Gear recommendations needed…my husband is new to running general. Just found out he got a charity bib for the Marathon so we can do this one together! So he needs all the things. I’d like to gift him some for Father’s Day. Need recommendations on stuff for a guy, including but not limited to:
- Phone carrier (I use a flipbelt but wasn’t sure if there’s something that men wear that’s better? He doesn’t think he’ll like it on his arm
- Water contraption? (For longer runs when we need to carry water. My flipbelt also holds my water so what else is there? Camelbak?)
- He says a hat makes him feel hotter but I want him to protect his face in the Florida sun. Visor?
TIA!
Looks like you've had a ton of great advice. I have several drawers full of trial and error gear that may or may not get used with any frequency, FWIW.
I normally wear a
Fitletic belt for my phone but also have versions with one and two water bottles. I don't totally love wearing water on my waste so last year tinkered with a Solomon vest, which I really like. But I'm sort of all over the place - the vest is great in warm weather when only wearing a shirt, but it's not that great in colder weather if I have more layers (likely not a problem for you in FL), at least for me - so I go back to using the belt. I don't have years of distance running under my belt, first marathon was 2023, so I still feel like I'm in a constant state of tinkering with equipment to find what works best for any given run length and any given conditions.
I have recently been wearing Men's Korsa shorts which have allowed me to, if inclined, drop the belt for the phone. I have both
Korsa Scope 7" which has a compression liner with a slip in phone pocket, and
Korsa Long Gone 9" 2.0, which has a brief liner with several types of exterior pockets for gear and a slip in phone pocket. I can run with my phone in a normal pocket in a pinch, but I don't like it - but the slip in pockets for both of these keep my phone nice and locked in/not moving. The Korsa Long Gone will probably be my go-to for my next runD race since having a phone quickly at the ready can be convenient. I'm sure there are several other brands with similar style shorts.
No hat recommendations - I also do not like running with a hat or visor. I have several cool looking Headsweat visors but they are so darn tight on my head I don't love them.
You didn't mention it, but to me the most important piece of gear when I embarked on my first Dopey was a Garmin (I transitioned kicking and screaming from an Apple Watch, but once I adjusted I've never looked back), followed by my Shokz headphones.
But honestly, you can go a little crazy with all the variations of gear, and opinions!