New Gear from UltrAspire

I love getting new gear. I also love getting packages in the mail. Today was a double whammy because I got a package full of new gear!

I’ve been wanting a new pack to run and race with. I love my Ultimate Direction Wink (mine is a few years old and they look updated now), but I want something a bit more streamlined and minimal. Cade loves his UltrAspire pack so that’s where I decided to turn and look for something new.

UltrAspire is a pretty cool company. From what I understand, the guy that owns it (or is otherwise involved) has developed products for Nathan and for Ultimate Direction. It seems that his years of development has culminated in a pretty great product line with UltrAspire.

When Cade ordered his pack last year, the company representatives went out of their way to find him what he wanted even though it was on backorder. Pretty awesome. On this order I put a note that we wanted the items in time for Western States and I got an email the next morning that everything had already shipped. Excellent customer service and turnaround time.

I thought I ordered the package to be delivered to my office, so I was super pumped to see a box on my deck when I got home early this afternoon.

I opened the box to see this:

So excited!!

We ordered quite a few things. Cade ordered two extra bottles to fit in his running pack. He has the 2012 Kinetic pack so he ordered two more of the Human 20F bottles.

I ordered a bit more…

First, before I continue, here’s a cute picture of one of our dogs, Dweasel. She’s helping me type on the deck.

I drink a lot of water when I run. In the summer, no matter how short the run, I will carry at least a hand-held water bottle. I bought an Isomeric Race 20 for short runs and races. I usually carry a hand-held in triathlons so I can drink on demand instead of waiting for an aid station. This bottle has no pouches to carry food, just a strap that doubles as a sweat wiper.

I also bought an Isomeric Magnon Handheld. This one I will use for slightly longer efforts- probably between 3-8 miles. It has a pocket to stash some food as well as a sweat proof pocket with a magnetic closure specifically for carrying electrolyte capsules like Endurolytes or Salt Sticks. The magnetic pocket looks pretty cool. I’m interested to see how user friendly it is.

And last, but certainly not least, I bought an Alpha Race Vest. This thing looks so awesome. It came folded up so tiny!

I opened it up and am in love already. It is super lightweight and made of a mesh type fabric. I don’t think it will be particularly hot. It has several different pockets in the front including a sweat proof magnetic pocket for electrolytes just like the hand-held I bought. The sides are made of a stretchy mesh and have a little pocket on each side that would be perfect for nutrition wrappers.

The back has a pocket for a 2 Liter bladder (included) as well as stretchy cords for securing a jacket on the outside of the pack. There’s also a pouch pocket that can be accessed from either side- without taking the pack off! Both ends of the pouch are secured by magnets so I won’t have to worry about things falling out. This is perfect for stashing gloves or a headlamp.

I’m so excited about this pack. I’m going to have to hide it so it doesn’t go… missing. Cade has already asked me if he can wear it at Western States this weekend. Maybe I’ll let him if he’s especially nice to me, but I get to try it first!

I can’t wait to try out my new gear. I just don’t know which thing to try first!

Logan was “helping” on the deck too.

* I am in no way affiliated with UltrAspire and I purchased all of these items. However, if UltrAspire thought it appropriate to send me something in the future, I certainly wouldn’t say no!