Scott Jordon was into skiing, motorcycling and other outdoor sports including a bit of sports car racing, but couldn’t find the type of clothing to carry what he needed to carry without looking like he was preparing to climb Mt. Everest. He wanted outdoor clothing that would keep him comfortable and carry his necessities… sunglasses, wallet, passport, toll change, snacks, sun tan lotion, camera, film, keys, first aid kit, tools, as well as electronic gear, e.g. cell phone, GPS, MP3, you know, the array of modern personal, communication, weapons and entertainment gear, but still look good doing it. Form and function as it were. Necessity being one mother of an invention incentive, he began designing his vision of the right stuff. It worked out so well that he left the law shingle behind and went full bore designing clothing that works. He calls the company Scottevest (pronounced ScottieVest.)
“I sort of joke that what we’re doing is the most interesting thing that’s happened to clothing since the bikini,” said Jordan, speaking from his home in Ketchum, Idaho. “For thousands of years clothing has done essentially 2 1?2 things; protect you from the elements, and number two, as an afterthought, make a fashion statement. The other “half” is the pockets. Well, okay, let’s slap a pocket here without thinking much about whether it’s a good place for a pocket, what people are going to put in there, how do you avoid things from falling out, how will you be able to feel a vibrating cell phone and easily access it.
Today many clothing companies don’t allow for those considerations because the designers themselves usually don’t carry around a bunch of stuff. It’s even more relevant with the “hands-free” legislation that’s passing like wildfire through the U.S. and already required in Europe and Asia.”
PAN without the Peter
Here we get to the “networking” system or Personal Area Network (PAN), hidden channels that allow users to connect electronic devices, aka gizmos, without any visible wires, the pathways built into ScotteVest vests and jackets. PAN provides a means by which you can plug your electronics through out of sight connections integrated through the pockets then attached to buds around the collar to route the earphone wires to your ears, a la Secret Service. The features are also present in the company’s prototype motorcycle jacket seen here for the first time. Jordon’s first sample motorcycle jacket incorporates all their stealth pocket designs and electronic networking system with the protection of leather, geared toward bikers.
In addition, we got to examine ScotteVest’s Version 3.0 Fleece as well as their Version 3.0+ SeV jacket with an integrated Solar panel. That’s right, a wearable solar charging system designed into your clothing that continually charges your battery operated gizmos. Even James Bond didn’t have this one. What we have here is a jacket that itself is a gadget.
Popular with Shadow Warriors
ScotteVest products have already created quite a buzz in other sections of the country. Word is that the gear has caught the eye of CIA and certain special ops military services. The story goes that a Secret Service agent was wearing one of the SeV jackets in the White House when George W saw it and asked for one. Bottom line is that you can carry a small laptop in the jacket or a mini-Uzi and no one will know about it. The gear has been on display at the Tech Museum of Innovation in Silicon Valley and The International Spy Museum Store in D.C. Moreover the clothing is designed for the “mobile professional” with pockets that don’t create bulges and that offer unique features. It has the look of top quality sports clothing and is “at home” in or out of civilization.
Does the stuff apply to motorcycling? The quick answer…oh, yeah.
Solar Three.0 Finetex Jacket with Solar Option
I was ready for my next secret mission, or a run to the burger stand, when I donned this jacket, the company’s signature SeV Finetex combined with the removable solar panels. It’s literally got all the hidden bells (42 pockets and compartments) and whistles we mentioned in the prototype biker jacket plus other features including a set of hidden epaulets designed to use any standard belt clip. You can attach devices to either shoulder, for example hands-free operation of your cell phone/PDA speaker phone/camera or walky-talky. It features magnetic/Velcro/zipper/snap closures, special interior security pockets for credit cards and memory cards as well as the full spectrum of concealed pockets plus the optional and removable solar panel attached to the back of the jacket.
Now these jackets have a learning curve to navigate all the pockets and for deciding on your uses for each. They do come with an “owner’s manual”. Call it a voyage of discovery because of all its features. The accompanying literature is well-written, clear and well, fun. The exterior of the jacket is FineTex © that is waterproof, windproof and breathable, also lightweight but tough, has zip-off sleeves turning it into a vest, collar loops for earbuds or microphone, Coolmax © lining, the PAN system, a padded collar and James Bondish styling. It’s got its act together. It fits, feels and functions with what I’d guess you’d call confidence. You can tell some serious thought went into its design.
In one of the large “handwarmer” pockets, there’s even an elastic beverage holder to hold a beverage upright and a hat-hold clip located at the left bottom seam. In the right exterior breast pocket, there’s a plastic holder that pulls out to display a badge/credential holder, ID, name tag, whatever. On the outside of the comfy felt-lined collar is an unzippable hood and on the inside of the collar, a conduit for hiding earphone wires. You want more? In the inside left breast pocket, there’s a clipped-on eyeglass chamois. The big pocket on the back will take your laptop, magazines, books or even a hydration system. A nice touch is that every pocket has a card listing the pocket’s potential uses and applications.
It Velcro’s onto the back of the jacket and looks like a design element rather than hardware. The flexible, lightweight thin-film photovoltaic material is made from copper iridium gallium diselenide (CIGS), a sun absorbing material placed onto a thin substrate. The panels charge a battery pack that’s included and which takes 2-3 hours to charge in direct sunlight, longer on cloudy days but also in artificial light. The battery pack takes 2-3 hours to charge a cell phone, 3-5 for a MP3 player.
You route the 4-foot wire into the zipper pocket on the back of the jacket, then to any of the internal or external jacket pockets through the provided holes. You can then insert the solar charger male connector into the auxiliary battery pack (ABP) female connector. A red LED tells you charging is taking place, a green one tells you the charge is complete. If there’s not enough light, the red light remains off. The ABP will charge most USB compatible devices, but note that Apple iPod is a bit more iffy and requires “computer authentication”. Next you use a standard cable (not supplied) to the auxiliary box female USB port and connect it your hand held device. You can charge up while riding, sort of a mobile solar generating plant on two wheels. The solar panels can get wet, but you don’t want to take them scuba diving. Also, you can only charge one device at a time. But if you’re camping in Death Valley without a wall outlet in sight, you’ve still got juice.
We think the solar charger is way cool and certainly makes sense if you’re cruising off the beaten track and far from electrical hookups. Having a readily available source of energy (and pollution free to boot) seems a boon. Plus the grin factory explaining what that thing lying across your back does is worth the price of admission. And you can wear the curly earphone wire which might get you a better table at McDonald’s.
Version 3.0 FleeceI also give a thumbs up vote for the Scottevest 3.0 Fleece. Along with a multitude of stealthy pockets and compartments, its detachable sleeves allow for instant vest transformation, plus it serves double duty as a liner for the SeV jacket or just as a layer under your regular cruising jacket or riding suit. Quality construction, versatile, warm, comfortable, lightweight, functional, outta-sight carrying capacity as claimed, and hi-style ratings.
How Much to Get ScotteVested?
The Version 3.0 Fleece is $130. The Solar 3.0 Finetex is $425.00 If we had to guess, we’d say Harry Houdini would have taken a good look at the gear, smiled and ordered up his Scottevest wardrobe. To check out more of the Scottevest products log onto
