British Army ”Softie” jacket

[cipherdias]

Looking for something now the weather is rather autumnal and considering British Army Softie jacket and trousers for round camp and in the tent on cold nights. Does anyone have any experience of the item particularly the newer PCS one?


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[cipherdias]

Also if someone can let me know how they are sized? I'm guessing they are quite oversized as meant to be worn over regular clothing?


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[Allans865]

Hi mate,

Yeah good bits of kit, very warm, and I would recommend to go a size smaller as they are cut on the large side, both the jacket and trousers.

I’m normally an XL in most clothing sizes, and a large softie jacket and trousers fit me perfectly.

I am referring to the older style of softie, the green/sand reversible ones.

Hope this helps,

Allan


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[Brizzlebush]

Yup, I've got the sand/green reversible jacket.
V warm.
As mentioned, sizing is as you'd expect, British army generous!
I usually take a large and my medium jacket is roomy. It goes past my waist and I'm 6,1'! But that's not always a bad thing for keeping warm.
It's pretty bulky, but great if you're static and it's Baltic.

 

[Robbi]

i have one of those and it's too warm for me !

 

[Coldfeet]

I have the trousers, and they are great.

 

[Mowmow]

I have the newer pcs buffalo style "softie".
It's windproof, i'd say slightly water resistant (it has them waterproof zippers), dries extremely fast, has excellent ventilation options (neck zip, armpit zips, zips down the side of the torso)
it's very thin and lightweight and packs down into its own kangaroo style pocket (makes a nice pillow) but its also quite warm probably due to the polar fleece lining and windproof shell and has big pockets.

But the fleece yanks on anything you wear underneath it (such as the pcs fleece norgie, brilliant bit of kit) when you go to remove the jacket which can be annoying and its so thin i dont know how it takes as much abuse as it does.
And although its similar to a buffalo top, i dont believe it works quite the same but its very comfortable to wear it as any kind of layer (base, mid, outer) and its very light.

Its slightly different to the other softie jacket in that it's designed to be worn as a mid layer under the windproof smock.

I quite like it, in fact i like it very much but the fleece liner can be a pain in the bottom.

Edit: just added a photo. This is the buffalo style top replacing the old reversible softie
Theres also a zip up pcs thermal softie jacket similar to the older one but ive never used one.


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[The Lord Poncho]

i've had a few of the sand/green reversible ones - superb for the money, reletively geneous sizing. However i did try on one of the newer style pale green/non reversible types (it is diferentiated also by the newer style having a rank slide on the front), and i found the sizing very tight. If you want to go for the newer style, i would recommend that you opt for a size larger than you normally take.

 

[MikeLA]

Get hold of the older version 1000 times better. The green/sand reversible ones.
The newer pcs jacket is rubbish

 

[Nice65]

I have the newer pcs buffalo style "softie".
It's windproof, i'd say slightly water resistant.

But the fleece yanks on anything you wear underneath it (such as the pcs fleece norgie, brilliant bit of kit) when you go to remove the jacket which can be annoying.

Its slightly different to the other softie jacket in that it's designed to be worn as a mid layer under the windproof smock.

I quite like it, in fact i like it very much but the fleece liner can be a pain in the bottom.

Thats well worth taking into consideration, the snagging of the fleece lining. I have a few smock outers, they all grab my under layers but use a Keela Belay jacket (zipper) as I mid layer. For the simple reason I don’t want to have to put my tee shirt back inside my belt when taking my top layer off.

 

[MrEd]

Get the green/sand one/ - great bits of kit! i tore my jacket though

 

[Mulloch]

I totally agree with the comments from Mowmow and The Lord Poncho. I never used my issued reversible set as they were just a cheap copy of the snugpak jkt. I have the new PCS pull on cagoule/smock and its fleece lining does stick like velcro to any similar fleecy undershirt. Sizing seems a bit off with the PCS range. I would go for a size bigger than you normally wear. The zipup jkt seems to be just as good. Def good for sitting about in and keeping warm, not good for any strenuous work.