Scottevest is now shipping their most refined and well polished mid weight Sterling Jacket. For sometime I have been a fan of Scott Jordan, the man dreams of various ways to make it easier for anyone to move about with their electronic devices. Scottevest has a line of various shirts, pants, vests, jackets and even underwear. All of his garments feature the patented tech enable clothing (TEC); a maze of simple ways to wire a garment, this vital and intricate part of the clothing was way overlooked recently by the sharks on Shark Tank.
Design
The Sterling Jacket is available in men’s, women, and tall sizes as well as a variety of colors; I went with the standard XL black. The interesting thing about reviewing clothing is the first impression, there is nothing obvious about this jacket, and it does not look like a jacket that is armed with 24 pockets. The attention to detail is way beyond what I expected, zippers are of the highest quality, buttons are strong, lining is silky smooth, and the clear touch fabric does exactly as descried. I was actually very impressed with the clear touch pocket, I have had difficulty removing my iPhone from plastic covers in the past, and I was able to move my iPhone in and out of the clear touch fabric pockets with zero issues. There is minimal name branding on the outside, just a simple black embroidered Scottevest logo, and a TEC tag on the side. The fabric is lightweight, but is strong and resistant to wrinkling as well as stains thanks to the Teflon coating.
Usages and the 24 pockets
Inside is lined with 24 various pockets, and mapping all of them out is very simple for two reasons. First they have an embroidered picture next to each pocket suggesting how to use it, and there is a sewn in pocket map that can also be used as a cleaning cloth for eyewear. The best way to help you understand each pocket is to list where they are located.
Collar – This is my favorite part of this jacket, there is a built in patented personal area network that allows you to wire in a pair of headphones. Coming down on both the left and right side are BudBuckets for storing your earphones when not in use. Headphones are held in place with a left and right side elastic loop. A little further down on both sides are pen pockets. I filled mine with two pencils on the right, and my Livescribe 3 pen on the right.
Left and Right side feature two outside pockets that are very deep, and large enough for me to put a slim Dark Energy Battery. Inside these two pockets is a stretchable pocket; I used this pocket to suspend the battery so there was no weight pushing down. Both sides also feature a clear touch fabric pocket, with a small zipper to make it easy to remove or insert an iPhone or other touch screen device.
Left – There is an extremely large PadPocket, I used this to fit my Anatomy and Physiology book. Anyone who has ever studied Anatomy knows that this book is enormous, and the Sterling Jacket made it a breeze to carry. Just below is the travel document pocket, with a built in RFID blocking pocket. I was interested in seeing if the RFID pocket really does work, I tested it in the School of Computing’s Dept. of Defense Secure Compartment Room and in fact the pocket works perfectly. This is vital for traveling in today’s world; I used equipment that I am not allowed to discuss to try to sniff a passport, digital house key, and four credit cards. I was very impressed that I successfully blocked and blacked out an iPhone, meaning no data was able to move in and out of the pocket, and there was total disconnection (no acknowledgment from) to cell service, and Wi-Fi service. There is a traditional hand warmer pocket with a built in change pocket, and a Colorado friendly Velcro pocket (if you know what I mean), this pocket is divided by a built in zipper.
Right – You will find a deep eyeglass pocket with a built in chamois on an elastic cord. I was able to load it with my Gunnar Optics glasses in its hard leather case, and a pair of reading glasses. Below is a digital camera pocket with a MyMemory pocket, I was able to fit two SD cards with no issues, and a Velcro strip divides this pocket. The division of this pocket will prevent lenses from knocking against a camera. Outside there is another traditional hand warmer pocket with a built in water bottle loop, and an extendable key holder as well as another Colorado friendly pocket.
The Sterling jacket can easily be converted to a vest, both left and right sleeves zip on and off with ease. You can also tighten the jacket slightly with the adjustable straps on the left and right side.
I am almost certain that I forgot to mention one or two pockets as I am constantly discovering new pockets.
My Experience
I am really enjoying the jacket very much. Sizing was an issue for me, and slightly continues to be. I am 5’6″ with a 44-size chest; so most jackets are very difficult for me to be properly sized. The large was too small, I was unable to sit with it closed, and could not cross my arms. The XL was slightly too big, the sleeves for someone my size is a little too long. I thought I would be able to overcome this by using the large sleeves on the XL jacket, but it’s a professionally made jacket and the yoke follows standard American sizing. Perhaps in my next life I will have the perfect body. I was concerned about the sizing issue, I do not like clothing pressing on the back of my neck, so its more comfortable for me to wear with a collar shirt. However after further use and more discovery, the Sterling Jacket has a built in weight management system that allowed me to properly balance all my on board devices, and this relived the pressure on my neck. For example I loaded my iPad mini in the travel document pocket, this significantly reduced weight, and made it much easier to sit with the jacket closed.
Final Thoughts
For years now I have been attending various events flooded with geeks wall to wall, and at least half the room is wearing one Scottevest article of clothing. I must admit its very nice to be able to travel with this jacket, having on board wired power is vital, and the RFID pocket was very impressive. Having full use of any device stored in the clear touch fabric pocket is very cool, and makes for quick access to reading an email or text without having to remove your device. The sizing issues are all on me and no reflection of the Jacket. Perhaps they will consider a short size as well as the already available tall size. I am located in the deep south where it is often times too warm to wear a full jacket, I would be interested in comparing this to their world famous travel vest. I used it going through a TSA checkpoint twice in one day with zero issues; it really is a breeze to simply remove the jacket off me and onto an X-ray belt as apposed to removing all my electronic devices. I would recommend this jacket for anyone who is looking for a spring jacket, and or a vest that can be used during the summer. Its well built, looks great, offers outstanding security, and will not stain when your friends drool over it.
The Sterling Jacket is available for purchase today with a retail price of $150, click here to order yours today. I recommend following Scottevest on Twitter, from time to time they tweet out discount codes.
Side note, I must admit that I watched Scott Jordan on Shark Tank and after personally meeting members of Shark Tank its obvious that they took a loss by not investing in TEC. However Scott is a smart entrepreneur, and honestly does not need them. They have demonstrated obnoxious behavior over social media towards him; I give Scott kudos for taking a firm stance against there childish tweeting. Keep up the good work Scott, cant wait to see what you invent next. Dave
