put much in one the other becomes useless. I cut out the Velcro to make it easier to get things in and out.)
The back of the pack has a 9.2L main compartment built with cuben fiber to stay lightweight. Two zippers are located on the back. One gives access to the main compartment and the other gives access to a small pocket on the very outside (good for quick access small items like snacks or map). The zipper placement and length limits creativity when packing lots or large items into the main compartment. A cord and drawstring on the inside can be used to hold a hydration reservoir in place but I removed it. Another cord and drawstring on the outside of the pack is used to cinch down extra volume or hold a jacket or crampons on the outside of the pack. Loops on the back are for an ice axe.
I have had good luck with packing a LOT of stuff into this bag. Scrambling up Wedge Mt. early in the season I managed to stuff rain pants and jacket, a sandwich, a spare water bottle, gloves, hat, crampons, and an axe into the back and the rest of my food in front pockets. I usually move one of the water bottles to the back to put my camera into the front bottle holder for easy access.
Having bottles up front is awesome. I hate the hassle of a hydration pouch and filling it on the go. With bottles up front you can pull them out anytime to drink or fill in a flash at a stream.

Pros:

  • Compared to an equivalent “pack” it is crazy light.
  • It can hold as much as you could possibly need for a long run and more.
  • The mesh fabric is extremely breathable and though it seems like it would be uncomfortable on bare skin (scratchy) it has never given me any trouble with chaffing even running shirtless.

Cons / What can be improved about this product:

  • The downside of the breathable fabric is that anything stored in the main compartment is directly exposed to your sweaty back. So, if you pack a spare dry shirt for when you get to the cool alpine temps after a hot run up the mountain it will be soaked unless you take preventative measures.
  • Forget asking a partner to reach in and grab a energy bar for you – gross. Its not really a series drawback but can be annoying.
  • I would prefer one of the upper front electronics pockets to be made of cuben fiber to protect an iphone.
  • The chest orientation of the water bottles can definitely lead to some bruised feeling ribs. It went away pretty quickly for me but certainly could be annoying/a problem for someone else.

Product Specs:

  • Weight: 368 grams
  • Cost per Gram: $0.35/g
  • Materials: Cuben Fiber and Hex Mesh
  • Size: 9.2 L Volume + 2 x 2oz Bottles

Online stores that carry Ultimate Direction Scott Jurek Ultra Vest:

ud-scott-jurek-vest