Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Vest - Women's - 70 oz.

Comments about Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Vest - Women's - 70 oz.:

I am training for a marathon and I needed a way to hydrate on long runs. I have tried waist packs/bottles, but as a 5'5" 120lb. female, it would always ride up my hips was never stable-I returned the waist pack. I then used a camelbak hydrobak 1.5L but it was never stable on my back and bounced around-it was uncomfortable and caused my shoulders to ache. Enter the Nathan vest: EXCELLENT 3-way adjustable stability (I can see this pack fitting a lot of different body types), I don't have to cinch it down so tightly that I feel like I can't breathe, and more than enough room for anything I will ever carry. Load is evenly distributed (no more neck/shoulder aches). CONS: There is no compression in the top half, so when the bladder is half full it jostles inside the pack--I had to use an elastic strap around the top to keep the bladder from moving. Also, the camel bak bite valve is easier to use...you have to pull this one in and out to use it, and air gets into the tube/bladder easily--which leads to sloshing. Overall though, I would buy this again...mainly for the way it fits.

Comments about Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Vest - Women's - 70 oz.:

I've been running long distance events consistently for the past 5 years. One of the most annoying aspects of long distance running for me has been hydration. Do you stash? Do you carry? Do you wear a belt? Stashing water enroute takes time. Carrying it gets annoying. And frankly, fuel belts and camelback waistpacks give me an upset stomach.

My husband bought me this for Christmas. I have worn it for ever run over an hour since. The 2-Liter water pack holds plenty of water. Plus, the extremely convenient front compartments are perfect for easy to grab GU and my iPhone (tunes and safety all in one!). The back pouch is small, but I can fit my sunglasses for days when I start before dawn plus things like some kleenex, additional gu, $, etc.

My biggest concern was whether or not it would bounce when I ran. It does not. It fits perfectly. No rubbing, no chafing and no bouncing. The only minor annoyance is the sound of water sloshing in the bladder. But I can live with that!

Comments about Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Vest - Women's - 70 oz.:

A runner friend recommended this so I ordered it and took it on a maiden voyage 9 mile run down the Hudson Greenway today, in 90-degree heat. It was comfortable, easy to use and adjust, and did not chafe, rattle, clank or otherwise annoy me like all the fuel belts I've used in the past. That's why this vest is my new favorite thing and I would gladly recommend it to anyone. One caveat: well-endowed women may not find it as comfortable as I did.

Comments about Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Vest - Women's - 70 oz.:

I have used this hydration pack on two trail runs (6 miles and 10 miles). It's relatively comfortable, the water doesn't slosh around too much, it's compact enough to carry what one needs on a long-ish run without being too heavy, and the straps are sufficient to keep the pack in place and not flop around. Once I get going, it's hardly noticeable that I have a pack on--much better than any fuel belt I have tried to deal with.
I'm personally not a fan of the Nathan bladders and their fold-over top, so I might switch it out for a 2L Camelbak bladder I already have. I didn't find enough straps, etc. to put the drinking tube in a convenient spot (the mouthpiece snaps into place on the sternum clasp). It would be great if Nathan could use magnets on their hydration tubes the way North Face and other companies do.
I have a relatively small frame, with a short-ish torso and I found this woman's pack did not fit me as well as other brands. The shoulder straps seem set very wide for a woman's pack and they bunch on the tops of my shoulders. Also, the sternum strap did not line up with my sternum, as the channels that allow it to move up & down only go as far up as the middle of my bust. So I have worn the sternum strap at its lowest position, right under my bra line. This is actually pretty comfortable, but nowhere near my sternum!
The pockets then are right in the line of my arms as I run. It takes a little getting used to. If I had gone on longer runs, or if I had the pockets really packed, the pockets might have chafed on my arms.
I am going to hold on to this until I get a chance to try out some of the North Face Boa hydration packs.
I'd recommend it to any friend who can fit into the pack properly!

Comments about Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Vest - Women's - 70 oz.:

I ordered this pack to use as my main hydration system for training for and running my first 100 miler and I wasn't disappointed. I love that it has two accessible front pockets and a rear zip compartment. This pack has ample room for most items needed during any ultra length run and served me well during my race. I also love the way it wears. It sits very balanced in the middle of my upper back and causes no shoulder fatigue or strain like that I have experienced wearing a Camelbak. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is due to it may take extra time to fill it at aid stations/water stops as the fold over bladder opening is a bit awkward, but I believe that con comes with the use of any hydration pack instead of a bottle. The pack is also attractive and adjustable.

Comments about Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Vest - Women's - 70 oz.:

I'm a petite woman at only 5' 1", and while I'm going to keep using this vest for my long runs, it's not the perfect solution. For one, as frenchie_t mentions above, on me the "sternum strap" is nowhere near my sternum! I wear it basically in the middle of my abdomen, an inch or so above my navel (this is *without* pushing it all the way down on the rails that it adjusts on). This is comfortable, just a little strange...

The bigger problem is that the bottom of the pack hits below the curve of my lower back (I don't think it would do this on a taller woman, of course), basically at the top of my pelvis, so the very tip of the pack ends up chafing against the skin there when I have it adjusted tightly enough to minimize side-to-side movement of the pack. Another indicator that this product is not really designed for smaller framed women is that fact that "Are we outside yet" says in her review that it fits her well at 5' 10"!

Other than the length of the pack and the height of the sternum strap, I didn't find that the fit suffered in other ways--the shoulders were narrow enough for me.

Another problem I've had, unrelated to fit issues, is the hose popping out of the clip for it on the buckle of the "sternum" strap. This seems to happens on some runs and not others...I haven't figured out yet why.

Otherwise, the pack does a great job of allowing you to carry adequate water for a long run on a hot day in a reasonably comfortable way, and as a type 1 diabetic, I *really* appreciate the extra cargo room with the pocket in the back above the reservoir (where I stash an extra blood glucose monitoring kit, my keys, a credit card, ID, and a little bit of cash) and the zippered pocket in front (where I stash the receiver for my continuous glucose monitor and a packet of Clif Shot Bloks, with room left over). I wish the other pocket in front was zippered with a headphone port or something. I usually have my iPhone in that one, and it's actually fallen out before when I forget it's not really closeable and bend over.

Comments about Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Vest - Women's - 70 oz.:

This hydration vest is amazing! It is exactly what I was hoping for. I've tried a lot of things over the years for hydration, including safety pinning a waist pack to running tights:S I originally bought the mens version, but had to return it since I could not get it to adjust small enough. Women's products are usually too short for me since I am tall (5'10" 135lbs), but this fit great. It doesn't bounce and make my shoulders sore like any other backpack I've tried to run in. I can't comment on the bladder, since I've just put a water bottle in the pack. I can't wait to start getting in some miles.

Comments about Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Vest - Women's - 70 oz.:

I have started training for a marathon and after running 6 miles without water, I realized I needed to find a water solution - especially for when the runs got longer. I searched through a lot of the different options on REI.com, and the reviews for this system were excellent. Based on that, I decided to give it a try - especially since REI has such a great return policy. Turns out that I don't need to use that return policy!

I am 5'5" 130lbs, and it fits me very well. I've only had a chance to use it on a 5.5 mile run, and it worked great! There was no bouncing of anything. I didn't notice the water sloshing too badly like others did since I run with headphones on. Also, I fill the bladder half way the night before and put it in the freezer. The day I do my run, I fill it the rest of the way and that way I have cold water for my run.

There are only two negatives. My arm did hit the pocket on the left, but I just adjusted where my arms swung, and that seemed to work just fine. Also, the valve does leak if you don't close it. However, I found that you can leave it open if you put the valve in the sternum strap so that it faces up.

Overall I love this product and can't wait to run with it again!

Comments about Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Vest - Women's - 70 oz.:

I bought this looking to replace my water belt for long runs and I love it. I read other reviews and the only "con" for this water pack is that once the water level gets low you hear sloshing - but that would happen with any other water belt/backpack; and with music in my ears you can't even notice it. I have hiked and ran my first marathon wearing the Nathan woman's hydration vest and don't have any complaints. It's extremely comfortable in that fact that you can adjust to fit what size you are using four different pulls. This is great because it fits perfect when I am wearing only a shirt; and I can also adjust it to fit perfect when I am wearing layers. It was more expensive then I was wanting to spend - but I feel that it is definitely worth the money.

Comments about Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Vest - Women's - 70 oz.:

I didn't like the idea of wearing a pack/vest while trail running (I consider myself a minimalist) but I signed up for a mountain running race in Colorado and needed to carry warm/rain gear. I loved the Nathan vest the very first time I wore it. I could stash my keys/gel in the pockets instead of in my shorts/sports bra. I usually put less than a liter in the water bladder so the pack feels very light when running and it feels like it's distributed evenly on my back. The water jostles a bit but it sure sloshes around a lot in my hand. Plus my arm isn't tired from holding a water bottle. Now that the weather is cooler, I take layers off and put them in the pack instead of tying them around my waist or holding them. I seem to loose a glove every winter...