Right folks I'm in a particularly autumnal mood today and as I cast my eye around the office my Nanok Arctic Jacket caught my eye. I bought it a while back (see this thread) but last weekend was the first time I managed to give it it's first serious outing in wet, windy and chilly weather. So as I had a few minute spare at lunch I'd thought I'd take a few pictures and post a review.
So here goes ........
I originally bought the jacket to wear underneath an SASS Force 8 Smock during rest stops and static periods in the back of 4 tonners/around camp and to this end it has proved to be perfect. Originally it was a toss up between the Snugpack Softie and the Nanok Arctic. The Softie has gained cult status amongst the armed forces however in my experience I have seen a number of them fall apart fairly rapidly and as I had only ever heard good things about Nanok and their build quality I decided to buy an the Arctic Jacket.
First Impressions
I ordered the jacket from Andy at outdoorcode (www.outdoorcode.com ) and received it in good time with Andy keeping me informed of its progress from Norway!
The first thing you notice when you handle the garment is the quality. It just feels well built and you can immediately feel the heat being thrown back from you hands. It arrived unpacked from it stuff sack which is obviously how Nanok store them so as not to compromise the insulative filling buy leaving it compressed the whole time .
Features
As you can see from the photo above the Jacket is relatively simple. It has a single layer 200g/m2 filling (same as the Nanok 0oC Endurance sleeping bag) with the shell being made of 2 different materials.
The outer shell is shower proof ripstop pertex in olive green where as the inner is a slightly lighter green non-ripstop pertex which give it a very nice silky feel. (See photo above)
It has a chunky YKK zip which to date hasn't snagged on the fabric (one of my pet hates) and the zip has an internal baffle to help retain heat and on the outside a storm flap with Velcro closure strips to prevent wind/water entering.
The collar is well designed with the internal baffle protecting your chin from the zip and an extra Velcro tab to stop the storm flap folding out the wrong way and letting the wind through the zip (see photo below). The collar is cut quite generously so it actually comes up over your chin, however, if you prefer a snug fit there is a elastic cord and toggle on the back of the collar that you can use to tighten it up to prevent heat loss (not shown on photo but "bobble" type .... the same as those on the bottom hem).
It has two large pockets on the outside of the jacket with Velcro closure and black tabs that make them easy to open with gloves on. The bottom hem also has an elastic cord and toggle to tighten up should you feel a draught!
There is also a small pocket inside the jacket which isn't particularly large but is big enough for a wallet or some keys (this is where I keep the stuff sack when not in use).
The cuffs are non adjustable elastic type (see below)
]
Pack size
The jacket comes with a standard drawstring closure stuff sack and the jacket fits in side very easily (no struggle at all unlike some I've tried!) giving it a reasonable pack size.
In use
First off the jacket is warm, very very warm
. It is definitely only for use whilst static, pottering around camp or going for gentle walks during cold weather (i.e. walking the dog on a flat piece of ground!) and at this task it performs very well. As soon as you start going up hill you will start too cook! Even with the front open it's still very warm. But this isn't a bad thing, that jacket wasn't built for our climate or as an insulating layer for active sports ! The jacket, as the name suggests, was designed for very cold temperatures and I'm sure at -10 or -20 you probably wouldn't overheat !
The jackets water repellency was surprisingly good. The pertex has a DWR (durable water repellence) coating that makes the water bead on the surface and then roll off the fabric. The jacket shrugged off two showers whilst I was sat on top of Castlelaw Hill and although they were quite light I'm sure it could have handled a bit more of a downpour. Being an artificial filling the rain didn't compromise it's insulative properties.
The jacket is fairly bulky in use but didn't seem to compress too much when worn under my smock (maybe a little around the cuffs but thats about it). It does have a bit of a drop tail at the back but this isn't huge so it didn't stick out the back of the smock (like my old Buffalo used to do) ..... some people may like this (like myself) others may want a larger drop tail to sit on (in this case go for the Nanok reversible SF jacket).
The jacket can also be used as an extra layer (you can get the SF trousers made to a similar standard) inside the Nanok 0oC sleeping bag (or any other bag I suppose! ) which will increase its rating by a few degrees (-10?). Bonus.
The only think I would improve is the stuff sack. The jacket whilst compressed in the sack is relatively small (comparable with a Softie) but not as small as it could be. Space is at a premium in my Bergen/daysack so Id prefer it if the stuff sack came with compression straps so you can compress it down even smaller in a similar style to most sleeping bags.
All in all I'm very pleased. The jacket does what it says on the tin and then some and in truth is actually quite a versatile garment. Double thumbs up from me
.
So here goes ........
I originally bought the jacket to wear underneath an SASS Force 8 Smock during rest stops and static periods in the back of 4 tonners/around camp and to this end it has proved to be perfect. Originally it was a toss up between the Snugpack Softie and the Nanok Arctic. The Softie has gained cult status amongst the armed forces however in my experience I have seen a number of them fall apart fairly rapidly and as I had only ever heard good things about Nanok and their build quality I decided to buy an the Arctic Jacket.
First Impressions
I ordered the jacket from Andy at outdoorcode (www.outdoorcode.com ) and received it in good time with Andy keeping me informed of its progress from Norway!
The first thing you notice when you handle the garment is the quality. It just feels well built and you can immediately feel the heat being thrown back from you hands. It arrived unpacked from it stuff sack which is obviously how Nanok store them so as not to compromise the insulative filling buy leaving it compressed the whole time .
Features
As you can see from the photo above the Jacket is relatively simple. It has a single layer 200g/m2 filling (same as the Nanok 0oC Endurance sleeping bag) with the shell being made of 2 different materials.
The outer shell is shower proof ripstop pertex in olive green where as the inner is a slightly lighter green non-ripstop pertex which give it a very nice silky feel. (See photo above)
It has a chunky YKK zip which to date hasn't snagged on the fabric (one of my pet hates) and the zip has an internal baffle to help retain heat and on the outside a storm flap with Velcro closure strips to prevent wind/water entering.
The collar is well designed with the internal baffle protecting your chin from the zip and an extra Velcro tab to stop the storm flap folding out the wrong way and letting the wind through the zip (see photo below). The collar is cut quite generously so it actually comes up over your chin, however, if you prefer a snug fit there is a elastic cord and toggle on the back of the collar that you can use to tighten it up to prevent heat loss (not shown on photo but "bobble" type .... the same as those on the bottom hem).
It has two large pockets on the outside of the jacket with Velcro closure and black tabs that make them easy to open with gloves on. The bottom hem also has an elastic cord and toggle to tighten up should you feel a draught!
There is also a small pocket inside the jacket which isn't particularly large but is big enough for a wallet or some keys (this is where I keep the stuff sack when not in use).
The cuffs are non adjustable elastic type (see below)
]Pack size
The jacket comes with a standard drawstring closure stuff sack and the jacket fits in side very easily (no struggle at all unlike some I've tried!) giving it a reasonable pack size.
In use
First off the jacket is warm, very very warm
. It is definitely only for use whilst static, pottering around camp or going for gentle walks during cold weather (i.e. walking the dog on a flat piece of ground!) and at this task it performs very well. As soon as you start going up hill you will start too cook! Even with the front open it's still very warm. But this isn't a bad thing, that jacket wasn't built for our climate or as an insulating layer for active sports ! The jacket, as the name suggests, was designed for very cold temperatures and I'm sure at -10 or -20 you probably wouldn't overheat ! The jackets water repellency was surprisingly good. The pertex has a DWR (durable water repellence) coating that makes the water bead on the surface and then roll off the fabric. The jacket shrugged off two showers whilst I was sat on top of Castlelaw Hill and although they were quite light I'm sure it could have handled a bit more of a downpour. Being an artificial filling the rain didn't compromise it's insulative properties.
The jacket is fairly bulky in use but didn't seem to compress too much when worn under my smock (maybe a little around the cuffs but thats about it). It does have a bit of a drop tail at the back but this isn't huge so it didn't stick out the back of the smock (like my old Buffalo used to do) ..... some people may like this (like myself) others may want a larger drop tail to sit on (in this case go for the Nanok reversible SF jacket).
The jacket can also be used as an extra layer (you can get the SF trousers made to a similar standard) inside the Nanok 0oC sleeping bag (or any other bag I suppose!
) which will increase its rating by a few degrees (-10?). Bonus.The only think I would improve is the stuff sack. The jacket whilst compressed in the sack is relatively small (comparable with a Softie) but not as small as it could be. Space is at a premium in my Bergen/daysack so Id prefer it if the stuff sack came with compression straps so you can compress it down even smaller in a similar style to most sleeping bags.
All in all I'm very pleased. The jacket does what it says on the tin and then some and in truth is actually quite a versatile garment. Double thumbs up from me
.
