Friday, August 10, 2012

Gear Review- Woman's V-Max 30lb weight vest by WeightVest.com

In hopes of increasing the intensity of my training I jumped on the weightvest wagon, and like some phenomenal Spartans before me - decided to order myself a weight vest.  I had heard recommendations from the great Hobie Call, and from many woman in the Spartan Chicked community.  I felt like this was the new training tool I needed to keep up in the racing arena and to train my legs for carrying sandbags, tires, or whatever Sparta wanted to throw at me.  The weight vest was $130, but shipping was free which was a plus.  So here is the review:

Good: It is a good fit for the "woman parts", nothing is smashed and it fits comfortably. 
The weight vest is 30lbs but it has about 14 pockets for individual 1kg weights.  This was great because it allowed me to take out the weights small increments at a time and really customize the load on the vest.  When I first got the vest I really wasn't fit enough to wear it so I would take out 2-4 of the 1kg weights and put them in my camelback to get my joints used to the load. 
The weight vest also came with a detachable water bladder option so I could hydrate while using it.  The padding on the vest is very thick so it doesn't rub on my bones and it helps hold the load of the weights.

Bad: When I wear this vest I look like a suicide bomber.  This may be partial purchaser error - next time I would have ordered pink or yellow, or any color but black.  I look like I have 14 tiny bombs strapped to me, and the hose from the water bladder looks like some sort of wiring device.  People hide their children when they see me coming and I feel I will be the victim of citizens arrest or have the cops called on me.  For this reason the vest hasn't made that many public appearances. 
There are Velcro straps around the waist section of this vest.  The Velcro is thick and sticks to itself well but it hangs over the edge of the cloth section and scratches at your midsection. 
The vest is difficult to put on.  Perhaps this is just how these things are but it is not an easy process.  Originally I thought I might use this vest during an obstacle race and take it on/off if an obstacle was too difficult, but after using the vest a few times I feel a ruck would be more fitting for racing. 


Overall:  I am glad I purchased this vest.  I will have to make some artistic modifications to it to avoid getting arrested while wearing it.  I will probably never race in it but it, and the weights it came with will be a good training tool for me.  The 30lbs is really too heavy for me to "run" with, but I can hike with it and hopefully will work up to running with it.

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