Article by Matt Kolat
Inov8 RacePac8 (£70/$80)
Introduction
Inov8 is a UK brand which requires no introduction in the running world being a long time trail pioneer and one of the first companies to design trail running shoes specifically for trail and not just as reshod with rubber road shoes. I have reviewed many of their products and they never disappoint. First ever running pac review for me - please join me and my thoughts below. With the RacePac8, they introduce a fully featured 8L race vest (without flasks) for a very reasonable (£70/$80).
Fit
I am a 40 year old man 182cm tall / 6 ft, weighing 12.y stone / 81kg / 178lbs and I’ve opted for size Large. It fits me really well however the fit is quite generous and I would most likely still be comfortable with a size smaller. Please keep that in mind if you are of a smaller frame, I am quite broad shouldered.
What I liked
Price. When I saw the price £70/$80for this running pack I was really shocked, but in a nice way. In today’s market where all the prices are sky high it is very refreshing to see a brand like Inov8 combining high end, reliable and innovative products (sorry, terrible pun) with accessible prices - great job.
Functionality. The pack is very feature rich. It has multiple attachment points, for trekking poles or other pieces of kit. Two flask pockets, drop storage in the back which is compatible with a 2L reservoir, two big elasticated pockets on the sides and a secure pocket in the front which is also equipped with a safety whistle. Coming back to my previous point, that's a big bang for your buck.
Comfort. The pack is extremely comfortable. It cinches down via the coeds in the front as well as via two cords hidden inside the stretch pockets on the side of the body. The vast majority of it is made of mesh material which has this honeycomb pattern. This allows for great breathability but also has a lot of structure to it. The RacePac sticks to me like glue, there is absolutely no wobble and at the same time I’ve not experienced any chaffing. Awesome job Inov8.
What I did not like
There are two features which I did not like about the RacePac.
First of them is the lack of flasks. On one hand, this helps drive the price down but on the other it would be useful for the RacePac to come with flasks. The simple reason being that they would ‘fit’ the pack better than third party ones. I tried the RacePac with a few different brands of flasks and they all worked fine, however if it came with Inov8 flasks the fit would most likely be ideal.
The second feature which I did not like was the omission of a small pocket to store valuables in, house keys, car keys, small wallet. There is a large secure pocket, where I kept my phone, however, if I pull out my phone on the run, without stopping, I don’t want to worry about my car keys falling out. A very small secure pocket, perhaps on the right or left ‘shoulder’ of the pack would sort that out. Best spot for it would be where the ‘yellow line’ runs on the photo below.
The RacePac8 is available now in Black and Light Green and also in 20 and 4 liter versions
INOV8
AMAZON
Maciej 'Matt' Kolat- 38 years old, hailing from Poland but pounding Scottish pavements and trails since 2007. Mainly runs shorter distances on pavement 5-10 km and reserves longer runs for beautiful Scottish Glens. Matt’s opinion sometimes may differ from other RTR testers as he is the slowest of the bunch (5k at 25:38). Matt also uses running as a way to stay healthy having shed 100 lbs so far (and counting).
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