A few gear reviews: Harrier Kinder running pack and Voom nutrition

 Not having a good time with my training at the moment, and looking at the calendar in alarm to see that my next big race is not far off.....But thought I would ignore the lack of gains recently to talk about a few new additions to my kit. 

The first is the Harrier  Kinder 10L running pack. This was a birthday present but I was compelled to ask for it as my existing hydration pack is now falling apart and I didn't have a pack for races that required a full kitlist that wasn't my Pete Bland bum bag which was always a squeeze and only fitted kit or water, not both.

Harrier is a relatively local company to me, based over in Derbyshire, hence the naming of the packs after local Peak District landmarks. I also have some of the soft bottles, first aid kit, and dry bags from the company and have mostly been very happy with these (one of the bottles leaks but others are great). They are a relatively small business, which ticks a box for me, and the pack was designed with fell runner input. The pack has a smaller counterpart with is five liters, and they have just released a bum bag. It also reviewed positively both on various Youtube channels and by my club mates. So when I needed a pack, it seemed a good choice. 

Having taken it on a few test runs, I am really happy with it. The pocket system works well, with lots of options including a series of front pockets that are very accessible, along with a few side pockets under the arms which are useful. The silicon seals on the pocket are great as they stop things like phones moving up and down and jumping out the pocket with motion. I have used it with a bladder and with bottles and I manage to get a lot in there with relatively low amounts of ingenuity; with a bit  more application I am sure you could really pack it out. 

The pack sits comfortably high on the back, with adjustable chest straps. When the weight of the pack increases, i.e. with a bladder in the back, I did find the pack pulled across my shoulders but I am very narrow across  my shoulders so this might be my shape. Narrow shoulders also affects how much I would want to put in the side pockets and is something to think about in terms of your shape. The latter isn't a criticism as most packs have this. I also got the thing absolutely soaked the first time I used it, and would recommend using inner dry bags or sandwich bags in wetter weather! 

The Harrier vest is also very good in terms of price. Now, I haven't explored the production line in terms of ethics or environmental impact, but assuming its all much of a muchness across the industry (ie. not great), the price is excellent compared to similar. It also came with a  little bag of spare zip toggles etc which I thought was a nice touch. 

Below are two videos related to the product; the demo from Harrier and also a review from Run 4 Adventure. 

The other addition to my kit I trialed recently was Voom nutrition. Voom are, I think, a Cumbria based brand and still relatively small. They don't seem to be available via many other suppliers/ shops and are seemingly aimed at most endurance type sports such as triathalon, running and cycling. I cam across them as a freebie after a race, and didn't use the small chunk of electrolyte energy bar until a long run with a friend when my usual snack stash was running low.  So I sent off for one of their starter packs to give a try over my Lakeland Trail autumn block. 

From Voomnutrition.co.uk

The pack arrived within a few days, though I note a few people have had problems with delivery related to couriers. In it were 4 bars and two sachets. Of the four bars there were 3 different flavors of pocket rocket energy bars and a 'protein fudge' bar, and the sachets were a recovery shake and an electrolyte mix. The box  it came in was recyclable, but the product packaging apparently wasn't, which is about average these days. 

The first product I used was the electro- energy bar in lemon and lime flavor. It is a four chunk bar with each bar providing 160kcal. It seems to have electrolytes in, but without nutrition knowledge I can't tell you much about the levels; certainly its not got loads of sodium to replace an electrolyte drink but it does have magnesium. It also have some B vitamin in but again I don't know how much your body can use this during a race. But it wasn't a gel, and it might be easier to to swallow than a bar in a faster race so I was keen to try it. I used it for a very wet Coniston Lakeland Trails. I don't usually use bars for this distance but given I was starting at lunch time having had breakfast at 6, it seemed reasonable. The closest thing I can compare the bar to is Kendal mint cake in terms of texture; firm to the touch but quite crumbly in the mouth. But it had a nice refreshing taste. I had two blocks waiting to start and kept two blocks for on the way round as it was miserable and it would cheer me up. No GI side effects, a bit of a boost energy wise (I never really know if this is mental or not), and easier to get down than a goopy gel, plus easier to store once open. This was pretty good, and at £1.50 a bar, not too much than a baseline gel (certainly cheaper than top end ones). 

So imagine my disappointment when I opened the citrussy beta blast pre work out bar for before a run on the moor, and ended up spitting it out. Containing Beta alanine, this is designed to improve your concentration and alertness, as well as provide energy. But it tasted of burnt orange and I decided it wasn't for me. 

I then didn't get round to testing the next two bars for a while, perhaps put off by the citrus one. But I did, after a long run, get round to testing the recovery shake. Rightly or wrongly, I don't usually bother with recovery shakes/ nutrition, preferring just to eat a meal. But I was rushing off somewhere post long run and decided to give it  go. The sachet was a single portion which was helpful, and vanilla and Belgian chocolate flavor sounded wonderful. Even better, it didn't need milk as often too much diary upsets my stomach (and we were running low). It was recommended to use a shaker but I just stuck it in our blender for a second or two and drank it that way. It was lovely and light, and the blender had made it slightly frothy with not lumps. It had a lovely taste and no powdery sensation on the palate; maybe I should use more recovery products?!? Then I looked at the calories: 224 with water! That seemed a lot in a drink, given I don't like to drink my calories. But if you struggle with calories in after a run, this would be perfect. 

The next thing I tried was the recovery fudge. Boasting 10g of whey protein, this is not one for the dairy intolerant. Something about it sounded quite decadent and I looked forward to a couple of squares after my cross country race. At just over 200kcal a bar, it is a reasonable indulgence and I chose to keep half for later. Like normal fudge it was quite sweet, but not as tooth aching as some. But it was actually a bit chalky for fudge; not unpleasant but noticeable. It a four chunk bar and I kept the second half for after my run the next day and it seemed to hold up okay in an open packet at the bottom of a bag, which is quite an important factor in my disorganized life! 

The electrolyte powder was difficult to find time to try; I don't use a lot of these in winter and would be nervous using a new brand straight up. But I decided to use it after a night at work in PPE (sweating) before a run. It had settled in the packet (my fault) and a struggled to get it all out in to the bottle. I also struggled to dissolve it but apparently you are supposed to shake the the powder in the bottle before adding the water.... oops. The flavor was okay, it went down okay, but some of it was stuck to the bottle at the end. I'll probably stick with the dissolvable tablets for convenience. 

The final bar was a caffeine kick bar, also for use during exercise but this time berry flavor. I stuck it in my pack for the second day of the dirty double Lakeland trails but wasn't sure if I was going to use it after the citrus one. It also contain caffenie and taurine which are a double edged sword; alertness but decreased gastric transit time..... But having had a bad night, and not much breakfast, I ended up opening it on the first climb and looking at it with a bit of a surprise: it was almost brown in color! Well at least it wasn't full of artificial colors! When I had the first chunk I was really pleasantly surprised! It was a nice berry flavor, not too artificial. It had the same light mint cake type texture as the lime flavour, and pleasingly there were no caffeine side effects over the shorter race. Would use again. 

So a bit of a mixed batch. Nothing wrong with the concepts but I guess not everything is going to suit everyone. I've ordered a few of the lime ones to add to the stash of snacks for long runs, but that is about it for now. Worth a try if you are still experimenting though, especially if gels don't suit you are bars are a bit solid for you.