The Freetrain running vest is a new, innovative, comfortable top that takes your phone and keys and puts them out of the way whilst you exercise. It’s like a ‘running bra for men and women without the booby bits’.

I like it when someone tackles an everyday ‘annoying issue”. If you are lucky you’ll find a small pocket in your lycra running shorts or top. Your mission is to squeeze your phone and/or keys into it so you can get back into your car or more importantly your house after exercise. In-evitably you force a small sets of keys into your groin and carry your phone like a baton in a 5 km relay race. Post exercise your thigh is marked with the keys rubbing and your arm is sore carrying your big iPhone. You may have succumb to having your phone bandaged to your arm with an arm case. All of these solutions are ‘not ideal’.

Two professional athletes have come up with their solution, the Freetrain V1 running vest as shown above. I had a chat on the phone with James and he told me that ‘they literally went for it’ by themselves by putting this product together with suppliers in China.

I took it out for a run and found that it is very comfortable to wear. If you are an athlete that can’t do without music or fitness Apps that support your running watch then this product is worth considering.

What size of phone does it take?

Thanks to the EE staff and the shop in Bracknell we found out that the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro Max fit nicely into the slot. No issues. If your phone has a protective cover and sleeve it’s most likely they will have to come off before insertion into the sleeve. The inner sleeve ‘catches the phone’ so when you are running the phone doesn’t jiggle around making noises.

Keys

I got a small sets of purple keys (Without the car key) into the top shoulder strap pouch. If you have a remote car key this will fit into the pouch. So a car key and one house key together will go in. You can see a fuel pouch in the top left slot. This is very handy for ultra-runners or just people who use liquid gels.

Female feedback

My wife used the product at the gym. She mainly does cardio work and put her large car keys where the mobile phone goes. She doesn’t use a phone whilst exercising. She found it useful on the running machine to store her face-mask and keys as you can’t put them down anyway at the minute. She found the top fine but wondered if ladies with a large chest could cope with it. Check – out the Freetrain website for social media posts from their customers, this may alleviate this concern. She also mentioned that the product pulls over your head and doesn’t fasten like a normal bra. So I’ve learned how ladies put on their bras. I mentioned a ‘fastening vest” may be something for Freetrain to consider but then again men may not be able to do it up.

Size

My chest size is 40 inches. Around my middle chest where the product tightens up it’s 36 inches. I’ve measured the strap and un-expanded it’s around 40 inches wide which I guess means that the top can cope with men with chest measurements of over 44 inches. As the band is flexible it is very easy to wear.

Music and App access

The phone goes in the pouch and you can access the screen with a clear plastic cover which is buttoned up before you run. The idea is you press the music or App start button on the phone then button it up before running. This works very well. I ran with bluetooth headphones and enjoyed listening to the music and syncing my running watch App during the run.

Rain

I haven’t ran in the rain yet. I can see the phone pouch is well sealed including a velcro tab at the top that fits securely over the top of the phone.

Walkers and other uses for the vest

I walk a lot and don’t like to have keys and phones in my walking shorts and trousers. This solution is great as it frees up your legs.

Summary

If you or your friends are in the large customer segment of “My phone is my life” and have to carry your phone whilst doing everything then consider buying this product.

Freetrain also do reflective gloves.