I love my Torhans Bento, but what would really optimize my use of it would be a soft gel flask, almost like a camelback bladder, that would fit perfectly inside, occupy most of the volume of the bento, but still give a little wiggle room to be able to remove the flask on the fly. It should have a regular valve that opens and closes, and is removable in order to clean the bladder.
Does something like this exist? Did I just invent it?
This one is complete but size is fixed
Here is a way to make whatever you want
Brian
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GU makes a flexible flask. It should be coming out soon. AeroGeeks took a picture of it at Interbike this year http://aerogeeks.com/?attachment_id=6512
More of a bottle than a flask, but worth a look, a few different sizes
I use an item called a HydrPak Soft Flask. They come in various sizes. I think mine are 5oz. The cap is a squeeze sort of thing though instead of a flip cap. Like a bite valve. I’ve never had stuff come out of it though. Fits in my bento or a rear jersey pocket.
Go Gear Travel Bottle
I’ve used these with success. I think they make them all the way down to 1oz but I could be wrong. The best part is they are entirely silicone so there is no issues with things absorbing the flavor or sticking leading to mold and the like. easy to clean in boiling water.
speedfil makes one with a soft value or hard bite value
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Does the Hydrapak fit in the Torhans Aerobento? It looks like the 150 would fit and provide plenty of gel volume to get through up to a half iron. How many gels can you normally fit in your flask?
I can get 5 Powerbar gels in the Hydrapak 150 if I remember correctly. I can fit it in my xlab stealth pocket but it’s certainly a tight fit. I’m not 100% sure about the torhans bento because I don’t have that item.
I prefer to carry the Hydrapak in a rear pocket. I used it in the rear pocket of a Desoto Forza for a full IM and it worked great. I stuffed 2 bonk breakers in the front as it just worked better than way for me.
Which stealth pocket did you fit it in?
If you’re Europe based then Overstims do this:http://www.overstims.com/SOFT-FLASK-237ML-Accessories
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It’s an xlab Stealth Pocket 100. The Hydrapak 150 (filled) fits in there with a bit of room to spare. I could add an inflator head or some salt tabs in the bag if i wanted. Again, not a lot of extra space, but it’s easy to pull the flask out when needed. The xlab Stealth Pocket doesn’t have the plastic insert like the Darkspeed 480. I formed an insert myself which holds the shape well. As the flask shrinks from use, the bag retains shape because of the insert. More info that you wanted, but I figured I’d add that part.
Maybe. These both are the same size approx 300ml. Hard, top part of bottle limiting factor, 60mm across. How high is the AeroBento? Just ordered one myself.
http://www.wiggle.com/inov-8-025-soft-flask/
http://www.wiggle.com/omm-softflask-325ml-straw/
Interchangeable caps, btw, if you would like to try both straw and bite valve cap, in different sizes.
I found some sweet flasks at the dollar store and attach them behind the stem on the top tube with Velcro (also could be found at dollar store). I went to home depot for quality stuff so I don’t lose my expensive flasks lol
Aerobento and gelflasks are not meant to be together, at least not the ones I linked to. The top of the flask and the cap are both just slightly wider than the bento. There’s some flex in them, so they can be squeezed in there, but would not want to that on a moving bike. Was also able to get only 100-120 ml of fluid in there.
TriSports has the Gu Flask http://www.trisports.com/gu-energy-gel-flask.html
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Not available before 02/27 though and no international delivery. If someone actually got/get one of these, please report size of rigid top part.
http://www.invisciddesign.com/store.htm
http://store.invisciddesign.com/softflask-w-fliptop-5o5.html
A quick check online shows they are in stock at Nytro.
http://www.nytro.com/speedfil/soft-flask-with-bite-valve-by-hydrapak-3522
KS
why not just use gels?
I also cram two powerbars in there… warm them up and they are malleable