The Race Vest, a pre-history

"The King hath … declared his resolution of setting a fashion for clothes which he will never alter. It will be a vest."

Samuel Pepys (1666)

At one time, in the UK, a race vest was a string wife-beater, worn by odd people who ran – or Jimmy Saville – a niche item of clothing seldom seen on the racks of your local sports shop, as real men played football or rugby (and women played netball or hockey). The cult of running – in the UK at least – really began in the 1980s, no doubt spurred on by the launch of the London Marathon (1981). This spawned many other city runs and marked part of a wider Western shift away from a culture of drink, fags, fried food and recreational violence, towards health and fitness, at least for some.

The reasons for this shift are complex, but consumer culture and a new individualism played a big part (the BBC series The Century of the Self is recommended viewing if you want to understand just about anything). Footballers had to share the limelight with people like Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram, while Chariots of Fire (1981) and Jane Fonda workout videos became hits. Suddenly, wearing a running vest no longer marked you out as an odd bod (unless your name was also Jimmy), but as on-trend.

Forty years later, when you talk about racing vests something else comes to mind: the multi-pocketed running vest. In many ways it’s an evolution of that smelly old piece of sports kit, continuing its journey from ultra-niche specialist gear to mainstream, and no doubt eventually the norm.

Although the first commercial vest can be dated to around 1985 (the Ultimate Direction hydration vest), it’s worth going back a little further to piece together the direct – and indirect – heritage of this hybrid item of equipment and clothing.

First, let’s go back to first principles of load carrying.

The Pocket

The need to store small items likely emerged soon after humans began collecting things of value that were hard to replace: a good shell, a lucky flint, dried mushrooms, moss for tinder, or fox teeth to trade. Larger items could be carried on the shoulders or in skin sacks, but keeping small items safe while keeping your hands free was harder. A simple pouch made from animal skin or plant fibre, tied to the body, solved this problem – something still used by modern hunter-gatherers (even if they now keep mobile phones in them).

Ötzi the Iceman, who died around 3300 BC, carried such a pouch containing a scraper, drill, flint flake, bone awl and dried fungus.

As the contents of pouches became more valuable, they also became targets for theft. It’s likely they were then hidden beneath clothing, accessed through slits cut into outer garments. Eventually the pouch was sewn directly into the clothing, becoming the pocket (from the Norman poke or pouque, meaning pouch).

The number of pockets someone carried probably reflected how many valuable items they owned: pocket knives, pocket watches and pocket handkerchiefs signalling status and means.

The Utility Pocket

The use of pockets as load-bearing storage rather than simple containers probably developed through hunting, gathering and especially poaching, which for centuries was a high-risk activity.

The poacher’s pocket was a large internal pocket, accessed through hidden slits or an open jacket, into which game could be slipped quickly and discreetly to avoid detection by gamekeepers.

Placed across the lower back, this pocket allowed hands to remain free and the front of the body unencumbered, vital when moving through heavy terrain or running. Clothing began to function as load-bearing equipment, with the poacher’s pocket later rebranded as the game pocket in hunting jackets.

External rear pockets were also added to jackets, allowing enough supplies to be carried for extended trips without a pack. There’s a great podcast by Para Jimmy Morham describing the assault on Mount Longdon, where soldiers removed webbing and stuffed pockets with ammunition to move more freely.

The Duck Hunters

The invention of shotgun cartridges and improved firearms in the late 19th century led to an explosion in wildfowling. The need for fast reloading produced the hunting jacket and later the hunting vest. These vests (or jerkins) featured shell loops, multiple pockets and a rear game pocket large enough to hold several birds – effectively an integrated pack.

This design was widely adopted and likely inspired the fishing vest, developed by Lee Wulff in 1930–31, allowing anglers to carry all their gear on their person.

Military Load Carrying

During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), the British Army discovered its traditional leather webbing was inferior to the more flexible and practical systems used by Boer commandos. British equipment was rigid, heavy and poorly balanced, while Boer systems prioritised speed, adaptability and freedom of movement.

This led to the 1908 Pattern webbing, a modular system worn like a jacket, designed for modern warfare and capable of carrying ammunition, water, tools and rations.

A soldier’s full fighting load was around 26kg, increasing dramatically during World War One as helmets, gas masks and grenades were added.

The Battle Jerkin

By World War Two, the limitations of heavy cotton webbing were clear. In 1942, Colonel Rivers-MacPherson adapted a hunting jacket into what became the battle jerkin, later issued to commandos around D-Day. Lighter and more mobile, it was nevertheless hot and abrasive, and most were quickly discarded once ashore.

The Survival Vest

Another World War Two innovation was the USAAF C-1 survival vest, a multi-pocketed, adjustable vest designed to be worn while seated. Made from cotton twill, it was practical but uncomfortable over long periods.

This was later replaced by the SRU-21, using aramid mesh for better comfort and reduced weight, typically carrying radios, ammo, water, signalling gear and survival equipment.

Combat Vests

By the 1970s, mesh combat vests appeared, such as the British 72 Pattern. Israel’s Ephod and South Africa’s Pattern 83 battle jacket further refined the concept, allowing soldiers to carry food, water and bivy gear for extended operations.

The Water Revolution

The modern race vest owes much to flexible water containers. From animal-skin bladders to military canteens and Sigg bottles, hydration evolved slowly until Michael Eidson famously ran with an IV bag in a sock pinned to his shirt. CamelBak was born, and hydration systems exploded across sport and military use.

Enter the Race Vest

One persistent problem with bladders was freezing. Bryce Thatcher solved this by wearing the bladder under a vest, keeping the tube inside until needed. The vest hugged the body, eliminated bounce and pressure points, and allowed instant access to food, water and navigation.

Thatcher refined the design into a mesh vest and commercialised it through Ultimate Direction with the Arctica Race Vest.

And the rest, as they say, is history.