Your New BFF Flipbelt

Even for beginner runners, the issue of where to put your stuff while you run is an important one - especially for women. If you've shopped for any women’s pants/shorts/anything that goes on your bottom half recently, you've probably noticed that they are severely lacking in the pockets department. 

This is most true with women’s running clothes. They either have no pockets or a ludicrously small pocket that you can fit all of one house key in. Some brands are better about this, but then you've got your phone bouncing around in your pocket, which is equally useless.

Photo snipped from the Flipbelt website

Enter Flipbelt. 



This stretchy waistband stores anything you need to bring with you on a run – phone, keys, snacks, whatever. Admittedly, I haven’t tested out snacks since I’m not running enough to actually warrant snacking on the go. I’m also not positive I could manage to eat and run without choking to death.

Anyways, all you have to do is stuff your things into the little openings of the Flipbelt, then flip it over (hence the name) to secure everything. I was extremely skeptical that the belt wouldn't be flopping around once I put my phone and keys in it, but I have yet to notice any bouncing during my last two runs despite getting a little floppy myself once I got tired. I have an iPhone 4 (yes, I know, I'm living in the stone age) with a case on it and it fit easily. My keys also are fairly large and could be stowed away without issue.

There are four openings around the belt - plenty of room for keys and a phone, plus whatever else you want to bring.

Usually, anything fitted has the tendency to start riding up immediately, meaning I am tugging awkwardly at it for the entirety of my run. With Flipbelt, I've been pleasantly surprised that it hasn't moved an inch during either of my test runs. I did two runs (2.5 miles and 4.5 miles) and did not experience any bunching or riding up. 

I don’t listen to music when I run, but I do like to keep MapMyRun running, and I have no trouble hearing my pace/distance/splits even with my phone inside the Flipbelt. You could easily poke your headphones through one of the openings and have the ear buds still reach your ears.

The belt runs true to size (measurements on their website – I wear a Small) and comes in a bunch of different colors. I opted for the neon (aka nuclear) yellow for visibility purposes, although it is not actually reflective. I’ll have to test that out a little better once the days get shorter!

My shirts actually cover up the belt when I run - I pulled mine up to show off the belt in this pic. Also, the random lump on my chest is a Fitbit.

Even if you just carry your keys and cell phone on your runs, Flipbelt is a purchase worth making. It’s convenient, comfortable, and not exorbitantly expensive ($28.95 with free shipping online!). Plus, it’s made in the great state of Colorado. You can find it at some REIs and other select retailers (full list here) or at www.flipbelt.com.  

Note – Flipbelt did offer me a 50% professional discount off of my Flipbelt purchase, but I would have bought the belt regardless. All opinions on this blog are mine and mine alone – while I appreciate the discount, Flipbelt did not influence this post in any way.