LF 5L

Very brilliant running vest. Tried several distances in three months and it all goes really well. Love it! Do not feel like 5L, more like 6-7L.

Easy to pack, smart design.

its amazing - material choices are elite - thoughtful designs and pocket structure - fit is excellent - couple small things could be improved but only if i was being super nit picky - I preferred my poles in the belt because I could feel them on my back a little more than I liked. Might be a different experience as I got a pretty snug fitting vest.

Thanks for making such considered and valuable products.

I've been using the Raide running belt for nearly all my runs for a couple years and have been beyond impressed with its performance, so when the running vest was released, I immediately purchased one. The technical design and material of the vest is next level. So many companies these days just copy and paste design, claiming it's the next best thing, but I can assure, this Raide running vest is exactly that. Lightweight and breathable material, thoughtful stash pockets, and the synching capability to keep the vest from bouncing is a game changer. It's still early in the test phase for me with this vest, but as long as the material holds up, this will continue to be my long run go-to and race vest. You'll be stoked to add this piece of equipment to quiver. Great job Raide.

Raide is really doing it the right way! I used this vest for about 56 miles of my first 100 mile ultra. The closure system is top tier and eliminates bounce of the flasks. I loved starting with the poles in the built-in quiver. It did not cause any discomfort while running. I was able to pack this thing out with everything I needed plus some. At open point running through the night, I decided to have 3 flasks on me with my phone and about 6 gels plus real food snacks like a rice crispy treat, fig newtons, uncrustable and nerds gummy clusters. Also having rain pants and a light jacket with extra headlamp in a pocket

The only negative comment I have is the small snap closures on the back kept coming undone and were becoming useless for separating pockets.

10/10 recommend this vest. It will be an essential piece of gear for all of my future long runs

I am 5'8" and weigh about 170 lbs. I purchased a size medium

I have put in around 100 miles in this vest already and it feels like it's not even there. Love the material, super lightweight, and super intuitive features designed by people who actually live outdoors. I personally love the built in pole quiver. My favorite vest to date!

First off - white vest?? Can’t wait to use this in some hot races. The material is breathable and light. Doesn’t make me feel like I can’t breathe but also doesn’t bounce. I love the versatility of the pole/ice ax pockets for the use of smaller items as well.

I love how featherlight the pack is and appreciate the thoughtful details throughout. It feels incredible. The main opportunity for improvement is the front flask pockets. The flasks are difficult to insert and tend to shift unless I tighten the chest tension more than is comfortable for full lung expansion. This also costs valuable time at aid stations. The cool side tensions help some. I really appreciate Raide's innovation and design approach. Keep building rad products that enable adventure and performance!

Exactly what I was looking for! Enough space for 4 soft flasks and support helped me pick the right size for the ones in the back. I love the idea of being able to put poles in the back too. I wish to see this vest available in more colors like in Moroccan blue or black

Supremely comfortable and light. And very durable! Runs slightly large. I have both a SM and a MD and the SM fits best (5-8 153 W31 C36.5). The only thing I would change is the design of the side pockets, which are not very secure - maybe a couple of snap buttons would do the trick. Thank you Raide for another outstanding product!

I would consider myself a Raide loyalist, so it pains me to write this review. I've been purchasing Raide's trail and snow gear for a few years now and haven't been let down until now.

I purchased the 5L vest because I have a high sweat rate and need to carry extra fluid on long efforts. When this vest came out, I was almost certain it would be my choice for the R2R2R, several other ultras, and cross country skiing. I was prepared to be a walking Raide ad to be honest. That's how much I love their gear/ethos...

The vest flat out doesn't work how it's marketed. Materials are awesome. Breathes great... for a vest! The pockets are tight, but you get used to it. BUT the back pouches near the shoulder blades are damn near useless. There are 3 snap buttons on the back that keep your soft flasks higher up on your shoulder blades/traps so that you can pull the flasks out while you're running. When I place 2 full soft flasks into the back pouches and bob up and down (I don't even need to jump), the snap buttons come undone and the soft flasks sink to the bottom of the pack. That means if I want to grab the soft flasks out of the back, I need to take the vest off and fish them out. I unfortunately, had to do that a couple times today in the Sierra backcountry on another otherwise perfect fall day.

I reached out to Raide the first time this happened and they replaced the vest and notified me that their first batch of vests had a quality control issue at the manufacturing plant. Turns out the snap button issue was common. They told me the replacement I was about to receive would have the snap button problem fixed.

TLDR; the replacement vest still has the snap button issue. My recommendation, don't buy the vest. Maybe wait until they've confirmed (FOR SURE) that quality control is on point at their manufacturing facility. I love this brand, but please for the love of god and my wallet get yo act together!

Chaleco ligero,compacto y medidas perfectas

I like the vest a lot. It's very comfortable, very light, and it adjusts well to my body.

I purchased a 1st version of the vest, so the snaps do not hold the weight of the flasks I carry in my back. I solved that issue by doing a bit of sewing work, I made 3 stiches where the snaps are located.

The seams are taped, but the tapes are all coming loose. The 2 tapes at the top of the front flask pockets came off during my very first run. The vest is still functional.

I wish the front pockets where larger, came higher over the front flask pockets. I find their capacity limited, and the gels I stuff in there stick out of the pockets.

LF 5L

I followed the sizing chart and ordered a small (for reference, I wear a small top from Rabbit, Smartwool and Ibex, and an XS from Patagonia, and am a 34C). When it arrived I tried it on and it seemed to fit fine, but once I loaded it up with everything (water, phone, keys, snacks, etc.) and went for a run I realized that this really does not fit. I've tried adjusting it (including the "hidden" adjustments in the side pockets) multiple ways and I cannot resolve the bounce, nor keep all the stuff stashed in the front truly on the front of my chest. Maybe this vest fits men, but it seems that the design does not account for the shape of a woman's chest. I've emailed customer service and they said I cannot return it since the tags are off and it's been worn. I've been wearing a Patagonia hydration vest for 5y that fits perfectly and has no bounce, it just doesn't hold as much water as I need for very long runs. I bought this thinking that it would increase my water capacity, and it seemed like it had been thoughtfully designed, but having tried it out I realize now this was a terribly expensive mistake. I'll also note that the stash pockets on the front are too shallow and things fall out of the vest when you're carrying it and haven't put it on yet. I'm happy to spend a lot for the best quality gear, but I also expect brands to back up their expensive products with generous return policies (like Patagonia has). I'm baffled by how expensive Raide products are without guaranteeing satisfaction or performance. This experience has really turned me off from Raide, I won't be purchasing from Raide ever again.

The fabric is so fine and the seams so hard to detect that it can be challenging to get into the side pockets and even the lower storage in back. This requires a reasonable learning curve to adapt to. I love how the suspension adapts to changing bottle volume.

I loved the vest out of the box. I loved it during my first trial run.

And then I started to pack it with more than a few items, namely my poles. The snaps are not strong enough and the material too soft to adequately stow and remove the poles. I would try and push them into the vest, and all the snaps would come apart where my hydration and anything else is now together in a large pocket bouncing around. When trying to remove the poles, they get caught on the material. A small issue is when using poles, they get dirty and turns the white vest brown. Doesn't seem extremely intuitive, but I knew this before buying it so that's on me.

I'm also just confused as to how to organize everything. There's random zippers at the bottom. I'm not sure how and for what reasons I need to use some, or all of the snaps, etc. The vest feels overengineered, and I'd love if Raide could create some videos on how to best use the vest.

I love the belts and they are extremely well thought out so I assumed the vest would be the same.

This vest is by far the best of any vest I’ve worn (specifically Nathan and Salomon). It’s incredibly versatile, super lightweight, and zero bounce. Bottles fit perfectly and I haven’t run out of room yet (up to 100k). I only have one complaint - the vest tears up my running shirts where it contacts them to the right/left of my sternum - I think there needs to be some sort of material buffer there in those particular points. Outside of that, I believe this is the best vest on the market.

Love this. Fits close to the body and does not chafe. Perfection in a smaller pack!

Very different from standard vests, but very cool and functional once you figure out the system. Combined with my 2L belt to do hut to hut on the TMB with everything I needed. The internal divider snaps do not tend to hold substantial load, but supposedly this has been addressed in later versions.

Recommend a size down, or modifying the cords to close tighter: everyone I know who went size M wishes it would cinch down more.

I really really like this vest. I only have two critiques. One is the white color. I love white. It’s sick. But it’s dirty and stained now after only a few runs. I wash it, I do my best but it’s trail running. Second, the clips in the back. Even with them closed, my water bottles still slide down and make it very difficult to access when I need to swap them out.

This vest is so light I barely remember I’m wearing. The breathability has been great on hot summer runs. There are no chafing points and it did not need to be worn in like other vests I’ve used. And there really is no bounce.
I’m still trying to find the best place for my phone, the front pocket is just a bit small for my iPhone pro max and it will bounce/fall out.
The soft flasks tend to slouch down when they are less than half full.
All in all it’s a great lightweight vest.

I purchased one for myself and one for my wife as we both love Raide belts and shorts. Upon arrival the lightweight premium materials are impressive. Like any other ves, the first run is an adjustment. My wife and I both had the same thoughts. The back pouch is too loose to carry small items and should only be used for outer layers, the side adjustments and bottle tension system worked great, and overall fits comfy.

Now after several long runs, my opinion has only gotten worse. The rear button system is a poor design for holding water and the material around the top is too soft to use as a quiver as poles get hung up. The rear design left me taking my vest off to get out water every time and poles half the time. And to add to it, I have no confidence in the rear pass thru or side pockets to not lose my gear. The front of the vest is great but the rear left a lot to be desired. Hope they go back to the drawing board and do better. These will be on eBay and I’ll be going back to a Salomon for $50 less.

Came across this vest in the running store in Breck and ended up finding it online in my size. Have put it though quite a few 3-4 hour runs over the past 6 weeks and am super happy with it. It’s very stable with minimal bounce and almost does better fully loaded for me since I’m a bit between an L and the XL I purchased. I’ve gone through a few vests since 2010 and the pole carrying compartment on this Raide is hands down the best. Easy to access and stow while on the go and the dual back quiver compartments offer tons of storage. I’ve shoved my rain pants and jacket down there while still being able to fit a 800ml soft flask and a rolled up map in each. The front flasks really do stay stable without bounce. Other flask based vests in the past of this light weight are way too bouncy. I tend to drink from them in the compartment as they are a bit snug to get back in if you prefer pulling them out each time you drink. My only complaint would be that the main expanding compartments immediately adjacent to the flasks could have a bit more coverage to hold more larger format gels. I haven’t had anything fall out yet (and I’ve stashed my phone in there for longer stretches) but I can feel gels tethering on the edge of popping out at times. Maybe one more nit-picky thing would be to have move of the separator snaps located to divide the components. If the bottom of the quiver compartment isn’t packed full soft flasks tend to pop them open and slide to the bottom. Keep up the good work!

A majority of the features this vest claims it can do, it either does it in an incomplete way or it fails to work.

They had an issue with the first batch of releases not being able to keep the buttons in the back closed. I was informed that the issue was not discovered in prototyping and they are going to be fixed on a second batch of releases. They free of charge (except packaging) replaced my first vest with the second improved one. However, they still don't work as designed. It's advertised as being able to hold their soft flasks up so they are accessible but it is unable to do that and the bottles, even when full, easily slip between the gap and sink to the bottom.

There rest of the vest features somewhat work. Things mostly stay in place, but the fabric in the back stretches easily over time and when I have a snack pack or rain jacket things move around and I have to constantly shove things back in so they don't fully fall out. To me it's not an overpacking problem, the fabric is large enough to hold it, but if they had designed it to be a closed system it would work better.

I also think they need to abandon this idea of trying to solve multiple problems for the vertical pocket system and the buttons. Either fully stitch it shut, or make it a standard back pocket like other running vests. It's doing a mediocre job at all angles.

I'm concerned with how they do product testing as these things I feel would have been shown during stress testing under a variety of objective styles people pack for.

All that said, I will give it credit as being comfortable. Nothing is uncomfortable on long days, it just shifts around and doesn't necessarily work in the way they show (or I would expect) it to work. They've also been very responsive in the ongoing issues I'm running into and I'm still communicating with them on the recent problems in the second batch.