Review: Baubax jacket

Its just about spring-time here in Melbourne, which means a lot of rain, and cold mornings for me. I hate the cold, and hate being rained on. I am a big fan of soft-shell waterproof jackets and having lots of pockets, but sometimes you want something more than just rugged and dependable, when it comes to snivel-gear. You want something nice.

I saw the Baubax jackets on Kickstarter and their portal site (and was directed to them by umpteen people) and really liked what I saw. They offered four designs, (Dress Blazer, Sweatshirt, Windbreaker and Bomber) in a range of colours, and materials, which all featured a mass of features. Billing them as the "Worlds Best Travel Jacket". I jumped on the bandwagon and eventually, after much delay, they arrived.



I ordered the heaviest and feature-packed option, the Bomber.

A travel-friendly Bomber Jacket with stylish flare, this street-smart piece features pockets for all your smart devices, a built-in neck pillow, an eye mask, and a detachable hood. But that's just a handful of features.

The jacket is made from a machine washable 100% polyester soft shell, with cotton and fleece linings, and weighs in at 1.2kg (2lbs 10oz) making it quite a hefty piece, but that weight gives warmth and security.

It is also PACKED with features:


GLOVES: Built-in half-gloves that easily slide in and out of the sleeves, to keep you warm and cozy when you're on the go. Made from cotton, they will soak up water if you wear them in the cold and wet, but they cut the wind in dry conditions and are really great on those cold morning train-station waits.

EARPHONE HOLDERS: Built-in Earphone holders always keep your earphones untangled and ready for instant use. I havent really used this much, but the loops make really good deep-cover securing locations.

BLANKET POCKET: All BauBax jackets come with a pocket to carry the optional extra proprietary 60"x40" BauBax Blanket that'll keep you warm and cozy when you're traveling. If you don't get the blankie, another woobie or even a dry-cloth would fit in there nicely.

KOOZIE DRINK POCKET: No more fumbling with your drink and your laptop on a plane table tray. With an insulated neoprene drink docket, keep your hot drinks warm, cold drinks cool and your hands free for work. I have only occasionally actually kept a drink in there, but the padded and press-stud fastening pocket is good for loose valuables you want to keep protected.

iPAD POCKET:A 10" pocket to carry an iPad or any full size tablet to free up space in your carry-on or purse and for more convenient plane boarding. This is excellent, and I have stowed my iPad in there a number of times. It just "fades away" into the side pocket, seamlessly and is right there when needed. Be sure to do the little zipper up though, lest you drop expensive delicate technology.

TELESCOPING PEN: This was a cute addition. Clipped to the main zipper is a 1" pen that extends to 4", the bottom of the telescoping pen has a soft tip Stylus to ensure you always have a Stylus handy. It's totally not integral to the jacket, but a very nice feature nevertheless.

SMARTPHONE POCKET: Easily accessible water-resistant smartphone pocket that offers a seamless connection to your earphones., built into the upper outside of the chest on the left, it was a great place to secure my phone when out on the mountain recently.

SUNGLASS POCKET: Easily accessible sunglass holder in a pocket in the upper right side of the inside of the jacket to keep your optics safe and handy. Built-in Microfiber cloth included for cleaning sunglass lenses was also a really nice touch.

PASSPORT POCKET: Passport size inside chest pocket designed for quick access to boarding pass and ID while traveling. Keep your secure documents secure, and handy at the same go. Obviously they're not as safe when the jacket is open, but a damn side safer than if they were in the back-pocket of your flying jodhpurs.

HAND WARMING POCKETS: Multi layered hand warming pockets for extra warmth. I can not stress enough how good it is to have properly lined pockets. built of the same material as the rest of the jacket, both the inside and outside of the pockets are equally warm. No more still-freezing from the inside with these pockets, even with the jacket open.

DETACHABLE HOOD: BauBax Bomber and Blazer come with a detachable hood. The hood features a double press-stud gorget for really bad weather, and zippers onto the body of the jacket, behind a quilted collar that matches the waist and cuffs.

EYE VISOR:  Inside that hood is a fleece eve-visor, which forms your very own shade-cloth and eye-patches when you need a daytime nap, or just don't want tot make eye-contact whilst browsing for saucy delights on your phone in your lap. I found however, that the visor flopped down over my eyes when I was walking around with the hood up. A button-eyehole would have been a good feature to include on this.

NECK PILLOW: This was super sweet. A semi-built-in, inflatable neck pillow that easily hides inside the hood of the jacket, by means of a buttoned down compartment, but was also easy enough to hang behind the shoulders from the hanging loop. Its innovative valve technology allows for a 2 second, one breath inflation. Simple and easy one press deflation, as well as a very comfortable design rounds it out. Also not integral to the jacket, it was a brilliant addition, especially for those of us who often find ourselves sleeping in odd places, at odd times and can't just rack-out.

this was a really good jacket, and I'm glad I had it this winter, and spring, although we had to wait a long time for them, and the sizing of the ladies sizes (I got one for Omega as well) was a bit limited.  That said, the jacket held up well in all kinds of inclement weather, including snow and sleet. The cotton cuffs soak up water, and wold be better is treated to be waterproof, but otherwise, its a great jacket.

Events: Snow trip - gear summary

I was lucky enough to be taken up to the snow for my 40th birthday not long ago, by my mum, who kindly took my whole family up for a long weekend at the Falls Creek snow resort in the Victorian Alps. Snow, in Australia? Yes, it snows here. Sometimes, in a few places. When we went there was a base-cover of around 80cm and it was forecast to be between -3oC and -6oC, with 24cm sow expected each night, or thereabouts.

It was a 5 hour drive, including an hour on the shuttle-bus, as we didn't want to go through the hassle of snow-chains and on-mountain parking, as well as windy, icy mountain roads. Leave it to the professionals, I say, and have a nap on the way.

That said, when we arrive mountain-side, it was sleeting pretty heavily, and continued to do so for the majority of the day. We lost a bunch of snow cover and everybody got damp. Some more than others. That's kind of what I wanted to cover in this post. What I wore to stay warm and dry. What gear  I took.
 Now, I cheated to some extent in that I hired ski-boots, and the outer-layer jacket and ski-pants for when we actually went skiing, (my first time in 20 years, since I lived in Calgary, Canada).

However, I also packed accordingly, for the times I wasn't skiing, and I'm glad I did.

I've had quite some experience in cold climates, both Canada, the UK, Danmark, as well as holidaying and I know they key elements to not having a bad time are to stay dry and warm. Not always both, but if you are one, or the other, you can usually get by. Cold AND wet? You're going to have a bad time.

Here's my layered approach to a trip to the snow:
I wore as my base-layer, the Platatac fleece leggings, and DriFire long sleeve shirt. I don't have any fancy socks, but tend to get hefty heavy-duty socks from the supermarket and wear them to death These ones are Kirkland's,, from Costco. nothing special, but long lasting and don't get stinky.
I wore my Danner Striker ii GTX combat boots, which could do with a thorough polishing, but I hit them with a liberal coating of Kiwi boot waterproofing spray and they worked a treat, even when I stepped through slush up past the ankle. Be sure to open the laces right up if you're waterproofing boots, and get in around the tongue to ensure you don't miss any leakage points.

I looped the leggings foot-hole stirrups over my socks, so they didn't ride up, and I had full coverage from toe to belly-button. Tucking my shirt into the elastic waist of the leggings then carried that all the way up to my neck. No cold draughts.

For my outer layer, I took my snow-proven Propper Adventure Tech shell outer pants, which offer a wind and water proofing layer that I really appreciate. They don't have a lot of pocket real-estate, but I made do, and didn't either loose anything, or lack anything on my adventures.

Over the DriFire shirts, I wore the lightweight Propper windcheater which provided me a really good lightweight dry-layer, as well as having a good neck-seal. My one was a bit too shirt, so my super-long arms tended to poke out, but I had a plan for that anyway.

As my outermost top layer, I chose my Baubax multi-function jacket, which is a semi-hard shell with a hood and thumb-hole fitted wrist extensions. I'll be covering this in detail some time soon. It held the sleet off really well, although the cuffs and the wrist extensions got pretty sodden. They could do with a dose of waterproofing spray as well, I think.

As far as outer layers went, it was a spot on combination for what I was expecting, although had I wanted to stay even dryer, I should have packed my Hazard4 Poncho Villa but I erred on the side of less gear. I should have left out my spare 90's era snow-pants I got when we moved to Calgary, but I'll pack it next time.

For head and hands, I wore my Peruvian fleece caps, along with one or two Headsox to keep my neck, mouth and ears warm. I wore my dual layer, long wristed Condor Nomex gloves which I also gave a liberal waterproofing. That can of spray was an excellent addition and I can't recommend them enough. I think I shall trial a few different ones soon.

I wore a skiing helmet, to which I mounted my Contour Cam in its waterproof case. I gave the misty fogging Arena Flakjack goggles, with a smoky lens fitted, which remained mostly useable when I was skiing, but I needed to keep taking them off and wiping them off. The goggles really helped me have a clear and wind-free view of where I was going at upwards of 40kph downhill, who knew? I didn't hit ANYTHING this time. (I killed two aspen saplings at least, when living in Calgary).

I wore my Platatac Bravo hydration pack, with a 3L Source WXP bladder in it. I have a Blackhawk Side Plate carrier mounted to the bottom of my Bravo, as its hook-and-loop top makes it an excellent flat-pack pocket.

All in all, I was really pleased with my loadout, but most of all, I can't go without saying that my favourite bit of cold-weather kit was the SORD StormTrooper belt-fitted muff. Not only did it's pockets keep my needfuls (like my Manta emergency strobe, CLIF bars, and the like), they also were a place for me to stuff my gloves, and also just plain keep my hands warm. Warms hands mean good-times.

Review: SORD - StormTrooper hand warmer

I got in touch with the good folks over at SORD Australia who had previously fixed me up with the long 870 scabbard pouch and a very clever covert-use hoodie. I had seen they had put out a couple of new items, and managed to secure some, just in time to take out camping and adventuring st s Post-Apocalyptic simulation weekend I was attending.

The first item I want to cover was their very fancy StormTrooper Hand Warmer. Available following a three year development development cycle in which it was put through high altitude parachute descents from around 7600m (25,000ft), and resisting wind speeds in excess of 250kph (135knots/155mph) as well as extended periods in mountain / cold weather environments in multiple countries. That was sales pitch enough for me. I've lived in Calgary, and a couple of other places which have snow, I've even taken a few pieces of kit to the limited snow we get here in Melbourne to trail. I hate the snow, generally, and being cold. Sometimes "hands-in-pockets" is not an option and I like to have options.

Check out that spacious muff!

This is where the StormTrooper comes in. Made from an outer shell fabric of Duro Industries LiteLok  (with a 500D Cordura option in Kryptek Yeti also available), the StormTrooper is filled with 40gsm Prima Loft fill (in double/triple layers), and is lined with the same lightweight lining as used in SORD's jackets.

It attaches in a variety of ways;  with three ITW Web Dominators on shock-cord loops, for attachment to a PLAS/MOLLE platform like a plate carrier or chest rig. There is also a broad hook-and-loop sandwich panel for attachment to platforms with a corresponding hook-and-loop bottom, like the Platatac MAC, I already have as it happens (loop-field faces forward).

Rear view showing belt loops, D-rings and storage cords

The back face is fitted with three belt loops wide enough to take 50mm belts (and feed over riggers belt buckles and Cobra buckles alike). It is also fitted with two D-rings for fitting a neck-strap to sling it around your shoulders.

Zippered blow-out section on the belly of the StormTrooper

The StormTrooper is fitted with 2 separate internal pockets with weather resistant zips for heater packs, or small items, one larger external front zippered pocket for small easily accessible items, like a compass, a light or other small tools and a lower zippered blow out section that increases internal capacity for large hands, especially useful if you have bulky gloves, a mounted GPS or altimeter or a map pouch on your wrist.

Second internal hand-warmer pocket, under recess to stow hook-and-loop flap

Elasticized, adjustable wrist cuffs, let you hunker the muff section down to fir your hands, without leading to a snag-risk in case you need to respond quickly. I found that the muff was perfectly shaped to hold my hands, and let me drop my shoulders, giving me a really relaxed posture, without having my hands stuck in pants-pockets, especially useful when my top was covered in a vest, or obscured by pack-straps.

The internal pockets gave a a couple of places to stash more needfuls, and certainly fit the hand-warmers I have. I also found that the Web Dominators allowed be to quickly roll it up, and stow it away, rolling down to almost nothing thanks to the LiteLok fabric and light down used, and its built in stash sack packs the muff down to almost nothing.

The internally secured storage baggie

Thankfully it's not yet been could enough to -need- the StormTrooper here yet, although it did rain rather miserably on the first night of my last camping trip, and the long walks around the site make for a good chance to stow my hands away. I also found it was a pretty good place to stash some small, light and often used items.

The multiple attachment options, multiple pockets as well as the spacious and comfortable muff section make this an excellent addition to anyone's kit, especially if you are going to find yourself in a cold and miserable place or two. It stayed out of the way when I wasn't using it, and even acted as a quick dump-pouch when I had to stow a long item and keep my hands free.

Post-Apocalyptic Roleplay, with the SORD Stormtrooper at my belly band

You might find that all the accessory shock-cord gets in the way, but they're all removable, and you can set it up as low-drag as you need it.

Next winter, I have a feeling I will be keeping this in my pack, to whip out  when the weather does a Melbourne on us. I look forwards to again being the guy people look at thinking "why didn't I think of that?"

Shout out Review: PowerTravellers - Power Gorilla

Kevin Martin over at BreachBangClear has done a cool piece on a hefty ruggedized power-pack for charging his devices out in the field, for extended times.

Here's the link to his take on the PowerTravellers - Power Gorilla. This tablet sized battery boasts 20,000 mAh of charge, and you can see that Kevin put it through its paces in some pretty rough conditions.

I've covered a couple of power-generation devices in past, the thermoelectric Tellurex-tPod1, and a wish lust BioLight campstove to generate power, solar systems like those found on the SLXtreme iPhone case and the other small solar systems I have tried
but as yet haven't really covered how to STORE that power, other than in those built-in devices. Worth checking out Kevin's findings, for sure!

Review: Mudlarks - All-In-One

I took the family up to the snow recently (yes, there is snow in Australia, not very much, and not very long, but it we do get it) at Mount Baw Baw, and in my planning to do so, I wanted to ensure they would be adequately protected from the environment. I posted about what I wore, here)

Triceratops Girl (in pink) has previously been a model for the Muddlarks "Bib'n'Braces"  so I was prepared to make an investment in a set of their all-in-one coveralls for her and Tactical baby. Cold, wet and miserable children are NEVER a good thing, especially in hazardous and adverse conditions.

The whole Muddlarks range is constructed from waterproofed  breathable polyurethane coated, 150gsm nylon rated to 6000mm+. (See this guide to understand what this rating means)  . The fabric has also been Teflon® proofed on the outer facing of the material which helps resist staining and acts as a Durable Water Repellent (DWR). Water, snow and slush just beads and rolls off.

One of the important aspects of staying warm and dry in the snow is not to become wet in the first place, so this is a great material, especially as it retains its breathability. This ensures that the wearer doesn't steam too much on the -inside- which could lead to dampness and chilling.  The all-in-one Muddlarks provide a single piece coverall that ensures no "puddles and snow down the back" moments, with its ankles to crown coverage.

 Moving from outside to in , just unzipping improved their comfort considerably, especially with the polar-fleece lined larger version. This was child-sized hardshell wear at its best, i think.

The attached hood has an elasticised bill, to keep it snugly fitted in high winds, with a press-stud closure at the neck to keep the wide plastic zipper from sliding open. In the "Size 2" option, there are some press-studs at the nape of the neck to adjust the fit for smaller heads.

The hood, and shoulder/back have reflective piping, to assist in locating and safety in low-light situations. 

The back of the suits also feature elastic gathers, to ensure a better fit, with all the seams being taped for additional waterproofing. This was so effective that when Triceratops Girl fell backwards into a calf deep puddle (for her) that she was still bone dry inside even after sitting in it till i could haul her out.

With elasticised ankle and wrist cuffs, the biggest concern I had was that the girls would get snow and slush into their gumboots, but the Muddlarks design had catered for that as well. The fleece lining in the larger size ensured a warm Triceratops Girl, whilst we bundled Tactical Baby with a insulating mid-layer, and she fared just as well.

 Tapered and fitted cuffs, along with the elastic produced a snug fit, without constricting. but it is the button-closed adjustable elastic loop that really makes these a winner. Able to stretch around the ankle of a gumboot then affix, gater-style under them. This combination really ensures a good seal against incidental soaking, especially for little people. Again, cold, wet, miserable little people are not just a burden in an outdoors adventure,but in a survival situation, it becomes an even more serious risk.

I was really pleased with how these performed in the snow, but I've also seen how well the other items in the range (the bib'n'braces, specifically) perform in the mud, sand and forest floor. I really liked these for my kids.

Review: Propper - Adventure Tech, Level V APCU softshell pants

I took the family up to the snow recently (yes, it DOES snow here in Australia, just not very much, or in very many places) and I got to try out a few pieces of kit that I have been waiting for an opportunity to pull out in public.

My last trip to the snow, some three years ago was a very unfortunate event; sleet and hail fairly ruined out outing, and I had passed on most of my snow gear to the others in my party, and as a result ended up cold, wet and miserable. Not to mention a touch hypothermic. Having lived in the snow several times (Denver, USA / Surrey, UK / Calgary, Canada) I was kicking myself for my lapse of judgement, but as I say, the others in my party were ok, and looked after me.

However, THIS time, there would be no repeats! I payed attention to my ever growing collection, and selected not only a range of layers, but also spares, in the event that I needed them. 

The key piece that I tried out, however, were my new pants from Propper. I picked these up from an eBay sale, and as it turns out they appear to be a discontinued range from Propper. However, the Propper Adventure Tech, Level V APCU softshell pants were a welcome addition to my wardrobe, and certainly proved their worth on my trip to Mount Baw Baw for the weekend. 

I wore a Tough Mudder/ Under Armor shirt and my Platatac Half-zip fleece top  on top, with my HeadSox on my noggin.

I have very long legs, which usually means that I go for a size larger waist to ensure the right length, for pants which don't have a W/L sizing, but in this case that played in my advantage, as I chose to wear these as over-pants, over the top of a base layer of my Platatac sniper pants fleece layer in the first instance, with my Urban Dax as a mid layer, in the event of unpleasant weather.

I found that the mid layer was unnecessary for the beautiful crisp and dry conditions we faced on the mountain, so I felt I could really throw myself about in the snow. 


The material of the pants is a very light, 4-way stretch fabric which is extremely comfortable, both on the skin, but also from a breathability and wicking perspective. This is due in no small part to the Schoeller Nanosphere Treatment that Propper applied to the fabric. This treatment apparently mimics the natural self-cleaning effect of some plants whose leaves always remain clean, because particles cannot adhere to the finely structured surface, and is easily washed off when rinsed, without allowing water to penetrate. It combines with the weave of the fabric to offer a high level of protection from wind, rain as well. It certainly shed snow and slush well, as well as the mustard and BBQ sauce I exposed it to at the chalet. It also seems to resist washing out, so should retain its abilities when I do need to give them a wash.

Also, they were in Multicam! I haven't had many opportunities to wear Multicam. I tend not to wear camouflage "for fashion", (although I got a MC Tactical Kilt from 5.11 .... review to follow! ) so having an outdoorsy activity to test it out in was great too.

The pants have a wide padded waistband, as well as pretty standard belt loops. I actually felt that the softness and lightness of the fabric would have warranted thicker belt loops, just to make them a bit more substantial. but really, I didn't have any problems with them.

The main front pockets were almost horizontally cut into the front of the pants. This was an unusual feature, and it did mean that when using these pockets, I needed to dive my hand straight down in front of me, but certainly did ensure that my pocket goodies remained safely stowed.
 

The pockets are lined with mesh, rather than the same material as the rest of the pants, or some other full-weave liner, which was an interesting addition, but certainly didn't hinder me in any way. The overlap between the front and back lips of the pocket were constructed such that they overlapped nicely, and I didn't experience any wind-bite or water logging as a result of the pocket placement.

The just-above-the-knee cargo pockets were small for this kind of pant, but certainly functional. (they fail the "will it take my iPad test", but I certainly didn't want to be lugging that through the snow), but they were billowed at the back, for extra capacity, and the left set included a zippered side pocket as well. 

 

Whilst tromping about in these on the mountain, I found that I could easily stow my phone in its SLXtreme case as well as my Contour cam, in ITS waterproof case, as well as two to three sets of gloves and or mittens, without a spill or lost technology all day. I did find that the knee-pads I wore sat very close to the cargo pockets, and this impinged on their ability to be filled fully. This was a little annoying, but the knee-pads were -very- large.

The cargo pocket have hook-and-loops closures, and the top of the lid-flap had an opening for pen, light or knife clips, or could also trail a cable.

One thing that I found with these pants is that they stopped the wind dead. Whether I was standing on the top of a ridge, or zipping down a slope on a toboggan with the little ones, they simply cut the wind right out. They did so without the "zitch-zitch-zitch" that Gore-tex "hard-shell" pants might. 
 

This leads me to post this little guide to assist anyone else who occasionally gets mystified by ll the "hard-shell/soft-shell" jargon ... 

I've tried to find an explanation or scale to describe the "Level V" portion of the Propper scale (which goes to at least VII) but this might go some way to describe what different levels and ratings of waterproofedness and breathability mean.

One thing I found interesting about these pants are that not only do they totally lack any pockets at the back, but are also fitted with a wide elastic section, the full width of the waistband, for the entirety of the back of the pants.This meant that they did sit fairly snugly, even with the "slightly too large" size I got, and stayed snug when i was crouched, squatting on a toboggan, or kneeling to pick up and carry my small people. 

I really liked wearing these pants. I stayed snug, warm and dry. I tromped through snow and slush, picked up squealing kicking offspring and sat them on my legs , sat in the snow, built snow-dinosaurs and generally had a good time, all without a single sad, soggy moment.

It's a real shame these are no longer being made, but can still be picked up by searching for Propper Adventure Tech, Level V with the product code F7220, online. Good luck, stay warm and dry!