Wednesday, 21 May 2014

Ultimate Direction Body Bottle

At first I thought soft flasks were a giant stride for trail kit, but I fell out of love with the Salomon ones. On paper, they are fantastic - there's no swooshing sounds or bruised ribs from hard bottles and they are super lightweight - but I had problems with them leaking.  They leaked all over my rucksack, car seat and down my clothes.  Even without pressure.   Plus, they only fit inside the Salomon sack, which I also gave up on.  Granted, they were designed for the Salomon pack, but even when using that, one fell out during a run and I didn't notice.  They're not exactly cheap, so you definitely don't want to loose any.

When I bought the Ultimate Direction pack back in September, I stuck with the bottles that came with the pack.  It might take a bit more work to get the fluid out of the kicker valve, but they're 100% leak proof.  They're not just great for runners, but for kids too!  Especially if you've got one like mine, who spills everything and leaves juice bottles leaking on the back seat of the car. 

But they still swoosh - and I have noise issues! - so when I first saw the design of the Ultimate Direction Body Bottles, I was quite excited.  They've taken what's brilliant about soft flasks and perfected them with a hi-flow bite valve. 

I was expecting great things from them.  And after trying them for the first time at the weekend, they did not disappoint.  Ultimate Direction have rekindled my love of the soft flask. 

The technie bit...

Price: £13.50
Weight: 1.08 oz / 30g
Fluid Capacity: 14.2 oz / 420 mL
Material: BPA-Free TPU
Clear - you can see how much fluid is left
Collapsible - is only as large as the liquid being carried
Pliable - conforms to any shape
Cleanable - can be placed in dishwasher
Cap - Hi-Flow Bite Valve

5 comments:

Helen said...

really interesting Debbie I too have noise issues, I can't even run beside someone with a noisy bladder ;-)

Debs M-C said...

Ha ha Helen. Don't even get me started on car keys or coins! :-)

Unknown said...

Noisy keys - I wrap mine with a hair band and no jingling (a tip I found online).

So currently I use the Salomon softflasks (usually the 500ml one) with my AK 2.0 vest. Sometimes they feel a bit too large for the holster pockets. Do you think the UD softflask is a better fit?

Thanks.

Debs M-C said...

Hi Rob. I use hair bands for keys too. And I sellotape my coins together.

The Salomon flasks are tall and thin, whereas the UD flasks are small and dumpy. The fit perfect.

flanker said...

ooh look, just when I thought there wasn't any more kit I could buy for the 100!