In July Swedish hydration specialists, USWE sent me one of their Zulo hydration waist packs to use on my SUP. If you are wondering USWho then read on to find out about my new bright yellow training partner.
Let's start with USWE [ you – swii ]
USWE have their roots in the world of dirt biking and started to make packs for their trips back in 2007, their designs of bounce-free packs can now be found on the backs of athletes in multiple sports around the world, they look good, they work and, importantly for me they are based down the road in Malmö. You can find out more on their website.
Paddling Hydration
I abandoned drinks bottles when cycling decades ago but on my SUP I find that a pack on my back simply doesn’t work, despite several attempts over the years. So, I built my own bottle holder that slots into an FCS mount and every board I have gets some bungee stuck to it to hold a drink and a dry bag when paddling. On some boards, this has proved to be a challenge and, as I have got faster stopping to get a drink seems counterproductive, better to keep that speed up. Let’s also acknowledge that on a narrower board slowing down can be a bad idea ;)
Boothy had suggested more than once that I should try a waist pack so in June I reached out to USWE and they said ‘Ja’.
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| Binary decoding optional |
Zulo Hydration Waist Pack
The pack arrived with minimal packaging, that’s appreciated and after decoding the binary message on the lid of the Top Secret box I was momentarily dazzled by the yellowness of my new pack.
Crazy Yellow is the USWE name for this colour way and it’s bright! Ideal to be seen on the water which is a big plus point for me. In the box was the pack along with a USWE-branded 1l bladder from Hydra Pak, this has a bright red hose with a quick release on one end and a lockable drinks nozzle on the other. There is also a magnetic clip to hold the hose in place.
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| USWE Zulo in Kungsbacka Fjord, Sweden |
The pack is light, mine weighs in at 318g including the bladder, hose and clip. The pack alone is listed at 240g on the USWE website.
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| USWE branded bladder with quick release for the hose and bite valve. |
The pack design is very Scandi, minimal is a byword for design here and this pack ticks that box. The total capacity of 2 litres is split across two zippered pockets and a mesh pouch on each side. The larger compartment in the pack is closest to your back and is intended for the bladder, there is access for the hose on one side only, perfect for right-handed users but you can of course run the hose from the zip if you need it to go the other way. There is a plastic key clip on a reflective nylon strap in the same compartment and nothing else.
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| Loaded for training |
The other compartment has two mesh pouches and space for some essentials - phone (in something waterproof!), ID, energy bar etc. The mesh pouches at the side are just big enough for an energy gel and not much else. The only other features are a reflective patch on the back which will allow a small light to be fitted to it and a single loop on the right side of the pack to hold the hose in place. And a small Swedish flag.
There are two compression straps, one on each side, to keep the bag under control when paddling and a nice wide but not too wide, strap with a solid plastic buckle. This adjusts from one side, simple and neat.
Coming from the home of Ikea there was, of course, some assembly required, the hose has to be fed through the guide loop on the belt. No tools were required.
At the back
The parts of this waist pack that you use every day are very simple and well-made. The zips are from YKK and have chunky USWE branded pulls attached to them, the plastic fittings have a quality feel about them and, importantly for paddlers, there are no hard bits of plastic on your hip. If you ever have to carry your board any distance you might know that a plastic buckle pressing on the hull of your board as you happily walk to or from the water can, over time prove to be expensive! Yes, I have personal experience of this, it hurts the finances.
The bit that you might not notice is the ventilated paddling that sits between the pack and the paddler. You won’t notice it because it works really well, it is comfortable when the pack is fully loaded and I have had no hot spots or sweaty feelings during use, even when worn against the skin.
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| Perfect for SUP - USWE Zulo |
On the water
I have to admit that coach Micael was right to encourage me to use a hydration pack when paddling. When you have the right pack, like this one, then you don’t think about hydrating on the move, either keep the magnetic clip on the pack or rig a lanyard around your neck to hold the bite valve in the right place and go paddle.
it did take me a couple of sessions to get used to the extra weight, but having 1.5kg of fully loaded pack around your waist isn’t much and you soon get used to it, the convenience of drinking on the go quickly outweighing that feeling of strangeness and this is 100 times more comfortable when paddling hard than a rucksack! Importantly this pack doesn’t move around through the phases of the stroke, it stays in place much like a limpit stuck to a rock.
Obviously, when testing something new you need to get it wet and despite having no drainage holes this pack empties itself quickly after a swim, so quickly that I had to check! Getting back on was no problem either, the buckle doesn’t get in the way.
This is not a dry bag so anything in the pack that needs to stay dry must be suitably protected, I use a 2l dry bag for my phone, ID and keys and that fits perfectly in the smaller, zippered pocket along with a couple of gels and a bar, just in case I get hungry. You can get a gel in each of the mesh pockets on the side but access to them is obscured by the compression straps, not an issue on land but on water, with a paddle in one hand access is not ideal, however, the chances of losing a gel by accident are remote!
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| Fast board, fast hydration |
Off the water.
This pack was designed for land-based use and here it has also proved it's value used mostly for longer dog walks on hot Swedish days, yes these have happened this summer, where I need to take fluid and a snack for me and something for the dog. The pack, even when completely full, just sits there. No wobbling or slipping no matter where we went. Scrambling up rocks or lazing on beaches. It works perfectly.
A little too short.
There are two little niggles with this pack, they are related and easy to fix with a needle and thread. The first is that the hose is not quite long enough for me, I am tall and have a normal waist measurement for my size, 82 cm or 32 inches if those are your units. The hose is not quite long enough to go around my waist which leads me to the second niggle, the magnetic clip is designed to attach to the compression strap. The magnet on the hose cannot reach the magnet on the pack with the clip on the compression strap. The obvious solution is to put the clip on the waist belt but the belt is wider than the clip and would easily fall off. The fix - a few stitches through the clip and belt holding it in place even when swimming.
Upgrades
The Zulo 2l is a very good option for paddlers and there are three things I think USWE could do to make this an even better option for watersports users.
- Add a way to attach an inflatable floatation device to the pack. I carry a Restube through the colder months and will find a way to attach this to the pack I have
- Add some drainage, it is already pretty good but adding a mesh panel in the bottom of the pack would be perfect.
- Make the pack compatible with a quick-release waist leash system. This would be a huge selling point for USWE and something that I think would work very well with their excellent harness.
Go paddle
This is an excellent pack for paddlers who want to carry enough liquid for sessions between 1 and 2 hours with some kit, phone /ID and gels. It has been intelligently designed with no frivolous features and is really well made. In use, it is super-comfy when paddling and you will miss it when you decide to use a bottle for old times sake.
And in Crazy Yellow no one will miss you!
To find out more about USWE
You can find out more about USWE and their range of 'no bounce' packs on their website and social media channels - Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
You can find me running the Facebook group SUP My Race, writing about all sorts of paddling for TotalSUP and now, occasionally, on Instagram.
I am training under the guidance of multiple SUP World Champion Michael Booth, you can find out more about Michael's training on his website Booth Training, from his Booth Training Instagram account and on his YouTube channel BoothTV.
See you on the water!
You can read the my Booth training logs here - Training Logs and you can get to individual blog posts using the labels in the sidebar.