ADV Skin 12
A vest that fits like a shirt and carries like a small backpack.
Runsletter Score out of 10. Excellent, with a trade-off or two worth knowing.
Buy it if
- Fits like a shirt, barely bounces
- Excellent front pocket layout
- Room for a full race kit list
- Poles and bladder both catered for
Skip it if
- Sizing matters, so try before buying
- Soft flasks wear out eventually
- Overkill for short trail runs
List price; often discounted in seasonal sales
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- Capacity
- 12 L
- Flasks
- 2 × 500 ml
- Weight
- 247 g
The verdict
The ADV Skin 12 is Salomon's long-running ultra vest: a stretchy, close-fitting harness with 12 litres of storage and two 500 ml soft flasks up front. It is sized like a shirt rather than adjusted like a rucksack, which is why it hugs instead of bouncing.
The front is the clever bit. Flask pockets sit high on the chest, with zipped pockets and stash space around them for gels, a phone and a buff. Round the back there is room for a shell, a mid-layer and mandatory kit, plus a sleeve for a bladder if you'd rather sip from a tube, and loops for folding poles.
Smaller vests carry a 50K's worth of fuel more neatly, and alpine packs swallow more. For marathon-to-100-mile trail races with a kit list, this remains the benchmark the rest get measured against.
“The vest you'll see at every ultra start line, for good reason.”
Specs
| Capacity | 12 L |
|---|---|
| Flasks | 2 × 500 ml |
| Weight | 247 g |
| Fit | Sized |
| Material | Stretch polyamide mesh |
| Pockets | 9 plus main rear compartment |
| Bladder compatibility | Reservoir sleeve (bladder sold separately) |
| Pole carry | Yes, multiple options |
| Closure | Twin adjustable chest straps |
| Extras | Safety whistle |
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