EndurElite Chief Endurance Officer Matt Mosman reviews the Nathan SpeedDraw Plus Hand Held Hydration Flask and gives you the pros and cons.
Nathan SpeedDraw Plus Handheld Hydration Flask
Good morning, family of fast. Matt Mosman, the chief endurance officer over at EndurElite, coming at you with another unbiased EndurElite gear review. Now today, we're going to take a look at the Nathan SpeedDraw Plus handheld hydration device. Now, a lot of you know I've been training for a marathon and I've been scratching my head, trying to figure out what I'm going to carry with me to hydrate and fuel during the race. I know I didn't want a camelback or anything that went around my waist or over my shoulders, so I decided that I wanted to go with a handheld hydration flask, but there are a ton out there to choose from, and on a whim, I decided to purchase this Nathan SpeedDraw Plus for myself, to see how it worked, and I'm actually pleasantly surprised with how good it is.
So, today, what we're going to do is we're going to briefly discuss the technical features of Nathan SpeedDraw Plus insulated handheld hydration device and then kind of tell you what I like about it and what I don't like about it. So, let's get started from tip to tail and discuss some of the technical features.
Features Of The Nathan SpeedDraw Plus
The first one is the valve on the top is pretty handy when you're running. You won't have to pull anything up to get a drink or bite down and pull up to get a drink. It actually operates on a valve. So, all you have to do is put it to your mouth, squeeze it, and the fluid comes out really, really easy and as a bonus, no fluid leaks out of it as well. So, the valve design was really smart on Nathan's part. Now, down to the flask. The flask is actually double wall insulated so it keeps your drink cool. It holds about 18 ounces of water, and it has a really nice, ergonomic design. So, it feels really natural as you wrap your hand around it. Another feature is a sweet little pouch on the front to carry all sorts of, like, gold bars, and monies, and things like that, maybe your keys or a cell phone, but for my purposes during the marathon, I'll probably stash a few gels in here to use in conjuction with the SustainElite I'll put in the flask.
Now, the last feature and what makes it really a nifty, handheld hydration device is kind of this neoprene web that you slip your hand through, like that, put your thumb through like that, and you're good to go. So, that's some of the technical features.
Performance of the Nathan SpeedDraw Plus
Now, how did it perform since I've been testing it for the last few months? Like, right away, my biggest concern was that any kind of handheld hydration system is going to annoy the hell out of me. Like, I'll notice it's there and I'll be focusing more on that than my actual race. But I was pleasantly surprised when I slipped the hydration device on, or the Nathan SpeedDraw flask on, and kind of tightened it down. It actually isn't bothersome at all. It's not too heavy, it's not too cumbersome, the fit is nice and snug, and most importantly, you don't have to grip this thing while you're running. So, you can stay nice and relaxed and not feel like you're really crunching down on something to keep a hold of it. So, I really like that about the flask, really like the valve, really like how it kept my drink cool, and really like how I can kind of store some goodies in there if I need.
So, those are really the pros of this handheld hydration system. Now, the only con, and this is just getting a little nit picky, is I wish it was just a little bit bigger, where I could carry about 20 ounces of water as opposed to 18. I know it's only a two ounce difference, but I got to give you at least some cons, because ideally during the marathon, depending on weather conditions, I'm going to want to drink anywhere from 16 to 24 ounces. So, 18 ounces won't be too bad. You know, 20 would be a little bit better. You know, I could say I would like 24, but then I have a feeling that this flask would get too big and would become too bothersome. So, I'm definitely going to be using this during the marathon or during the race, and probably what I'll do is try to drink one of these an hour, mix two scoops of SustainElite in here, and then buy about two more, three more of these, and stash them along the course so I can basically hydrate from start to finish and only have to carry one, simple thing with me to get all my hydration, get all my calories, and make it simple and easy to use with also not being a big, bothersome system that's going to weigh me down.
Where to buy the Nathan SpeedDraw Plus
The easiest place to pick one up is on Amazon
So, that is the Nathan SpeedDraw Plus handheld hydration review. If you have a friend that's looking for a really good hydration handheld, definitely check out the Nathan SpeedDraw Plus. You really can't go wrong. If you want more gear reviews like this, head on over to the EndurElite YouTube channel and subscribe or head over to the EndurElite blog at www.endurelite.com where you'll get, again, more gear reviews and a lot of other sweet, sweet content.
All right my endurance friends. Until next time, stay fueled, stay focused and stay fast.
