Running: Camelbak magnetic clip and Yaktrax in the snow

I bought my Camelbak Hydrobak just over a year ago and it has been a fantastic purchase for this dehydration prone runner, especially now I'm back in the UK and water fountains are rarer than hens teeth.

One nagging annoyance with the Camelbak has been how the tube clips into the strap when not in use. As you can see from the photo above (bottom right) it is tucked awkwardly behind you, high under the arm. It gets particularly difficult to clip in the tube in winter with cold hands or while wearing gloves.

I heard about a magnetic that I thought sounded a lot easier. Camelbak don't seem to sell magnetic clips, but Source Hydration do. I was a bit concerned that is might not be compatible with a Camelbak bladder, but it fits perfectly.

The clip has been excellent so far and makes grabbing a quick drink while running a lot easier. Definitely a worthwhile purchase.


Yaktrax
I went for a few runs in London when the snow hit last week. Snow is actually quite grippy to run in and the fresh snowfalls on Friday and Sunday made for enjoyable runs over the weekend.

However, by the Monday night the snow had compacted into ice and had become quite slippy. I went for a gentle run in the evening and had a minor fall. Luckily not much harm was done (barring a grazed knee), but my confidence was a bit shaken.

I saw Ray mention that he was going to be digging out his Yaktrax for running in Paris which gave me the idea of getting some too. Yaktrax offer two models the 'walker' and 'pro' editions. The 'pro' is designed for running, but the only shops I could find near the office selling Yaktrax all sold the 'walker' model so I decided they would have to do.

The snow / ice had nearly all melted by the Tuesday night, so I actively had to go searching for some ice to try them out. From my limited testing they seemed really good. Best described as snow chains for your shoes they provided a good level of grip. The 'walker' version seemed perfectly ok for running and felt secure (the main advantage of the 'pro' model seems to be an extra strap to keep the Yaktrax in place).

At least I've got them for next time it snows!