I’m looking for a good comfortable fuel belt. Any suggestions? Looking to carry liquids and gel. A pocket for cell phone would be nice…
After trying many, I’ve resorted to using Lil’ Audrey’s fanny pack.
It holds up to three cheeseburgers…
It can’t carry liquids but the spibelt (www.spibelt.com) is very comfortable. You can get the double pocket belt to have room for cell phone and gel flasks, or the single pocket belt with 6 loops for gel packets.
If you want to carry water probably the Fuel Belt, although for me I can’t imagine how much bouncing you’d get to carry enough water to make a difference. They make one that holds up to 6 8oz bottles.
I just went through this decision myself. I was reluctant to try a fuel belt but with IMSG I needed more consistent fueling. I chose the Nathan 4 bottle. Honestly, I went into it negatively but after a few runs, I love it. Having Perpeteum at the ready and the ability to mix more has really help make my training and nutrition more consistent.
For liquid fuel belts, I think you will narrow down your search to the Fuel Belt Helium or Nathan as they seem to be the two top rated. I can’t say enough about the Nathan. No experience with the Helium. I got mine from Amazon for less than $30 shipped.
I was able to pick up a 4 bottle fuel belt from a nike outlet for $10 that has been perfect for me. It has 4 bottle and two storage spaces in the back for cell phone or gels and a small storage pouch on the front.
I prefer belts made by Nathan.
I’ve tried a few and prefer the smaller multiple bottle ones.
The one with 1 larger bottle on your lower back rubbed and bounced up and down.
I have tried Fuel Belt and did not care for the system of holding the bottles and I especially did not like the bottles. It was too hard to get anything out of them. I had one of the tops break during a race and I ended up sticky and wet.
I switched to Nathan a few years ago and love it. Has a pouch for keys/cell phone/gels what ever you can fit. I think the bottle tops are much better designed.
same here … i had this older simple model … the front pocket was only good for a card but not really anything bigger, the tops broke easilyand had a tiny opening that wasnt good for gel , and could got pretty bouncy when full
the newer version has a larger pour that is stronger , big pocket, and also has grip pads inside the belt to hold it in place better
if i need to take water while training then i use a camel back instead
I also have the Fuel Belt, and I don`t like it. It has a good amount of room for stuff I find but the bottles are hard to get in and out…
I hate the bouncing bottles and flasks, very irritating especially on longer runs in the heat.
I use a fanny pack with a 36 oz. bladder and a nice pocket to hold a cell and some Gu’s. The pocket is in the back but I just spin the belt around for easy access.
It has a hose set up similar to a Camelbak, very convenient.
Ron W.
For longer training runs and trail races, I use the Nathan “Trail Mix” belt. I used to have the Nathan 4-bottle belt, but I like the plastic clasp on the Trail Mix as you don’t have to worry about the velcro wearing out, and the mini-bungees on it to cinch down a shirt or arm warmers when needed, and the pocket on the front is plenty big enough to carry gels and my cell phone. The advantage over the Fuel Belt brand is the bottles can be removed and replaced with one hand where the Fuel Belt takes one hand to pull out the holster and the other to insert the bottle back into it.
I’ve been happy with my Amphipod 2-bottle belt, which I acquired after being less than pleased with with the Fuel Belt I had. I find Amphipod’s ‘click in’ system easier to use on the go vs. the elastic bottle cradles with the Fuel Belt. I was also surprised at how comfortable and stable (non-bouncy / non-sloshy) the Amphipod is, which is another plus. They offer have a variety of sizes and accessories depending on how much you want to carry along… www.REI.com carries amphipod gear, for one
I like the Helium Fuel belt…the 4 bottle version. I will normally only carry 2 bottles though.
The pads on the side are comfortable and keeps things from bouncing around. The pocket is big enough to jam 3 gells into it, I don’t know how big your cell phone is but I suppose you could clip it on the belt.
I don’t find it difficult to get bottles in and out of it and I have never broken any bottle from my fuelbelts.
jaretj
I have been using the nathan 4 bottle belt. It can cary everything you need and it feels pretty nice while running.
I got the fuel belt helium before my first half marathon. I hadn’t worn it before that race but took the chance anyway (for nutrition reasons). The belt felt great, you hardly know its there. bottles can be a little annoying to put back but small price to pay for the comfort.
I use a Fuel Belt for all my longer training runs and have had no problem with them whatsoever. The bottles don’t break, that’s silly, and you don’t even notice they are there when you are running. You can also configure them however you want to and take off holsters and carrying pockets as needed if you want to carry more or less. As for gels, Fuel Belt makes a Gel Flask specifically for use with gels and it works quite well. You don’t have to take my word for it though, just look at the top finishers in Kona for the past few years and tell me whats around their waists for the 26.2, pretty sure they wouldn’t use something in an Ironman if it didn’t work…just my $0.02.
I have used the 6 bottle fuel belt for about a year. I carry as many bottles as are appropriate for what I am doing (I only carried the full 6 for a 30k race and I could have done without one of them in the end). I use the same bottles for fluid and gel.
My only complaint is that I have to mix the gel down to about half water (PowerBar Power Gel).
I had hoped that the gel flask would have a different top (as opposed to the ones that come with the fuel belt), but the gel flask (which I bought for the bike) has the same top so I will still need to mix it down pretty heavily to make it flow through the lid.
gonna go out on a limb here and suggest: