Gear Review: Ron Hill Trail Split Cap

I love hats.  Perhaps it's the lack of hair on large sections of my scalp that lead me into wearing a hat while running.  In the winter, I need the insulation.  In the summer (if I'm lucky), I need protection from the sun.  In between, I'm constantly removing/replacing my hat or buff.

Gear Review: Ultimate Performance Malham Waist Pack

One of the great joys of reviewing new kit is that you get to try out stuff you wouldn't ordinarily buy (in my case, because I have a multitude of waist and back packs already).  When Lou from Run Stuff asked if I'd take the Malham Waist Pack out for a spin, I'll admit I wasn't really looking forward to it.  I've been running with incredibly light-weight gear lately, and the Malham looks a bit bulky hanging on the peg in the shop.  But, the idea isn't to review stuff I think is pretty, it's to review new lines, so I packed the bag up into my suitcase and headed to Texas to try it out.  (OK, I was going to Texas anyway, but it seemed like a good idea to take it out in the warm weather).

The pack is a bit bigger than I usually wear, but it somehow matches our club colours very nicely!

When I started to pack up the bag with stuff just to test it out, I started to notice its features a bit more.

Two zipped main pockets, one with a 1L bladder (included), and two side mesh pockets give plenty of storage space.

First, the 1L bladder that comes with the pack is square, so it fits reasonably comfortably against the back.  The main pocket, which holds the bladder, has quite a lot of storage space for food, rain gear, lights, etc.  An inner, waterproof zipped pocket has more than enough room for a smartphone, and the outer zipped pocket will comfortably accomodate a few bars, a wallet, and keys (and it has a key clip).  So, for most runs, everything you need will fit easily in the pack.

Loads of space in the main pocket.

I threw in an extra 600ml of water, just to make the pack extra heavy for my test run.  At this stage, I looked at the pack in dismay - how would something this deep be even remotely comfortable for the 2 hours I was planning to be out?  Then, I noticed the compression straps, and tightened them to prevent those extra water bottles bouncing around.  Without those straps, I'd have to say the bag would be unusable.  What a difference they make!

The little blue compression straps make all the difference on this pack!

I popped a few bars in the side mesh pockets and headed out for a nice long run to see how the Malham fared.

The Fit

The Malham has a centre-buckle with a fit adjustment on either side.  The left side of the belt is your "static" fit - get it right the first time and leave it alone.  It took me a little work to get the sizing adjusted the way I wanted, but once I did, it didn't move.  The right side of the belt is for on-the-move adjustments (like when you've eaten/drunk most of the contents of the pack and it needs tightening).  It was easy to tweak while I was running or walking.  To my surprise, the pack was quite comfortable and didn't feel particularly bulky, in spite of the 1.6L of water I had in it, although the extra water did cause a bit of bounce on the run.  Once I'd removed the extra water, the pack sat well and bounced very little.  I was out for over 2 hours on a warm, sunny day, and never had any comfort issues with the belt, bladder, or pack.  I also took the pack out for the day while crewing Nic's Rocky Raccoon 50.  I wore it for the best part of 8 hours, including a few short bike rides and a lot of walking and standing.

The pack is comfortable for wear on the front for a while, too, like when you're crewing someone else's race and they ask for the can of fizzy water you've cleverly stashed away...

Things I Like

The pack has a lot of pockets, so it's easy to divide up your kit based on how much access you need to it.  The compression straps are easy to adjust, so as you re-arrange things due to weather, eating, drinking, etc., it's easy to keep the contents from bouncing about and causing problems.

I expected this to be a bulky, bouncy pack, but found it sat very well and was quite comfortable.  In its basics, this is a well thought-out and well designed piece of kit.

Things I'd Like to See Improved

There are 2 zippers on each of the main pockets, which makes them easy to open/close.  Unfortunately, it also means the 2 tabs clap together as you run.  That kind of thing irritates me to distraction, so I managed to find a way to tuck them away into the mesh pockets.  I also often see 2-zip pockets at races that aren't as closed as runners think they are, which is less of a problem than you get with a single zipper.  Using the zips was very easy and convenient, but I think a single tab would be a big improvement.

The bite valve is great if you're not wearing a jacket over it with a lot of junk in your pockets.  But, I found that when I had pockets of food/water sitting on top of the valve, it wasn't too hard to accidentally pull it open and cause a slow trickle of water down my leg - really disconcerting if you forget you're wearing it!  I've had another bladder of the same construction, and I prefer a bite valve that twists open rather than one that simply pulls.  It's a pretty minor complaint, and wouldn't put me off using the pack, but it's worth bearing in mind when you decide where to place the valve during your run.

It would be nice to have some mesh pockets over the sides of the belt, to give more easy access to food, but that's definitely a nice-to-have.  The current mesh pockets are pretty easy to get to, and getting into the main pockets is not a problem, especially if you quickly turn it around so you have everything in front for a couple of minutes.

Overall

Much to my surprise, it's a pretty nice pack.  I expected to hate it, but in the end I appreciated that it's a comfortable and efficient way of carrying a lot of kit.  I would certainly say it's more comfortable than some of the Inov-8 packs I've got hanging in the closet, which was a real shock.

Would I Recommend it?

If you're after a small belt for fast and light racing, this isn't for you.  But if you want to have everything you need for a comfortable few hours out on the run, this is a really nice pack.  

Gear Review: Ultimate Performance "Performance Head Torch"

I've not been racing much lately, as I try to focus on getting my act together for my next attempt at 100 miles.  I thought about writing a nice little post on how I get my friends to drag me out on long training runs, but then the folks at Run Stuff asked me to review some of their products, and frankly that sounded like a much more interesting thing to do, write, and probably read!

When Lou handed me the Performance Head Torch, by Ultimate Performance, I thought, "it doesn't look like much, but at least it's light."  I also thought it would be great for those runs when you're out on the roads / paths in the winter, where street lighting is mixed or variable but footing is mostly certain.  So, that's where I took it to have a play. [disclosure: I got to try the light out for free. All views on the product are my own.]

Simple:  LED, Lens, Clip, Strap.

Packaging

When I took the torch out of its container, it took me a few seconds to figure out how to turn it on.  There are no buttons anywhere.  The on/off is a function of the assembly, much like many an old hand torch - loosen the lens to turn off, tighten to turn on.  You have to be careful not to loosen too much, or you'll pop the front off (this, by the way, is how you change the batteries).

The torch is very lightweight, coming in at 25g (excluding the CR2016 batteries).  It has a single high-intensity LED which sits behind a magnifying lens.  The light is fixed onto a hinge, allowing it to click into position through a range of 90 degrees to suit your needs.  I found that swiveling down towards the pavement when I was running towards people was a simple way to avoid dazzling them as I ran past.  There are plenty of notches, so you have a lot of flexibility in how you angle the beam.  And, since the hinge is on a clip, you can easily clip the light onto your peaked cap if you want - not easy to do with most head torches.

The clip makes it easy to put the lamp on your cap, and there's plenty of  beam angle flexibility.

Brightness

The first test of a small head torch is to overpower street lighting - there's no point in having something that isn't brighter than the ambient conditions.  Evesham is blessed with some lumpy pavements under weak street lighting, so I headed along routes I can run without extra light, but only if I slow down and take extra care.  The beam was sufficiently bright and large enough to make running at a comfortable pace (~8min/mi) very easy.  There's no lumen figure given by Ultimate Performance, so it's difficult to compare directly with other torches.

Next, I headed for unlit footpaths (still tarmac), and found the beam to be quite sufficient.  So, for country roads and other dark, slightly uneven surfaces, the brightness was fine.  Digging in my backpack in the dark was also an easy task - and I wasn't being blinded by looking at reflective surfaces like I can be with my high-powered torch.  I was able to use the light to see my Garmin, rather than use the backlight, thus saving the power for timing and GPS.

Power

The single LED is powered by 2 CR2016 batteries (included).  It's rated to have 16 hours continuous burn time.  Because these are standard disposable lithium batteries, I would expect the light to dim somewhat in the final half of the battery life, but that's still plenty of time to cover those dark sections of your winter road runs.  You'll probably need 2-3 sets of batteries to get you through the winter if you're staying in town, possibly a bit more if you're out on the country roads at night.

Comfort

This is where the Performance Head Torch really wins. It's light, there's a small pad on the back of the clip so it rests comfortably on the forehead, and the strap is small and unobtrusive.  Compared to my LED Lenser H7R, which has an external battery pack, this was a joy to wear.  It fits easily over a hat, and with the cap clip, can also attach to a chest strap or waistband, if you want a lower beam (very handy in foggy conditions!).

Summary

So, given all of that, would I actually be willing to buy the Performance Head Torch?  Yes: it would make a great addition to my kit cupboard.  For running around town in the dark months, this torch is completely sufficient.  I'd also be quite happy to take it on camping trips for those short, dark walks to the never-nearby facilities.  For my long night runs on the trails, the light isn't enough for a primary light, but it would be fine for those races that require a 2nd torch in your kit bag (most useful for finding and fitting new batteries for your primary torch).  It's a nice little all-rounder that will get you from A to B without a lot of fuss.

Shoe Review: Saucony Kinvara 3

The main players in the running shoe world have now joined the “natural running” movement en masse.  Of course, “natural running” means different things to different people, but I take the general view that it means the shoe doesn’t cause me to change my gait compared to when I run barefoot on the beach.  For the past year, I have happily raced distances ranging from 1 to 41 miles in shoes with between 4mm and 9mm drop.  However, I encountered some issues with build quality with my preferred brand, so decided to try a few different manufacturers, to see what the main-stream companies now have to offer.

My local running shop, Run Stuff, typically stocks Asics, Brooks, and Saucony road shoes, so I decided to check out something from one of their ranges.  I know Asics well, having spent 2 years with my DS-Racers.  They’re good shoes, but I got tired of the weight-saving ventilation holes in the sole providing an opportunity for even the smallest puddle to give me wet feet.  I know Saucony from my control-shoe days when I was coming back from various injuries that had left me without much form or lower leg strength, and knew the fit to be comfortable.  So, I took some new Kinvara 3 shoes out for a spin.  Here’s what I’ve found so far.

The Kinvara 3 looks fast.

Overview

The shoes are light, comfortable, and fairly rigid.  At 231g per shoe in UK9.5, these are an ideal weight for endurance training on the road.  You don’t really feel them as added weight, and they have enough structure to cope with the training mileage.

The Kinvaras don’t mess about with a load of heavy materials on the upper.  The plastic support structure is heat-molded onto the fabric mesh upper “sock”, with very little extra material around the toe box.  This means that they are snug around the forefoot, so I’m not expecting to see any blisters caused by my feet slipping around.

The EVA cushion/sole is quite rigid, which is taking some getting used to.  I’m used to road shoes that allow me a lot of flexibility, so this is a bit different.  With a 4mm drop, I can quite happily vary from mid-foot to heel strike depending on the conditions, and the foot strike is generally comfortable.  The sole rigidity doesn’t seem to get in the way of me comfortably running up or down steep hills, but I’m not sure it’s a necessary property of the shoe.  I’d prefer a bit more flex.

It’s pretty hard to judge a shoe from just training runs, so I dropped my test pair straight into a hilly 10K race to see how they’d hold up.  They survived without irritating me, so I’ve been happy to take them out regularly, since.   They’re an adequate alternative to an Asics DS-Racer or an Inov-8 Road-X 233.  After a couple of miles, I’ve found them comfortable and unobtrusive, which I would say is an ideal combination in a running shoe.

Fit

Initially I found the initial fit a bit tight around the ball of my foot, but that eased off quickly after a few miles of wear and getting the lacing tension right.  The laces are simple, traditional, flat laces.  Why manufacturers have to mess about with round laces is beyond me – they untie themselves so easily.  No such problems here.   They have stayed put on all my runs so far.

The heel on the Kinvara 3 is a bit of a bone of contention.  I’ve seen/heard reviews from fans of the Kinvara 2, complaining about the heel box on the Kinvara 3.  The Achilles notch on the Kinvara 3 is a little high and narrow, so for shorter runners or those with a history of Achilles injuries that have left the tendons a bit lumpy, these may well cause you some discomfort – especially with short socks.  For me, I find the internal pads on the side of the heel and the cutout to be quite comfortable.  I’ve had plenty of shoes that have such padding all the way around, which either irritates the end of my Achilles or gets torn out in the first 100 miles by my rather bony heels.  So, having this feature seems like a winner.

Small pads fit just above the sides of the heel to hold the foot steady

Achilles notch is slightly higher than the Brooks Green Silence

Achilles notch is a bit higher than the Road-X 233 as well, but the Kinvara heel box is more comfortable

As a tall runner with a narrow Achilles, I can say these shoes fit fine and don’t cause me any irritation at all.  But, I know others have found the opposite.  So, try before you buy.

Outsole

 You can see from the picture above and various of my other shoe reviews that I’m not normally a wearer of “cushioned” shoe.  Having been doing far too many miles in fell shoes this winter, I thought I would enjoy the extra comfort in the cushioned ride.  It has been nice to step on the occasional rock and not feel it, I will admit.  It’s also a nice change from the Road-X, and to a lesser degree, the DS-Racer, to have some triangular lugs on the forefoot to help when I take the odd muddy trail or encounter the ubiquitous playing-field finish line.  The outsole performs well in sticky mud, and doesn’t collect much as you go along.  When the going gets slippery, though, the Kinvara’s behave as any road shoe would and go where the mud leads them.

Strangely, the lugs under the big toe don’t have re-inforced contact pads.  I’m not sure about the design behind this, since I’ve never really pushed off from the center line of my foot (after all, the big toe is connected to the big muscles).  But, so far, I’ve not noticed any lack of power transfer as a result.

The sole is a bit higher than all of my other shoes, and that is presenting a few problems.  The first couple of times I ran in the Kinvaras with tired legs, I noted that I kept turning my ankle over.  Since I’m normally in shoes with half the height and a rigidity, I tend to take uneven pavements without any real problems.  But, with the hard, high outsole, the shoe seems to push me over a bit when I catch a rock or crack.  When the legs are fine, I don’t notice so much.  But on tired legs, it’s hard to get the offending foot off the ground quickly, so the ankle gets turned – a bit more than it would on a lower shoe.

So, while I get some cushion for tired feet from the outsole, it is requiring a bit of retraining to get used to it.

Overall

As a shoe, I’d say the Kinvara 3 is a good light-weight all-rounder.  The rigid mid-sole isn’t really my cup of tea. If you’re used to something a bit heavier, or more “controlling”, I expect you will love the feather-light freedom as you race down the road.  With the low drop, take your time easing into it if you have been in a more standard 10-13mm drop shoe.  Otherwise, your Achilles will complain pretty loudly.  If you are used to a bit more of a minimalist shoe, you might want to head for the Fastwitch instead, to get that flexible “racing flat” feel.