This will be my first gear review so bear with me as I want to make this as short, no pun intended, as possible but still give you enough info to help you decide if you want to try this product. To that end while the from may change, till I get it figured out, I am going to use a standard layout to look at products. Let me also add that the shorts reviewed here were purchased by me and were not given to me for the purpose of a review. So here we go:For this first review I tried two different styles of rabbit, yes the “r” is lower case as are the first letter of the products they sell, shorts one in a 5” inseam, the verts, and the other in a 7” inseam, the fully loaded. I have looked for different shorts since Nike no longer makes the Wild Horse 7” shorts which were great as they had lots of pockets and fit me well.
Company: rabbit
Rabbit is a new company in Santa Barbara CA that has it's products made 100 miles away in Los Angeles. Rabbit is a company started by Jill Deering and Monica DeVreese. Monica has co-owned Santa Barbara Running, a small specialty run store, with her husband since 2003. You can read about their story here.
Product Name: verts
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| vert |
- Combination of 94% poly/ 6% spandex
- Super lightweight materials to wick away moisture
- Incredibly quick drying
- Flat waistband with internal drawstring for maximum comfort
- rabbitMESH brief liner that is scratch and chafe-free
- 2 side "trash" pockets
- 2 back pockets with a hook and loop closure
- 1 internal pocket
- 5" inseam (all sizes)
- Crafted in California
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| Back pockets with velcro closures |
Quality of Product:
The shorts appear to be very well made and after a few runs and washing I see no unraveling or other signs of wear. Of course the true test is 6 months away but they look to be of good quality.
Features:As I mentioned above my favorite short is the 7” Nike Wild Horse as they have lots of pockets and thus I looked for a short from rabbit that had more than the usual 1 or two pockets and thus went with the verts. These shorts come with 4 external pockets, with two of them having Velcro closures (at back), along with one internal pocket in the back. I was able to get my Galaxy 7 in the rear pocket if turned sides ways, see below for thoughts on this. These shorts only come in the 5” length which if you are like me and have used 7” ones for quite a while end up showing an interesting tan line - at least till things even out.
The fabric is comfortable and stretches enough not too bind and as of today no chafing. Also found that while it was hot out, and really humid there were no issues with the shorts getting overly soaked as was an issue with the Wild Horse shorts. I do need to do a longer run to see if this is the case after 2+ hours. They also have a vented panel in the crotch area that moves the seams out and provides ventilation. The waistband is flat to reduce binding and comes with an internal draw string. As I often wear a waist belt to carry my phone and other items, usually along with what is in the pockets, the flat waist band works great.
Overall Impressions:
I will for sure look to be wearing these shorts more often as they are comfortable and I like to support small companies trying to make a difference. One thing I would have liked would be at least one side zippered pocket. Also I would have liked the back Velcro pockets to have been higher up. I realize they were where they are as they fit the seams and panels of the shorts. But being lower they do seem to feel different when loaded up. However, I did get used to it but would have liked it higher up as the more you put in them the more they feel like they sagged. Also would have been nice to have at least one of the pockets in the back to have a zipper to be, or at least feel, more secure.
As far as carrying a phone for me it felt weird as it is sort of low and having to go in sideways looked strange to me. I should add I am not one who carries his phone in his shorts as it just usually feels like it is pulling them down and bounces around a lot, so also wondered how the Velcro would hold up with it bouncing around. Again, a pocket higher up with a zipper may have helped
Bottom line is I would say you need to give these shorts a try if you like 5” shorts and like pockets in your shorts. They also sell the quadzilla if you do not need all the pockets or want the wider waistband, iRunFar did a review of these here. If you want a longer short you can check the following review of the 7” fully loaded shorts
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| fully loaded |
Description (from site):
- Combination of 89% poly/ 11% spandex
- Super lightweight materials to wick away moisture
- Incredibly quick drying
- Elastic waistband with internal drawstring
- rabbitMESH brief liner that is scratch and chafe-free
- Rear zip pocket & front internal key pocket
- Four way stretch woven fabric with slight side split
- 7” inseam (all sizes)
- Crafted in California
The sizing for these shorts was as with the verts above. Being the shorts were longer the more snug mediums, at least on me, rode up much more than I like so again the large fit me much better. The fit all comes down to how you like your shorts to fit.
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| Rear zippered pocket |
Same quality, very good, as the verts above
Features:
There shorts have fewer pockets than the 5” verts above with one zippered pocket in the back and an inside pocket, also in the back. I was able to get a Galaxy 7 in the zippered pocket going in straight up and down, it was tight, but then would have little room for anything else The material was slightly different than the verts but felt very much the same and still felt just as good. They were also fine in the hot and humid conditions I wore them in recently.
Overall Impressions:
While I still need to decide if I like the 5” verts or 7” fully loaded shorts better they will both be ones I use. I would have liked more pockets in the fully loaded shorts with at least two in the back and possibly two in the front. That said the lack of pockets is not a deal breaker but as I do not presently wear a hydration vest it would be nice to have the extra storage in the shorts for longer runs
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As with the verts above I say give them a try and help support a US company selling US manufactured product. Check out their site for other shorts and clothing they sell: rabbit
With regards to my returns, you will have to pay the return shipping but rabbit did credit my account very quickly after receipt of the returned shorts, which is very much appreciated.
If you would like to try rabbit gear for yourself you can use this link and get 10% off, to be upfront I will also get a credit but hey you still get 10%. Use this link to order - expires July 22, 2018 and is for first time orders over $10 on full priced items.
#rabbitgear #runinrabbit
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