A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of receiving the Nathan pinnacle 4L. Since then, I have had many opportunities to try it out and come up with an in-depth opinion/review.
The summary
The Nathan Pinnacle 4L is without a doubt one of the best running vests money can buy. It’s comfortable, has lots of convenient pockets, it’s lightweight, has that second skin feel, has the option to use front flasks or a water bladder, in short, it basically has everything you could hope for.
The downside? Well, there really is only one, it comes with a pretty serious price tag. You are purchasing a premium product, so you are paying a premium price.
For the latest price, you can always consult the official website or amazon: Nathan pinnacle 4L.
Weight and volume
The Pinnacle 4L is truly lightweight, coming in at 141.74g or 0.31 lbs. However, with “only” 4L in volume, we didn’t expect it to be much heavier either.
That said, the 4L does feel surprisingly roomy and you feel like you have space for everything you could possibly want to take with you.
Pockets and convenience
What truly stands out is how many pockets this vest has and how convenient they are.
This vest has a total of 12 pockets! The crazy thing is that every pocket seems to have its own clear usage, the vest feels very well-designed.
My favorite pockets are probably the ones behind the flasks, these are surprisingly large, waterproof pockets that will easily fit a smartphone. They also seem to be placed perfectly so that you wouldn’t even notice that there is a phone while running.
To be honest, there isn’t really anything bad I can say about the pockets en their convenience, it’s just good.
Hydration system
The Nathan Pinnacle 4L comes with 2 600ml soft flasks that fit perfectly in the front pockets.
However, if you want, you could replace this with a bladder because the vest does have a dedicated bladder pocket. That said, the bladder does not come with the vest. If needed, you could combine the flasks with a 2 liter bladder, giving you a total of 3.2 liter that you could bring with you.
The flasks have a small hose, so that you can drink without removing them. I’m still not sure how I feel about that, as it is slightly awkward to drink this way. On the other hand, it’s less effort than actually removing the flask…
I guess drinking from a bladder or a flask with a long hose would be the most convenient, but I really don’t mind that much.
The vest does come with a removable clip in which you can attach the hose of your bladder. I hadn’t seen that before and thought it was a pretty clever design.
To conclude, you can use whatever system works best for you, it fully supports front flasks as well as a bladder. Once again, the Nathan Pinnacle does not disappoint.
Fit and comfort
The vest is very comfortable and does have that “second skin feel” to it. That is, if you have purchased the right size (very important) so make sure to check the sizing charts.
Note that it does not come with an adaptive fit system like some of the other vests from Nathan (Nathan VaporAir).
There is nothing that causes any annoyance or irritation during runs. While I haven’t tried it out myself, I did notice that lots of runners like to use the vest without wearing a shirt, which means it’s truly comfy.
Once again, the vest does what it is supposed to do, another good score.
It’s also good to know that this vest packs down to a very small package, if you would like to bring it in a backpack on a multiday trip for example.
Durability and quality
Last but not least, the durability and overall quality are very good.
You can feel that the materials are high quality and the product is properly finished.
Is the Nathan Pinnacle worth the money?
A question you might have at this point: well it’s a great vest, but is it actually worth the money?
I would say that it is worth the money if you are looking for a premium running vest. However, I also have to add that there are certain cheaper alternatives that are also pretty good, like the salomon Active Skin 8. If you feel like it’s a bit too expensive, know that there are some other solid options out there as well.
It does depend on personal preference and how much you are planning to use it, whether it’s worth the additional money.
Conclusion
The Nathan Pinnacle 4L is an expensive but very high quality running vest.
The vest did not disappoint on any level and does not have any real downsides, except for the price tag.
If you are looking for a larger volume running vest, the Nathan Pinnacle also comes in a 12L version. Even though I haven’t been able to test that vest out myself, I have read many great things about this vest as well.