Product Review: Amphipod Airflow Lite

For years I have been looking for the perfect way to carry my gels and salt during racing and training. I have tried a variety of tactics. First, I tried a pair of Race Ready-type shorts (mine were not Race Ready). They worked pretty well, except the pockets tore over time. I also didn't like how as my shorts got heavier as they got wetter, the gels and wet shorts got droopier and droopier. Fail!

Then I tried a couple different waist packs, aka fanny packs. :) (One was by Fuel Belt, the other by Nathan.) The problem with these was I couldn't get them tight enough so they would bounce and ride up around my ribs instead of staying on my hips. This, of course, created unbelievable chafing. In addition, I was quite embarrassed I was wearing a fanny pack. :)


For a while I started wearing shimmels to race, which was great because they had pockets built into them. My only problem with the shimmel was that I have terribly inflexible shoulders and sometimes reaching into the pockets could be quite challenging.


After a year of nothing but spandex, I have been looking to find a way to carry my gels and wear loose fitting, comfortable running clothes, while in the running portions of tris or during running races. The week before Cedar Point I had decided I was going to wear my Fuel Belt and wanted to find an attachment, if you will, to the belt to carry my gels. I went to the running store across the street and, of course, they didn't have what I was looking for. That is ALWAYS the case. They recommended an Amphipod Airflow Lite, which to me, looked like another fanny pack. I was hesitant to buy it. I hadn't had the best experience with the waist pack, but they assured me that Amphipod prided itself on staying-put and I had heard great things too. So I bought it and tried it out on my next day's 15 minute run. I wore it with slippery tri shorts and put three gels in it to see if it would stay put. And....it totally did.


Then yesterday when I ran the 20 mile race, I loaded it up with 5 gels, a baggie of salt, and pinned my number on the front of it. It worked terrifically. It didn't move off my hips. It was easy to whip around and grab what I needed out of it. It never felt heavy or bulky.

So, I'm back to the fanny pack. But, I love it. I'm now I HUGE fan of Amphipod. I plan to try out another product very soon...