Steep approaches, weighty loads, and full days make climbing in the alpine a serious affair. Likewise, climbers with big alpine goals should take their training seriously. Training for various mountaineering activities is within my weekly schedule. Amongst other training activities, I often go for mountain/trail run. For such training activity, the gear one needs is minimum. A pair of short pants, a T-Shirt, a pair of trail runners and for long distanced a kind of hydration bag.

For training days up to 15k, I usually run without any hydration bag, but if I go for longer distances, especially in summer time, I prefer to have some water with me. In the past I have used various options, but I came to the conclusion that my preferred option is to carry a lightweight hydration bag/vest, and especially the Kalenji Trail Running Bag 10L.

Kalenji is Decathlon’s running passion brand, and as Decathlon states, “at an altitude of 2000m on the high plateaux of West Kenya, a place called Eldoret is the home of the Kalenjins.”

See more product reviews from Decathlon products here:

• Quechua Forclaz 900
• Quechua TechFresh 50 T-Shirt
•  Quechua Forclaz 20l Air
• Quechua Arpenaz 10l

---

Design

The Kalenji Trail Running Bag 10L has a smart design that certainly matches the design of the more expensive high-end brands such as Ultimate Direction and Salomon. First and foremost, the Kalenji design team, selected very good materials for the front and back section. The main compartment, is large enough in order to fit and carry a long sleeve shirt, a waterproof jacket, some food, phone charger, hand gloves, a hat etc. Once, I have even managed to fit a Petzl Harness, some carabiners and a Black Diamond ATC.

In the main backpack section there is a zipped pocket where you can keep your phone, wallet, keys – anything you don’t need during the run and also don’t want to accidentally lose.

Behind it, up against your back, is another compartment where your water bladder lives. There is a 1L bladder included with your purchase. This section has a nice red mesh back which is very comfortable. Though, what is miss is the fact that section is completely open and it would be best if it could be closed even just with a velcro fastening. Although this bag was designed to have 1L water bladder, often, and on day-hikes, I have managed to fit a 2L water bladder without problem.

Around the bottom of the back of the pack is a stretchy mesh section to hold a jacket. I tried stuffing my jacket there, but personally, I do not find this as an ideal placement for a jacket. When I run and/or hike, I do not want to have anything hanging our of my backpack.

The front of the jacket features several pockets perfect for holding all the stuff you want accessible on-the-go. Each strap (the part that comes around the front of your body) has space for a 500ml water flask. The bottle fits easily into the pocket, and I found that my spare pocket on the other strap (for another 500ml flask) is the perfect size for my phone. The straps also have two more pockets each for snacks, arm-warmers, gloves etc., and none of it feels bulky to carry. On the lower section, there are other two small pockets, where I usually place some snacks on one side and on the other side my Garmin Dakota 20 GPS device.

Another great design feature is the incorporation of a safety whistle with a maximum output of 110 decibels. This whistle is attached on the front-right mesh pocket.

---

Fit & Comfort

The Kalenji Trail Running Bag 10L feels very comfortable and fits nice snuggie. The bag comes with three buckles, but you can change the position of where they sit. Via a simple hooking mechanism on both sides you can choose to position the buckles higher or lower, and to have one, two or three straps. Therefore, the Kalenji Trail Running Bag 10L is adjustable to your body shape with 3 chest straps + 2 side straps.

As said earlier, the design is very ergonomic on this bag and the the fleece fabric fits the shape of the back almost perfectly. In combination with the Quechua Tec-Fresh 50 T-Shirt, I never suffered from perspiration.

Finally, the only 285g of weight, make this bag very lightweight and very comfortable to carry while running on long distances or for long day-hikes.

---

Materials

The Kalenji Trail Running Bag 10L is using both advance and standard materials and therefore is a great affordable choice for such complete product.

---

Features