Pack Reviews.....AGAIN

For those who follow my blog, you may recall that when I was training for my first half marathon, I went on a mission to find a hydration/fueling resource that was a good fit & could carry the necessary essentials.  I tried several belts & packs only to find myself royally annoyed at the "women's design" packs being a crock of crap.  About a week before said 1st half marathon in Nov 2013, I was in hydration bag "crisis"....it led me to the Camelbak Mini Mule which saved me come race day & stuck with me through several more races including my 2nd half marathon this past April & my first 25K.  

The Mini Mule was a great pack in terms of sizing for a short gal like myself (very torso sized friendly for females), as well as it also has so super storage without being too much.  My reason for breaking up with the Mini-Mule is due to the shoulder straps.  I chaffed, shirts got snagged & I said a lot of cuss words during uncomfortable moments attributed by the shoulder straps.  I attempted to tweak this shoulder strap situation for my last 2 big races (my 2nd half marathon & the 25K that I did on a trail in the woods) by using seat belt covers.  Sounds crazy I know, but in theory this actually worked out pretty darn well for a temp fix that offered a lot more comfortable wear (without snagging shirts).  You can kinda see the seat belt covers in these pictures.... 

Anyway....while I was impressed w/ my creativity, it eventually came to my attention that this was a temp solution and if I'm gonna keep at the mileage, I need to start seeking out another pack....AND SO IT BEGAN.....AGAIN.  

**NOTE:  I realize that I may have had an older model mini mule.  So if the straps have since been improved, then wahoooo!!!  I'd certainly welcome the opportunity to try out a newer model.