Nathan Sports Stealth Jacket and Limitless Sling Review: Lightweight Love

What You Need To Know

The Intro

LINDSAY: You know what they say, “April showers bring May flowers”. Well, springtime has sprung, and with it comes a whole lot of precipitation. Nathan Sports sent over a few pieces that should hopefully make my spring miles a little more comfortable (and drier). I got my hands on both the Nathan Stealth Jacket and Limitless 6L Sling to ease my transition into the summer heat.

I wore the Stealth Jacket for the first time on a beloved Thursday with Believe Run Club. It was a breezy evening with cool temperatures — just mild enough to wear shorts and be okay if you kept moving. Being the Floridian that I am, I didn’t take any chances. I wore this jacket to nix any possibility of a chill. While my Northerner comrades thought I was going to run straight into a heat stroke, this jacket did not hold too much warmth; it simply blocked the wind and gave me that extra minimal coverage I was looking for. It gave the benefits of having an extra layer without actually feeling like I had an extra layer on.

Moving on to the hydration pack… I’m not always up on the hip new trends, but a blind person could see that sling bags are all the rage among the younger folks lately. (Yes, I’m allowed to talk like that because I’m surprisingly much older than I look in my bio photo). Nathan is coming in right on time with its Limitless 6L Sling hydration pack. Made to sling over the right or left shoulder, this pack is just the right size for a shorter trail hike or a day out exploring.

Nathan Stealth Jacket

LINDSAY: There are so many words that come to mind when I think about describing this jacket: lightweight, soft, water resistant, and silent. Is it possible to be warm and cool at the same time? Because the Nathan Stealth Jacket is. Shout out to the ventilated back.

Circling back to the lightweight feature: it’s as light as tissue paper with the quality of a five-star rain jacket. It’s soft, too. There’s no typical rain jacket stiffness or sound when running with it (I tried to find words to describe a loud rain jacket, but nothing seemed right. Crinkling? Swishing? You get the idea).

I love the colorways, too. I personally only wore the black, but it also comes in bright teal and “windchime” (which is like a see-through white with pink trim). Real classy, Nathan. It is slightly fitted without constricting. And if it warms up or the skies clear on a run, it’s completely packable!

A+, Nathan Sports.

However, there are a few things to consider here. The sleeves run a bit on the longer side, so I do sometimes roll up the sleeves. That’s only when I’m doing workouts that require keeping an eye on my watch. Otherwise, if it’s an easy run, I’ll just let them ride because it’s not that they’re a nuisance; they’re just fitted at the wrist and don’t slide up easily with a wrist shimmy.

I would’ve liked a smaller, tighter pocket for keys or credit cards. The zippered left chest pocket definitely fits the essentials, but the pocket is quite loose (this is where the jacket packs away so it makes sense). An additional small, non-zippered spot somewhere would be helpful so keys and such don’t bounce around while running.

PRICE: $100

Nathan Limitless 6L Sling

LINDSAY: The first thing I noticed was how snug the Limitless Sling was when I put it on. The front crossbody strap is fairly wide and cushioned with 5 mm of foam padding, so it doesn’t slip or slide around. Even with the bladder filled with water, the main bag full of snacks, and a towel, the weight was distributed well and never felt like a burden.

Speaking of a full bladder of water (and ice because I’m like that), the back of the pack is also cushioned with foam, so it never felt cold or wet. The water did, however, stay cold through the hose, which was quite nice. The spout of the hose requires a light bite (or a squeeze) to release the water. It was super easy and I was able to drink hands-free. I was also able to fully remove the water bottle and hose and use this just as a travel bag, so that was a plus.

There are plenty of compartments. A good size main compartment with an unzippered pocket on the inside. There’s also a zippered pocket on the outside for easier access that can be used for keys, credit cards, or a phone.

While using the Nathan Limitless 6L pack, I certainly enjoyed not having something shifting around my waist or bouncing around like your typical backpack. There are a few things that are advertised with this pack that I didn’t fully agree with, though…

This is definitely more useful in the hiking or walking setting — not something I’d recommend for staying hydrated on that weekend long run. I’m not sure I would even recommend this for trail running because, even though it doesn’t bounce per-say, everything inside gets shuffled around with each step. There is an extra strap with a clip to try to finagle more security, though. If all of that is no problem for you, then have at it, but for those who run without music/podcasts/etc, the shuffling breaks the peace a bit. My pretzel snacks also sadly turned to crumbs. That’s an easy fix (bring a different snack, duh) but I just wanted to complain about it here.

I also struggled with the sling. I might just be uncoordinated but it’s supposed to fit on the right or left shoulder and I couldn’t get it to fit the latter. My lack of coordination also showed when it came to controlling the hose. It felt really long to me and gave me the sensation that I was about to drop something since it was dangling around. Those with more experience using a hydration pack will likely not be phased by this detail, though.

PRICE: $90

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