You leave the house in three layers because you do not know what the day will do. By mid-morning the base layer is damp, the mid-layer is in your pack taking up the room your lunch needed, and the shell is still doing nothing about the cold. Then you stop moving to glass a hillside, and within ten minutes you are cold anyway.
This is one set instead of that. A hooded softshell jacket and matching tactical trousers, both lined with fleece, so the warm layer and the wind layer are the same garment.
Here's how it works.
A softshell is a system, not a fabric. The outer face is a tight technical weave that stops wind and sheds light rain and snow. Bonded to the inside of it is a fleece layer that holds the heat your body makes. Because the two are bonded rather than worn separately, there is no mid-layer riding up, no bunching at the shoulders and nothing to take off and carry.
The pockets are the second half of the argument. A zipped chest pocket sits high enough to reach with a pack on. The trousers carry slash hand pockets, flapped thigh cargo pockets and rear pockets, all positioned so a torch, a radio or a pair of gloves stays put when you crouch, kneel or climb. Loop panels on both sleeves take your own patches.
The hood stows against the collar when you do not want it, and pulls up with a drawcord when the wind turns. The trousers are cut with articulated knees, so kneeling and climbing do not drag the fabric tight across the front of your leg.
Straight about the weather: this is a softshell, not a hardshell. It is wind-resistant and it handles light rain and snow. In sustained heavy rain you want a hard waterproof over the top. Anyone telling you a softshell is waterproof is selling you a return.
The gear it replaces:
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A separate fleece mid-layer — rides up under a shell and fills the pack once you take it off.
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A wind shell worn over everything — stops the wind and adds no warmth at all.
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Trousers bought in a different season — nearly the right colour, never quite the right cut.
What's in it:
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Fleece-lined softshell jacket — wind-resistant face, fleece bonded inside, hooded.
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Matching fleece-lined tactical trousers — same construction on the lower half.
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Stowable drawcord hood — up when the weather turns, flat against the collar when it does not.
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Zip chest pocket — high enough to reach with a pack on.
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Flapped thigh cargo pockets — kit stays in through a crouch.
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Loop sleeve panels — for your own patches.
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Articulated knees — full stride and full kneel without binding.
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Five colourways — Black, Army Green, Grey, Navy Blue and Khaki.
Specifications:
- Product type: Men's tactical softshell jacket and trousers set
- Construction: Softshell outer with bonded fleece lining, both pieces
- Weather: Wind-resistant, handles light rain and snow. Not a waterproof hardshell
- Jacket: Full-length front zip, stowable drawcord hood, zip chest pocket, zip sleeve pocket, loop sleeve panels
- Trousers: Slash hand pockets, flapped thigh cargo pockets, rear pockets, belt loops, articulated knees
- Colours: Black, Army Green, Grey, Navy Blue, Khaki
- Sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL
- Intended use: Hunting, fishing, hiking and cold-weather outdoor work
- Intended user: Men
One set. Wind out, heat in, kit where you left it.
