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Palm Discovery would like to extend a BIG THANKS to Steve of Urban Tool for providing the product for this review.

Take all those gadgets with you even while you’re on your daily run. Or, carry your cell phone while you’re playing tennis (okay, maybe not, unless you have it inside the back pocket). Well, you get the picture.

Previously, we were stuck leaving our beloved iPod, cell phone, smartphone, etc in the locker while we’re participating in sports and other active lifestyle activities. But, now, here comes a very sporty and fully functional accessory that you can wear that will hold most of those gadget and mobile devices with you while you’re actively making that backhand.

Urban Tool has come up with yet another innovative, stylish and very sporty looking accessory that will allow you to carry those important mobile devices with you while you’re enjoying your jog, playing baseball, and other activities you may enjoy. The sportHolster can easily carry many of your mobile items and yet still allow you full upper body movement for your sporting activities. So, you can still be listening to songs on your iPod while you’re returning a serve but of course, that may not necessarily be a good idea. Or working out at the local gym and still have your wallet and cell phone with you while you’re lifting weights. The main idea is that you can now carry those portable devices with you even when you’re actively participating in various sports.

For those who want to skip over all the detailed review and just want a summary, you can jump to the review summary

In a somewhat similar but very different approach, Urban Tool has come up with a variation of their basicHolster in a sporty counterpart, the sportHolster. Although still a holster type accessory that you wear around your arm and all around the back, this sportHolster is worn around both arms, providing an extra set of pockets on each side. Similar to the basicHolster, you can discretely carry your mp3 player inside the either of the side chest pockets as both sides offer an earbud/headphone wire hole that you can thread the wire through up to your ears from inside the pockets. This not only offers a neat and tidy way to deal with the slack of the headphone wire but also keeps your mp3 player well hidden as most of the wire is out of sight. So, you can enjoy your music without attracting unneeded attention that you’re sporting an iPod or similar music player. On one of the chest pockets there’s a rectractable keychain/ring where you can string your house, locker and other important keys and never have to worry about losing them again. To use the keys simply pull them out (and they extend to a decent length) to open or lock your doors, etc and let go and the keys will retract back into the keyring. As long as you’re wearing the sportHolster, you won’t have to worry about where you last left your keys again. Should you wish to have the keyring on the other pocket, simply remove it from the elastic loop and clip it to the elastic loop on the other side. Or, clip it to your belt or elsewhere.

In addition, there’s a mesh back pocket held by a set of velcro that is large enough to hold a decent sized device. (Click on the diagram image on the right for a bigger picture.) What an excellent idea! Not only does the mesh help allow air to escape (keep in mind that this is meant to be worn while engaging in active sports and exercise), it also works as an extra, much bigger pocket.

There are an additional two extra, secret pockets (one on each side), located around the underarm area. These pockets are held together by velcro and are not easily detected or noticeable as the front and back of the pocket come together to meet, making it not very obvious that there is a pocket. This is most likely where you will be storing your valuables such as wallet, credit cards, etc. And you have one on each side. I have demonstrated in my video that with a bit of stretching and maneuvering that it can fit a Treo 680 smartphone in those pockets. The inside of the pocket can be connected to the chest pockets so if you wish to string your headphone wires from those pockets, you can do so and string it up and out through the holes. That’s one of the great things about the holster in that many of the pockets are “inter-connected” internally.

One last thing with regards to the sportHolster is that since it’s meant as a sport accessory, there are reflective bands around parts of the holster (as you can see in the pictures) to help keep you visible to cars at night. This is a very important feature for those who jog or engage in activities around dark times of the day.

Click on the thumbnail images for a bigger picture

Product Video

Video at YouTube

Video at YouTube

More details (taken from Urban Tool’s website:

Tune in and work out!

Here are my observations:

I think Urban Tool has got another winner here! This is a very well designed accessory tool for sport lovers and active people who wish to keep their valuables with them even when engaging in active sports. The sportHolster provides a number of pockets while still enable full upper body motion without any obstruction or distraction. With five available pockets, you should be able to carry even the bulkiest mobile device like the Treo 650 with you (ie. in the back mesh pocket) with you.

The velcro held secret/hidden pocket around the underarm area is a great idea that will keep your most valuable items well protected from accidentally falling out. As well, since the inside of those pockets connect to the chest pockets, you can thread your headphone wires discretely inside and up through the chest pockets and through the headphone wire hole, allowing you to enjoy your music without all the slack of the wires hanging or sticking out.

The back mesh pockets are a great idea, allowing body heat to escape yet still acts as an extra big pocket for those bulky items that won’t fit in the other pockets.

Here are some of my personal suggestions with regards to the sportHolster. I think if there were a small earbud pocket like an extra flap of the same polyamid/lycra material near the top of both sides of the holster where you can fit and hold the earbuds securely when not in use that it can be very useful and helpful. That way, the earbud wouldn’t be flapping and swinging all around when it’s not in the ears. Imagine returning that backhand only to get your earbud smack you in the face. Having such pockets can keep the earbuds from moving while you’re participating in your activity, yet still keep them easily accessible.

As well, I was a bit disappointed to not find any back or inside pockets (found in both the basicHolster and slotBar). I know that there’s very little space but they can be small coin pockets with the velcro (for the vending machines) or something else. This would be a great place for a coin pocket since the other pockets may allow the coins to roll and move all around. If there were a coin pocket, it would be very well contained especially with the velcro. In my opinion, it never hurts to provide more pockets (I love pockets).

Other than those observations and suggestions, I can’t find any fault with the sportHolster. It’s amazing that it’s so well designed to allow full upper body movement without any obstruction or distraction. Keep in mind that when you first wear it that you will notice that you have the pockets underneath your arms. You will likely get used to that with repeated wear but that’s something I know you may find when first wearing it, similar to what I felt when I first tried the basicHolster.

Review Summary

With a total of five pockets, Urban Tool’s sportHolster can hold a variety of different sized mobile devices. It’s amazing that the sportHolster can hold all these items on you, yet allow you to engage in your favorite activity without obstruction or distraction. The headphone wire holes helps keep the slack of the wires inside the pockets yet enable you to thread through your headphone/earbuds so you can listen and enjoy your mp3 player when wearing the sportHolster. There are reflective bands all along the holster keeping you visible to headlights in the dark. The hidden/secret pockets located near the armpit area are very well secured with a strong set of velcro to keep those valuables from accidentally falling out. The included retractable keychain/ring is a welcome addition (or more like an expected accessory to the holsters) as you now won’t have to worry about lost keys anymore since they’ll always be attached to your holster. Simply pull them out to use the keys and let go and it will spring back to the pocket in the holster. No more lost keys! Are you convinced yet?

Check out Urban Tool’s sportHolster for more information!

Palm Discovery has no affiliation with Urban Tool but THANKS them for providing the product for this review.

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