F1 Sports Hydration Bag

During the F1 Sports Nature Run in April at the MacRitchie Reservoir, participants were given a "hydration bag" as part of the goodie for signing up for the race. I finally decided to try it out during Friday's run home. I have never used a hydration bag before. So I didn't really know what to expect. One thing I know from friends is that this particular bag has some very obvious design flaws. Firstly, there is no hook to hang the bladder bag so the bladder bag will flop to the bottom. Also, there are no straps within the bag to keep the bladder from moving around   Therefore the weight will not be evenly distributed. Finally there is no hole along the vertical strap for the tube and mouth piece to come out. 

Also, there is no additional holder within the bag to keep the bladder from moving around   

With that in mind, I decided not to use the bladder and proceeded to use it as a running pack. First impression was the pocket was too small to put my wallet, keys and phone. What I did like was that there was a pouch on the horizontal strap to keep more frequently required items. In my case I put in my compact camera.

And so off I went. And within 2 minutes, I had to stop! The front pouch which to me look so convenient earlier was bouncing and sliding up and down like a yo-yo and causing a lot of discomfort. Turn out it was not fitting enough and without any stopper in place. Irritated by this, I remove the camera and put it at the back together with the rest of the stuff. There goes the convenience!

Another 10 minutes later along Marina Boulevard, the whole bag started to swing wildly. What happened? And I discovered one of the freaking vertical strap had broke! What the hell! And so I had to tie it to the horizontal strap but that cause the whole thing to become lopsided and rubbing against the nape of my bag!

Final conclusion - dump the damn thing and get a proper bag. Cheap thing or in this case free thing no good!