Longstreet
11-21-2008, 11:50
See below for updated review.
Longstreet
01-22-2009, 19:58
My review of my winter jacket was poorly done and I would like to redo it. So beginning with a fresh slate . . .
Over a year ago I finally decided that I had enough of being cold in the winter, so I purchased a Snugpak Sleeka. I learned about the jacket from a number of Canadian Forces troops who highly recommended it (I do not believe they were JTF2 so I am not advising this jacket for anything SOF; however if any SOF/SF personnel does use this product, it would be great to hear your comments). I have used Snugpak before as I own both their Falcon sleeping bag and their Jungle bag. I have been extremely satisfied with these two items so I decided to take a chance on the jacket. And I am glad I did.
First off this coat is warm. I have worn it on winter camping trips where weather temperatures dropped to below 25 degree Celsius and I was nice and toasty (I was wearing Canadian Forces thermals and a Canadian Forces fleece underneath). To help with this, it has been designed with both a collar bungee as well as waist bungees to help lock in warm air. It is equipped with a zippered inside pocket as well as two zippered external pockets. What makes these pockets is that they are extremely deep. It is possible to put your hand in your pocket and scratch your upper pectoral muscle. Needless to say you can fit plenty in them if needed.
The jacket is synthetic filled so it can be stuffed into small spaces. It comes with a light weight bag (the newer model comes with a compression sack) that holds the jacket when it is stuffed (making it about the size of a softball). Due to its synthetic fill it is not bulky when worn and does dry quickly when wet which is good as it is not water resistant. If you plan on wearing it in wet weather, I recommend that you put a shell over it. Unfortunately it does not have pit zips so you must be careful that you do not overheat and wet the inside due to perspiration. That being said once it gets wet, it will still keep you warm. I wore it on a spring weekend trek and got absolutely soaked, but the Sleeka still kept me warm.
To the best of my knowledge, the British Army use the Sleeka and it is standard issue for their troops. So while the fabric is soft, it is resilient. Several times I have caught the fabric or rubbed it against rough objects and it did not even lose a stitch. This is great as the zipper often gets caught in the wind flap which makes unzipping it sometimes tricky - definitely a design flaw. As mentioned earlier, a newer model has been introduced which has reinforced sleeves so it can take even more punishment. I am unsure if they have solved the zipper problem. Perhaps the pullover version would be better?
The Sleeka is somewhat pricey costing over $200.00 CDN; however it is manufactured in UK so at least it does not come from some third world sweatshop. And given it has kept me warm on many winter nights, I think it is worth every penny. Oh yeah, if interested, the Sleeka comes in black, green and sand.
And to the best of my knowledge, there is one model that is reversible so you can have both a green and sand jacket for the price of one.