Let me open by apologizing if this review seems messy; I’m more used to reviewing products with lights, buttons and beeping noises.
Reviewing fashion isn’t really “my thing”, but I had no problem making an exception for this review.
The SeV Scott Jordan Signature System consists of 2 different products; the Quantum jacket, and the Fleece 5.0.
Scottevest (SeV) has been making “technology enabled clothing” since 2000, and their products are essentially a travelers best friend; plenty of pockets, innovative ways to store anything from a water bottle to a small laptop, and high quality fabrics and stitching.
I’ll break this review into 2 small portions and will start with the jacket. Each product is available separately and functions perfectly on its own, but if you are heading towards a really cold winter, you can combine both into the “Signature System”. The Jacket and Fleece do not connect together, which was a decision SeV made based on customer feedback (I have to agree with them here).
The new SeV Quantum Jacket
The Quantum jacket is the fifth generation jacket from SeV and combines all their experience and innovations into a rugged winter coat. Some of the features of the jacket are:
- 28 different pockets on the inside, outside and even on the sleeves
- Removable hood
- Magnetic front closure flap
- Handwarmer pockets deep enough to stick half you arm in
- Integrated wire management ports (SeV call this their Personal Area Network) – these small openings run through most of the pockets and allow you to route cables from pocket to pocket
- Clear touch-screen accessible pockets – perfect for your smartphone or iPod
- Headphone cord management – allows you to hide your headphone cord and bring it up into the collar
- Weight management pockets for holding heavy items
- Individual pockets for your keys, PDA stylus, memory cards, eyeglass cleaning cloth, change and even water bottles or a hydration pack.
The list of features and innovations in this jacket is endless. The jacket itself is made of breathable and water resistant ENAFF material.
The new SeV Fleece 5.0
The new SeV Fleece 5.0 is, as the name describes it, their fifth generation fleece jacket. Just like the Quantum jacket, this fleece has a huge list of features. The main differences (besides the fabric) are that the fleece has removable sleeves and no hood. The fleece jacket has 24 pockets (just 4 less than the jacket) and all of the other innovations that I listed for the Quantum jacket.
The “Signature Edition” price and use
Both the jacket and the fleece feel absolutely fantastic, and you can really tell a lot of effort was put in to the design and manufacturing process. You won’t find any loose threads or bad stitches on this thing.
The Quantum jacket retails for $250 and the fleece costs $140. If you purchase them together as the “Signature System”, you’ll save $50 ($340). This is in line with any other premium winter jacket, but has the added advantage of all the SeV features.
I’ve spent well over $300 in the past for a good jacket, and only got 6 pockets. The best part of the investment is that you actually get four different garments: a jacket, a fleece, a fleece/jacket combo, and a vest (when you remove the sleeves from the fleece). The 2 products should provide comfort for autumn, through winter to early spring.
The best part about the jacket or fleece filled with gadgets, is that you don’t even notice them; the pockets have been specially designed to be “no bulge”, and with the weight distribution system, you don’t feel like you are carrying your office in your pockets. Once you reach the airport, you simply take your jacket off, and place it in a bin.
To give you an idea of the storage space, I filled my jacket with all the usual stuff I carry in my laptop bag, including a Cradlepoint wireless broadband router with 3G modem, 3 phones, an iPod touch, a digital camera, a backup battery pack, several memory cards, my Slacker G2 music player, a Livescribe Pulse smartpen with notepad, a Franklin speaking global translator and 2 Bluetooth headsets (one stereo). The back of the jacket even has one massive pocket large enough for a small laptop (my Acer Aspire One fits just fine). Of course, I am hardly an average user, so my extreme example won’t apply to most travelers.
Final thoughts…
The SeV Scott Jordan Signature Edition is kind of like finding presents under the Christmas tree. Once you are done opening everything, you always find one or two other packages everyone missed. With these jackets, it is no different; even after wearing them for an hour, I kept finding new pockets, or other ways to access a pocket.
SeV have added a small business card in every pocket describing its function, what it can store and whether it is connected to the “personal area network” cord management system. In one of the front pockets is also a stack of “Vestimonials” which are perfect if you want to spread some SeV love around.
Even if you are not a gadget freak like myself, the SeV jacket and fleece provide a great quality winter combination, and are fine if you only plan to carry some basic things like your iPod, phone and some lip balm.
There really isn’t anything I can complain about with the jacket or fleece. Naturally some may find it a little on the pricey side, but if you compare it with other pro-grade winter gear, you’ll see that it is very much in line with their prices. If anything, the only minor complaint is that washing the jackets will take longer, because you have to go through all 52 pockets to be sure you didn’t leave any of your gadgets behind.
The Scott Jordan Signature Collection is available directly from their site.
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