Scottevest Fleece 5.0 Jacket Review

Introduction

While it might not be apparent at first, this review of the Fleece 5.0 Jacket from Scottevest is photography related, or rather, for me it has been. As a reviewer of cameras, I find myself frequently in possession of a number of cameras. For instance, recently I’ve been covering the Canon S90, the Canon G11, and the Olympus E-P1. An outing for me typically means at least a small camera bag, possibly a backpack, and it rarely feels completely organized. In addition I live in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, which frequently means chilly days, even when it isn’t winter, so a warm (but not too warm while hiking), light jacket is practically a necessity. Now I hadn’t thought that one jacket would allow me to carry a lot of camera gear, while keeping me comfortable in the field, but that’s exactly what I’ve found with Scottevest’s Fleece 5.0 Jacket.

What It Is

On the exterior, the Fleece 5.0 Jacket is a lightweight fleece, with relatively simple, but classic good looks. The Fleece 5.0 comes in black only, but the monochromatic look is broken up with a small red “TEC” badge and some silver reflective detail piping on the front vertical pockets and across the back. Overall, I quite like the look of the Fleece 5.0, and I’m pretty picky about my clothes (i.e. vain), and I can say I’ve gotten a good many compliments on the Fleece 5.0’s look. O.K., so that’s the exterior, but the beauty of the Fleece 5.0, and all of Scottevest’s products actually, is what’s happening inside.

As you can see from the “x-ray” view above, the Fleece 5.0 isn’t just a nice piece of attire, but also happen to be a convenient and comfortable way of carrying around a heck of a lot of gear. The Fleece 5.0 has pockets galore, 24 pockets in fact, and these aren’t pockets for pockets sake, no, these are mostly well thought out and cleverly positioned. When you get your Fleece 5.0 you’ll find a card in each pocket with a suggested use, but these are just guidelines. Suffice it to say if you’re a photographer, you’ve got a place to put your digital camera, your memory cards, your filters, and your cell phone. The Fleece 5.0 even gives you a place (2 places) to put a full sized (photography) magazine, and a 16oz. water bottle. Lose your keys a lot? The Fleece 5.0 has a pocket for that, complete with extendable cord that clips to the keys, so you’ll never lose them. There are pockets for your I.D., travel documents, and your pen or stylus. Those cameras I was discussing before? I had the S90 and G11 in the breast pockets, and the E-P1 in one of the front hand pockets. Put a water bottle in the other front pocket, and you’re set to test some cameras on the trail. Amazingly, because of the way the jacket is constructed, there aren’t even noticeable bulges, so you can easily have a compact camera, phone, your sunglasses, newspaper, and music player on your person, with no visible outward sign.

2 more things about the Fleece 5.0. First the Fleece 5.0 makes uses what Scottevest calls a personal area network, which allows you to snake your music player’s headphones through the jacket and up into the collar, providing a clean solution for listening to music on the go without cables catching in the zipper, or getting caught in your camera strap etc. The second other bonus on the Fleece 5.0 are the removable sleeves. Get too warm, or just need an easy way to carry some gear around, zip off the sleeves and you’ve got a great looking vest with 23 pockets.

Negatives

I’ve been absolutely loving the Fleece 5.0 since its delivery over a month ago, and haven’t noticed any real negatives, but a couple things deserve mentioning. The Fleece 5.0 isn’t the thickest fleece that I’ve had, sort of a mid to lightweight type fleece, so it will keep you warm till about 40 degrees (F). If the wind kicks up or gets down to freezing you’ll want to swap with something else, or layer up with a shell (which Scottevest offers, but I personally can’t speak for). Next, the personal area network does take a bit of time to set up, so when you get your headphones all nice and neat in your jacket, you aren’t going to want to take them out. My suggestion, get another set of earphones just for your jacket.

Verdict

Obviously I’ve quite enjoyed my Scottevest Fleece 5.0, and as a photographer, the Fleece 5.0 has made it utterly easy, comfortable, and unnoticeable to always have a camera on my person, while looking pretty stylish. If you’re a traveler, photographer, or gadget hound, I can “Highly Recommend” the Fleece 5.0 Jacket.

Availability

To order your Scottevest Fleece 5.0, and find out more about Scottevest products, head to http://www.scottevest.com/

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