Tactical Pilot Jacket, Five-Buckle Front, Roll-Away Hood, S-XL

The wind stops here. Steady rain does not.

Wind is what actually finishes a day early. You can layer up against the cold and still end up shivering, because a fleece or a knit lets moving air straight through it and strips the warmth off you as fast as your body makes it. On a boat deck, standing around a crib break in the open, out on a paddock at first light, on the back of a bike — it is rarely the temperature that beats you. It is the wind getting through.

This is a heavy nylon shell built to stop that. A full-length zip sits under a storm flap, and five side-squeeze buckles on webbing straps run down the front so the closure stays shut when it is howling instead of flogging open. Stand-up collar with a hood that rolls away inside it, hook-and-loop cuff tabs, and a webbing strap at the hem to pull the draught out of the bottom.

What it is not is a rain shell, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. The supplier calls the fabric waterproof but publishes no hydrostatic head figure, and nothing in the photographs shows taped seams or laminated zips. A rating nobody has published is not a rating. Treat this as a windproof outer that will shed spray and a passing shower — stand in steady rain long enough and water will find the seams and the pocket zips.

What It Does

• Blocks moving air: a tightly woven nylon outer with the zip covered by a storm flap, so wind does not drive through the front of the jacket.
• Sheds spray and drizzle: water beads off the face of the fabric long enough to get you across a yard or through a shower. It is not a rain shell.
• Closes and stays closed: five quick-release buckles over the zip, so a gust cannot peel the front open the way a bare zip lets it.
• Seals the three gaps: collar, cuffs and hem all cinch down, which is where the cold usually gets in.
• Carries the small stuff: a zip pocket on the left sleeve, a chest zip pocket and two flap hand pockets keep a phone, a torch and a set of keys off the ground.
• Takes a hood on demand: rolls into the collar and out of the way when you do not want it flapping around your head.

Key Features

• Buckle storm front: full-length zip under a fabric storm flap, held shut by five side-squeeze buckles on webbing straps.
• Roll-away hood: stows inside the stand-up collar and comes out when the weather turns.
• Chest ladder webbing: rows of stitched webbing across the chest for clipping a torch, a radio or a glove clip where you can reach it.
• Back grab handle: a reinforced webbing handle sewn across the upper back.
• Four pockets: left sleeve zip pocket, chest zip pocket and two lower hand pockets with covering flaps.
• Patch panels: hook-and-loop panels on both upper sleeves for your own patches.
• Adjustable cuffs and hem: hook-and-loop tabs at the wrists and a buckled webbing strap around the hem.
• Lined stand collar: soft dark lining inside a high collar that comes up past the jaw.
• Two colours, four sizes: Black or Army Green, in S, M, L and XL, cut unisex.
• Machine washable: the supplier states machine washable and gives no further care detail.

Limits

• Not a waterproof jacket: no hydrostatic head figure in millimetres has been published and no taped seams are shown anywhere in the supplier's photographs. In steady rain you will get wet through the seams and the pocket zips. If you need a genuine rain shell, this is the wrong layer.
• No abrasion figure: the old listing and the web address both call it wear-resistant. There is no Martindale cycle count or tear figure behind that, so we will not repeat it as a property. It is a hard-wearing nylon shell and that is all anyone can honestly say.
• No fabric composition or weight: the supplier states nylon and nothing else. No blend percentages, no gsm, no denier.
• No size chart: no chest, sleeve or body length measurements are published for this jacket, so the Specs table says so rather than showing invented numbers. Any general sizing chart elsewhere on this page is not this jacket's own figures.
• Not an insulated jacket: it is a shell. No fill, fill weight or thermal rating is stated. In real cold you layer under it.
• Not certified PPE: no standard is printed on the garment and no certificate was sighted. It is not tested or marked to AS/NZS 4602.1 for high visibility, and no flame, arc or cut rating of any kind is published. It does not replace whatever your site specifies.
• Tactical is a look: the buckles, webbing and patch panels are a style. Nothing here is issued kit and nothing here carries a service or defence approval.
• Patches not included: some supplier photographs show a flag patch on the sleeve. The jacket has the hook-and-loop panels for one; no patches are stated as supplied.
• Colour range is two: the supplier's photo set includes a tan jacket. Only Black and Army Green are for sale here, and the green reads as a grey-green rather than a bright olive.

Q & A

Is it actually waterproof, like the name says?

No, and the name is the reason we have said so plainly. A jacket earns the word waterproof by having a hydrostatic head figure in millimetres and taped seams. Neither exists here — no rating is published and no sealed seam appears in any photograph. It is a windproof shell that will shed spray and a short shower. Stand in real rain and it will wet through.

What size should I order?

S, M, L and XL, cut unisex. The supplier publishes no chest, sleeve or length measurements, so the Specs table records that rather than showing a chart nobody stands behind. The jacket is styled as an outer layer to go over a jumper or a fleece, so allow for whatever you plan to wear underneath.

Will it keep me warm on its own?

Not by itself in real cold. There is no stated insulation, fill or thermal rating — the collar is lined and the body is a shell. What it does is stop the wind, which is most of the battle. Put a fleece or a jumper under it and the two together do the job.

What is the webbing across the chest for?

Clipping things where you can get at them one-handed — a torch, a small radio, a glove clip, a carabiner. It is ladder webbing in the same pattern as MOLLE gear, so most tactical-style pouches and clips will thread onto it.

Can I wear it as site PPE?

No. Nothing is printed on the garment and no certificate was sighted, so it meets no standard we can point at — not AS/NZS 4602.1 for high visibility, and nothing for flame, arc or cut. Wear it over your site-specified gear, not instead of it.

How long will it take to arrive?

Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you order, and up to three weeks to regional and remote addresses. Delivery is free to Australia and New Zealand.

Specs