Gear · 2013
Ultimate Direction Ultra Vesta review: a women's vest that isn't a men's vest in purple
The question everyone asked about the launch, answered by someone who could actually test it.
Ultimate Direction’s Jenny Collection was a line of packs designed by women for women, led by Jenny Jurek with input from a number of other runners. The obvious question at launch, asked more or less openly across the sport, was whether this was a genuinely different fit or the existing vest in a different colourway.
The review was assigned on the straightforward grounds that the show’s regular reviewers were not in a position to answer it.
Disclosure carried in the original: the reviewer had been given a prototype of this vest during the previous summer and had provided feedback to the design team about scratching and chafing on the shoulder straps.
Sizing
Two sizes:
- XS/SM — 20–38in / 51–79cm
- MD/LG — 24–40in / 61–102cm
With the guidance that you should measure in the clothes you intend to run in, and that a loaded vest fits smaller than an empty one. At a 28.5in chest — squarely in the overlap — the reviewer went for MD/LG.
Water
A pair of 10oz bottles drop into the front pockets, which cinch with a cord and take an elastic loop over the top to hold each bottle down. On this reviewer’s frame the bottles sat high on the chest. The bottle openings were noted as narrow: fine for drinking, awkward for a fast aid-station refill, and too small to get ice in — a real complaint for anyone racing in heat.
A bladder can be added in the back, with a velcro strap to keep it from sagging.
Storage
More than the reviewer had immediate use for, which is the correct problem to have. At the back: a large zipped bladder compartment, a second large zipped pocket that takes a jacket comfortably, and a smaller zipped pocket. At the front: the bottle pockets flatten with zip cords when the bottles are out, and below each bottle sits a further pocket — one zipped, one with a velcro tab — each taking a phone of the era, in Power Stretch mesh that accommodates whatever you push into it.
There is also a whistle mounted above the left bottle, useful for signalling position on a trail and for waking a runner you are pacing at three in the morning. The review’s practical note: it bounces unless secured.
Price
$125.
Verdict
A clear recommendation, and — to the original question — a genuinely different design rather than a recolour.