What I needed was a bumbag with a bit more room than the Elite 2, and a water bottle- give me enough space for food, water and enough clothing to keep me warm should the weather turn nasty- and you need more of that in the winter than in the summer. The Elite 3 seemed like quite an obvious candidate. I have never really seen another fellrunner with the Elite 3, but I have seen a number with the OMM 4 litre bag. I was interested in that, however, I wanted a bag with the water bottle in the centre (or at least diagonally across it) so that it is stable. The OMM 4 has the bottle on one side, which, it seems to me would be a little unstable when the bottle was full.
So taking the plunge I was able to get hold of a Race Elite 3. (no, nothing spectacular. My sister bought it for me as a birthday gift).
The provided bottle |
Immediate differences to the Elite 2 (apart from the obvious bottle, and 2 pockets instead of 1) is that the waist belt is a lot thicker and sturdier than the elite 2- to be more comfortable with the slightly heavier weight, one would guess. The wings are bigger to accommodate the extra storage space, with the pocket on the left being waterproof-y type material, and the one on the left, stretchy mesh- end result being that the bum bag ends up feeling a little like a comfortable rucksack hip belt. The bottle is held in the holder with elastic wrapped around the outside, and tightened across the top of the bottle. The reason for getting this particular model was because the diagonal fashion of the waterbottle.
the elasticated bottle holder |
Over all, it seems a good size- and when I was out last time, I ended up wearing pretty much every single piece of clothing I took with me- I got a tad cold, (and didn't take enough food, but thats another story).
slightly sturdier right pocket |
Mesh left pocket |
So- so far, it appears to be stable, carry enough stuff to be useful in the autumn/winter for a decent 5 hour jaunt, has a decently thick waist belt, (but with a minor issue with the belt buckle) but it fills the gap between an emergency bumbag and a rucksack very well indeed.
If both buckles were adjustable it would be just about perfect. We'll have to see how it fares in the next few months, when I suspect it will get a fair amount of use and abuse.
Hello. Any new opinions on this hip bag? I would like to buy one, and could use your insight.
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Szilard
Hi Szilard, Yes, I've been using it for the past year or so. Its pretty bombproof - as long as you replace the original zip tags with slightly more robust string. I suppose it depends on what kind of racing you're going to be using it for, but if you are going lightweight and don't overload it, its great. Beware of the bottle it is supplied with though. Although they seem pretty good, I have broken 2 of them - they just start leaking spontaneously. Other than that, great bag.
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