Upgrading

 I can be a bit particular about the stuff I use for running - not just shoes and clothing, but other items like hydration vests and bottles that can make a big difference to comfort and happiness over the course of a long day out.

Not limited to blister or chafing concerns, either

Almost two years ago, I picked up a new little vest made by Life Sports Gear out of Quebec. The Torrent 2.5L was exactly what I was looking for: light and meshy so it wouldn't hold heat, but with enough pockets to stash a bottle or two, my phone, and some snacks.

This poor sweat-drenched, bug-sprayed, salt-encrusted thing and I have had some TIMES since

I use it quite a bit, but I was always dissatisfied with the bottles that came with it. 

Two of these are included

The 450ml capacity is fine - it's about the maximum the stretchy pockets of the vest would support, anyway. The vinyl is sturdy, and I don't even mind that much that it seems to be the same stuff that waterbed bladders are made of, and imparts the same sort of odd flavour to any water left in it for any length of time. Ok that sounds a bit weird: Tank and I had a king size waterbed for years, and though I didn't make a habit of drinking from it the smell of the water is the same. I can live with it, though; I usually wait until the last minute to fill them, and when I'm on the trail I'm thirsty enough that I don't really care.

I also don't have any others that will fit in the tall, narrow pockets of the vest

What really torques me about them, though, is the valves. They use Hydrapak's excellent design, where you just bite the silicone sleeve around the hard plastic core to distend the seal enough that water comes out. The problem is the silicone they used is the stiffest I've ever encountered. Where a light nibble is enough to draw forth water from every other bottle I own with this kind of valve, it takes a solid gnaw to release the precious liquid from these particular flasks.

I will also say my experience with this kind of valve is not inconsiderable

I only recently picked up that Salomon Active handheld (mostly to test using a different kind of strap with a hand bottle), and noticed that Salomon uses the softer silicone - makes sense, since it seems the bottle is made by Hydrapak, like all the ones pictured above. I wondered about just buying a pair of Salomon soft flasks to replace the ones the Life Sports vest came with, but balked at the price - it would be a minimum of $50 + tax, and I'm too stingy to spend that sort of cash replacing something that's functional, if a bit annoying.

Then, I found an alternative for only $8!

MEC to the rescue!

For $7.95 + tax (and with a free shipping promotion), I was able to pick up a two-pack of just the part I wanted to replace. Since the valve itself is just a friction fit over a hard plastic tube that extends upward from the screw-on top, it was a simple matter to just pop the old valves off (you can see the one with the black core above) and push the new ones on.

Peel off the hygienic plastic cover, and voila! Problem solved in about 1 minute

Of course it would be an issue if they didn't fit snugly enough to stay on, but I've since done some testing and I'm confident these are a direct replacement.

Happy girl!

So if you - like me - have hated the bite valves on your Life Sports Gear bottles (as I know these vests are quite popular from having seen them on a lot of people at races), now you know there's an easy solution. 

..and if this is all just a bit too finicky for you, then feel free to hit the trail!

Happy long weekend, North Americans!