Ultra Tri Trail Running Hydration Vest Review

The ULTRA-TRI Trail Running Vest is my favorite backpack that I have purchased. When I was looking for a vest for the 50 Mile Rebecca Mountain Trail Race (link to my post race report), I searched and searched for a vest that had everything that I wanted at a low price. It took a while to find the ULTRA-TRI pack because many companies now make a vest style backpack made popular by Salomon’s Advanced Skin Vest Pack. During that research I created another post of the Best Knockoff Trail Running Gear on AliExpress, be sure to check out that list.

I found vest style packs are basically large sport bras with pockets. They are design to securely wrap around your chest to prevent the bag from bouncing around on your back and chest. This design will also reduce the chaffing that is normally created by backpack straps that can dig into your armpits. With the design also comes easy to reach pockets which are located on your chest, typically for hydration flasks, and oblique pockets which are for gu’s and other nutrition. Then most vest packs will have pockets or pouches on the back to hold jackets, larger gear and hydration bladders.

Storage:

The pack is advertised as a 10 Liter and will be able to fit all your gear and nutrition for a 30+ mile trail run. The oblique zipper pockets (the silver zippers seen below on both the right and left side) provide a lot of storage. The pack can fit a 1.5 Liter hydration bladder, but is sold with a 1 Liter bladder. I did try to fit the 2 Liter bladder that I already owned and it was too long. So I ordered this 1.5 Liter bladder off Amazon and it fit perfectly.

When I attempted to complete the Rebecca Mountain 50 Mile Trail Race, I ran with both the flasks and the hydration bladder. It was a lot of weight, but I didn’t know better. After that DNF, I only ran with the flasks during my training runs and enjoyed the less weight. I would recommend that you choose to run with one or the other, but just know you could run with the flasks and the hydration bladder, if needed.

Soft Flasks:

I did order their 500ml flasks at the same time, which was ~$38 for both the vest and the two flasks. They have worked great since September 2018 and do not leak at all. They did not have a plastic taste like others have in the beginning, but I did thoroughly wash them out before I used them. Which probably helped a lot with that.

The only problem occurred was when I added my mango SOS hydration mix to one of the flasks. That flask permanently developed a yellow-greenish hue. Doesn’t taste weird, it basically dyed the inside of the flask. I have tried soaking it and using warm water, but it seems to be permanent. Like I said this is the only problem that I have had with them and I can look past that.

Sizing:

The ULTRA-TRI vest comes in two sizes, medium and large. The medium is for chests ranging from 90-105cm or 35-41″. The large fits 100-115cm or 39-45″.

I have a chest that is around 41 inches so I ordered a large. It fits snug, but I have plenty of length left in the two chest straps to loosen and tighten the vest. Seen above in the first and second photo, you can see how much I have left to loosen the two chest straps. I’ll eventually cut them down to prevent unwanted flopping of the straps.

My Modifications:

Deadpool Pole Mod:

This pole mount design was developed after discovering that I might want to carry poles during the Rebecca Mountain 50 Mile Trail Run. I ended up not running with them, but now I have the option to bring poles on my longer training runs. The modification was super simple to make. I only had to make sure the loops that I sewed on were large enough to slide my poles through them. Running with the poles is not as bad as they look. The do bounce a little, but they are secure and have not bounced out. The only downside is that you will look like Deadpool while running through the woods. And, might catch a branch or two if you’re not careful.

GPS Computer Velcro Mod:

This modification might not be relevant to the vast majority of trail runners because most will splurge $400’s on a new GPS watch. I already had a GPS cycling computer on hand, my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, that I bought for $200 using a combination of online cash back deals (post here). After thinking through how I could utilized my Bolt, I landed on the idea of securing it with a DIY pouch and Velcro. If you want to learn more about the design, click here.

So to secure the pouch on the vest, I sewed on Velcro patch and used one of the Deadpool loops to attach the pouch’s carabiner. The Velcro does more than enough to hold the Bolt up on my shoulder while I run. I use the carabiner as a safety measure to catch it if it does bounce off. Just to note it has never bounced off my shoulder.

You will see a long strip of Velcro on the back of the pack… That was the first location that I tried and it did not work. I quickly discovered the Bolt needs to be laying flat perpendicular to the ground. I’ll leave the Velcro on the back for now but might remove it later if I can’t find a use for it.

Buy your own:

AliEpxress ~$38 *Free Shipping
There are many more vests packs sold on AliExpress. You can see a search result of them if you follow this link. Or, check out my other post of knockoff trail running gear that you can find on AliExpress, here.

Amazon ~$42 *+ 1.99 Shipping, Ships from China
Like AliExpress, Amazon also sells many more vest packs from different brands, ranging from $40 to + $200, if you would like to see those click here.

EBATES.com – https://www.ebates.com/r/RICHAR21628?eeid=28187
*Receive a “Welcome Bonus ~$10” after spending $25.

If you would like to earn a few dollars (3% on AliExpress) when you shop, you can use the link above to do so. I have been using EBATES for the last two years and have earned $223 in cash back from different online purchases across websites like Amazon, Macy’s, AliExpress and Backcountry.com.

My Recommendation:

I highly recommend this pack and suggest that you check out their store on AliExpress. I have communicated with them a few times regarding my pack and the modifications that I made and they are quick to respond and show genuine interest. They mentioned to me that they are always thinking of how they can improve the next version. If you have any suggestions, feel free to drop them an email.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below.
-thebidon

Disclaimer: As mentioned on my other posts and like most sites, if not all websites, the links above are affiliate links that help to keep this site running. Feel free to follow them if you like or you may search for them yourselves on both marketplaces.