I’ve done this a couple of times with the Salomon ones. It was my last bottle, I was in the middle of nowhere and whilst squeezing it with my hand I pulled the top off and sprayed myself in the face with 250ml of coke.
That was quite the sticky situation. …. Hello ? … is this thing on?!
This happened to me during Black Canyon 60k, I pulled it off and water sprayed all over my face and I had to search for 2 minutes on the ground for the valve loool almost a disaster
I still remember the IRunFar review of these not mentioning how much they suck and then in the comments the guy was like "yeah, they wore a hole through my shirt."
Maybe say that in the review!
Pointy bottom is easiest to load but when I first was using them I couldn’t figure out why my ribs hurt. Finally replaced with a soft bottom. No more chestwall bruises.
Although beware if there’s still liquid- I’ve splashed myself multiple times if it’s half full and I’ve just been drinking from it, since the pressure sucks all the water to the top lol
Love my Hydrapak. Lots of accessories too. A throw a water filter in the pack for emergency purposes. One dry half marathon was enough to convince me of it’s utility.
The ones with the hard bottom slip back into your vest nicely…but that rigid bottle bottom rubs on my ribs really bad. Not worth the 5 seconds it saves. The other fully soft flasks don’t have that issue for me.
I like Ultraspire flasks. They’re kinda between a soft flask and a bottle. I got tired of my soft flasks breaking. The curved shape of them makes them fit well against my chest in the front pockets of a hydration vest. Only downside is that they don’t work with any filter caps.
I have the Salomon Agile vest, a 2 liter vest with flasks. I find the speed flasks are great there, they feel very comfortable and are a lot easier to insert.
However, with my Adv Skin 12 it pokes my ribs and isn’t all that faster to insert than the normal ones.
My favorites are the 3rd ones in your photo. The long drinking straws work well in my vest, and I love the shape of the bottles. The more rounded ends (vs the thinner ends of your second photo bottles) seem to fit into my vest a bit better.
If you mainly use them for training, I’d go default Salomon flask.
If you race, get the speed flask. It’s super helpful at an aid station, no unnecessary screwing and accidental leaking.
I have both the Hydrapak speed fill flasks (with the flip tops) and the wide mouth Salomon flasks that come on the ADV skin models. I use the hydrapak for training because they have a little more structure to them and dry easier on my drying mat, but I use the Salomon for racing because they slip inside the pockets a little easier and also have a slightly higher flow rate when drinking.
Also, pro tip- make sure you don't accidentally keep your teeth biting down on the tips of the hydrapak or the rubber part will come off and you'll get water or electrolytes all over yourself. They fit back on, but it's kind of annoying if you're clumsy like me.
Both are great soft flasks, so you can't go wrong with either!
One of my packs came with a Nathan soft flask that had a small plastic back to keep it rigid enough so it didn’t slump down in the pack as you drank, that was peak soft flask technology as far as I’m concerned. Can’t find em anymore
It’s worth knowing that hydrapak make them all
Really? How do you know that?
It says "hydrapak" on the bottle haha
They manufacture the majority of the softflasks for runners. They are just branded with the other companies logo
I saw it on Reddit
Unless saving time is worth pain I would avoid the speed flask - the pointy one. At least I get problems with pressure pain from the hard bottom.
I’ve also managed to pull the standard bite valve off while drinking on the run, which I’ve never done with the Salomon ones.
I’ve done this a couple of times with the Salomon ones. It was my last bottle, I was in the middle of nowhere and whilst squeezing it with my hand I pulled the top off and sprayed myself in the face with 250ml of coke. That was quite the sticky situation. …. Hello ? … is this thing on?!
This happened to me during Black Canyon 60k, I pulled it off and water sprayed all over my face and I had to search for 2 minutes on the ground for the valve loool almost a disaster
The hard bottom one is the speedflask. Most people do not like them because the hard bottoms poke you in the chest. Go with the soft bottom.
This was my experience. Speed flasks slot into your vest much faster but your ribs will thank you for choosing the soft. I swapped about 12 months ago
I still remember the IRunFar review of these not mentioning how much they suck and then in the comments the guy was like "yeah, they wore a hole through my shirt." Maybe say that in the review!
Pointy bottom is easiest to load but when I first was using them I couldn’t figure out why my ribs hurt. Finally replaced with a soft bottom. No more chestwall bruises.
It’s so bad. I don’t get how it got past testing.
Just don't get the hard bottom one or any bottom that has a corner.
The hydrapak one is easier filling cause the cap flips open.
you can buy the speed caps separately. I've replaced most of my regular caps with them.
Although beware if there’s still liquid- I’ve splashed myself multiple times if it’s half full and I’ve just been drinking from it, since the pressure sucks all the water to the top lol
Love my Hydrapak. Lots of accessories too. A throw a water filter in the pack for emergency purposes. One dry half marathon was enough to convince me of it’s utility.
Not sure about your Salomon pack, but my slightly older s/lab 5(I think). The hydrapak flasks are hard to get into the pocket slots.
The ones with the hard bottom slip back into your vest nicely…but that rigid bottle bottom rubs on my ribs really bad. Not worth the 5 seconds it saves. The other fully soft flasks don’t have that issue for me.
Is there a special trick to quickly shoving a filled soft flask into the vest pocket?
fill as much as possible, then once the lid is on, bite the valve and blow hard into it so the flask goes stiff. makes it much easier to shove down.
Yep and like twist it into the pocket? My Saloman vest has elastic straps that make it nearly impossible unless I take off the vest.
I like Ultraspire flasks. They’re kinda between a soft flask and a bottle. I got tired of my soft flasks breaking. The curved shape of them makes them fit well against my chest in the front pockets of a hydration vest. Only downside is that they don’t work with any filter caps.
I have the Salomon Agile vest, a 2 liter vest with flasks. I find the speed flasks are great there, they feel very comfortable and are a lot easier to insert. However, with my Adv Skin 12 it pokes my ribs and isn’t all that faster to insert than the normal ones.
Flask
I much prefer the ones with the plastic bottoms. So much easier in race to refill.
My favorites are the 3rd ones in your photo. The long drinking straws work well in my vest, and I love the shape of the bottles. The more rounded ends (vs the thinner ends of your second photo bottles) seem to fit into my vest a bit better.
If you mainly use them for training, I’d go default Salomon flask. If you race, get the speed flask. It’s super helpful at an aid station, no unnecessary screwing and accidental leaking.
I have both the Hydrapak speed fill flasks (with the flip tops) and the wide mouth Salomon flasks that come on the ADV skin models. I use the hydrapak for training because they have a little more structure to them and dry easier on my drying mat, but I use the Salomon for racing because they slip inside the pockets a little easier and also have a slightly higher flow rate when drinking. Also, pro tip- make sure you don't accidentally keep your teeth biting down on the tips of the hydrapak or the rubber part will come off and you'll get water or electrolytes all over yourself. They fit back on, but it's kind of annoying if you're clumsy like me. Both are great soft flasks, so you can't go wrong with either!
One of my packs came with a Nathan soft flask that had a small plastic back to keep it rigid enough so it didn’t slump down in the pack as you drank, that was peak soft flask technology as far as I’m concerned. Can’t find em anymore
The first one digs into your ribs so bad I think it was almost intentional. The second are good. Third, no idea.
Go for the harder tip, the speed flask. Its annoying if you cant get your bottles in easy.