If you’re a runner that hits the trails for super-long runs at the weekend, or you’re entering your first Ultramarathon event, a race pack/vest can be a godsend. This article will examine the Salomon Active Skin 8 Set Unisex Hydration Vest 8L and its key features.
Why You Need A Running Hydration Vest
- Easy access to water and snacks
- Better fit and comfort than regular packs
- Designs are more suited to trail running
- Lightweight and breathable
- Organise your race kit for efficently
Salomon Active Skin 8 Set Table of Contents
Salomon Active Skin 8 Set Unisex Hydration Vest Review
In this guide, we’ll take a look at what the Salomon Active Skin 8 Unisex Hydration Vest 8L has to offer in terms of key features. Next, we’ll look at bit deep at some of features of this race vest. At the end we’ll look at the brand behind the vest and see what alternatives they have.
Salomon Active Skin 8 Set Key Features
Comfort & Fit: Salomon Active Skin 8 Set
The Salomon Active Skin 8 vest construction uses stretchable, breathable fabrics that move and wrap around the shape of your body. Having a race vest that does this is essential. When you’re running long distances on a training run and especially in a race, you don’t want your pack bouncing around. The fabric moves in unison with your body, so there is no vibration when running downhill, and the pack doesn’t pull back when you’re running uphill.
Breathability is also a high point with this vest. The mesh fabric construction allows heat to escape and allows any natural wind or cool breeze to permeate and cool your body down.
It’s sung fit also ensures there is no rubbing on your skin around the shoulder areas and under the arms. The race vest also has elastic straps which don’t restrict or hamper breathing. This strapping system also means it’s super quick and easy to make adjustments without breaking stride.
Pockets & Storage: Salomon Active Skin 8 Set
The Salomon Active Skin 8 comes with two chest pockets on the vest’s front to carry the included 500ml soft flasks. These flasks compress as your water supply depletes. When you get to a water point or aid station, they are super easy to take out, top-up and pop back inside. On top of the flask pockets, you get two stretch mesh pockets with top and side access to store other trail essentials. You also get a neat little whistle on the front of the pack.
To the rear of this vest, you’ll find a large vertical-zipped pocket. The rear is where you would store larger items that you don’t need quick access to, such as a rain jacket, leggings, hat, change of socks etc. Inside the rear is a small pocket for a foil safety blanket and a key holder.
This rear pocket is pretty large, so when you need to stop running and gain access, it’s easy to find what you’re looking for quickly. You’ll find bungee cords running across the rear compartment; these are great if you want to compress the rear compartment after removing a jacket or leggings. Room is also available for a hydration-bladder at the rear of the vest.
Salomon Active Skin 8 Hydration System
As already mentioned above, this Salomon Active Skin 8 Set comes with 2 x 500ml soft flasks, which are easy to clean and dry after use. If you need to carry extra water because you’re venturing well away from civilisation, this vest has a hydration bladder compartment. The compartment can hold a 1.5 or 2L water bladder, so in total, this race vest can hold 3 litres of water.
I don’t think you need any more than that. On a hot day running 30K+, I would take 1 Litre of water and use the flasks. Even during an ultra event, I think 1 Litre is plenty because most events will have aid stations every 15km to top up. I would use the rear compartment when running solo in the middle of nowhere with no support.
Active Skin 8 Video
Salomon Active Skin Vs Adv Skin
The differences between the Active Skin Vs Adv Skin are not huge in my opinion. The Adv Skin is a little bit lighter than the Active Skin and is probably more suit to trail races who want to shed every gram of weight.
The ADV still comes with the 2 500ml soft flasks, pockets and rear compartment. However, it lacks the bungee cords to compress the pack down. Overall, pretty similar and not that much in it really. The ADV skin is a little more expensive and is aimed more at performance runners. Would suit more experienced Ultramarathon runners.
About Salomon Vests & Packs
I’m a huge fan of Salomon running gear – I own a fair few of their running shoes, running belts and vests. Salomon products always seem to be made to a high standard and are performance-focused with practical features. They offer a good range of hydration running packs to suit all price points and budgets. I think the Salomon Active Skin 8 is an excellent option for those new to trail running or entering their first Ultra race.
Salomon works with a team of elite trail running and athletes; they work with those men and women to develop, test and tweak their products – resulting in some genuinely top gear. Salomon does have some alternative running packs to the one covered in this review, and I’ll list them below if you want to go and take a look.
We’ll probably look at adding more content to this page in the future. Not sure about Salomon – go and check out these other running vests on Amazon.
Some Other Great Salomon Packs & Vests
Disclaimer: This guide contains affiliate links, and I earn a small commission from any sale that occurs via my links. This, however, does not change my opinion; I always do my best to provide the facts and suggest products that will benefit my users. You pay no more and no less for using these links. It does, however, help to sustain my blog.
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