Tactical Hooded Long Sleeve Shirt

Sleeves that cop the scrub. Torso that breathes.

Anyone who has pushed through head-high scrub in a t-shirt knows how that ends. Arms opened up by dead branches, shoulders burnt by lunchtime, and a bit of skin left on every second bush. Put a heavy drill shirt on instead and you cook in it before smoko.

This one is built in two fabrics for exactly that reason. The sleeves, shoulders and hood are a woven outer that takes the rubbing from pack straps, vest webbing and branches. The torso and the underarm panels are a smooth knit that sits flat under a chest rig instead of bunching, and lets the heat out through the middle of you where it builds.

Long sleeves are also the simplest sun cover going. Covered skin is skin the sun is not on, and on an open flat at two in the afternoon that beats any amount of clever fabric.

It pulls on over your head — a short zip at the throat, a hood tucked under a fold-down collar, and a zipped pocket up on each bicep. Sizes run S to XXXL and the supplier prints a real chart in centimetres, which is worth reading rather than guessing at: this is cut on Asian sizing and it comes up smaller than an Australian shirt wearing the same letter.

What It Does

• Takes the rub: the woven sleeves, shoulders and hood cop the branches, pack straps and webbing that shred a knit t-shirt.
• Lets the heat out: a smooth knit torso and underarm panels sit flat under a vest or a pack harness rather than rucking up under it.
• Covers your arms: full-length sleeves are plain sun and scratch cover, and they stay down when the flies and the mozzies find you.
• Keeps gear on you: a zipped pocket on each bicep stays reachable with a pack on and a belt done up.
• Puts a hood in reach: an attached hood under the collar for wind, dust and a cold start, without carrying a second layer to get it.
• Breaks up your outline: four camouflage patterns for hunting and glassing, or plain green, grey and navy when you would rather not stand out.

Key Features

• Two-fabric build: woven sleeves, shoulders, yoke and hood; smooth knit torso and underarm panels.
• Pull-over cut: a short zip at the throat only — there is no full-length front opening.
• Attached hood: sits under a fold-down stand collar, with a drawcord running through it.
• Bicep pockets: one zipped pocket on each sleeve, angled so you can get at it wearing a pack.
• Patch panels: hook-and-loop faced panels on both biceps. No patches are supplied with the shirt.
• Elbow panels: contrast fabric across the elbow and forearm, where a sleeve wears through first.
• Adjustable cuffs: a hook-and-loop tab at each wrist to close it down over a glove.
• Six colourways: CP, CP Black, CP Green, Green, Grey and Navy blue. The torso panel is dark on every one.
• Six sizes: S through XXXL, against a measured chart in centimetres in the Specs tab.

Limits

• No chest pockets: nothing on the front at all. Whatever you carry goes on the sleeves, your belt or your rig.
• No fibre content stated: the supplier prints no composition and no fabric weight, so we are not going to call it cotton, ripstop or quick-dry. What the photographs show is a woven outer and a knit body.
• Not a weather layer: no coating, membrane, lining or insulation is claimed for it. Treat it as a shirt and put a shell over the top of it.
• Not a uniform item: camouflage is a pattern, not a credential. This is civilian outdoor clothing. It carries no military, police or issue approval, and no protective standard is printed on it or claimed for it.
• Sized on an Asian chart: the letters do not line up with Australian sizing. Measure across the chest of a shirt that already fits you and match the centimetre figure, not the letter.

Q & A

Is this a shirt or a jacket?

A shirt. The woven sleeves are heavier than a t-shirt and it looks like a jacket in the photographs, but there is no lining, no insulation and no full-length zip. It layers under a jacket rather than replacing one.

What size should I order?

Go by the centimetre chart in the Specs tab, not by the letter on the tag. Chest runs 98 cm (980 mm) on S through to 118 cm (1180 mm) on XXXL. It is cut on Asian sizing, so it measures smaller than an Australian shirt of the same letter — lay a shirt that fits you flat, measure it across the chest and double that figure to compare.

What is it actually made of?

The supplier states no fibre content and no fabric weight, so that row in the table reads "Not specified by supplier". What can be seen is a woven fabric on the sleeves, shoulders and hood, and a smooth knit on the torso and underarms. The rest would be a guess and it is not going up on this page as a fact.

Will the hood go under a hard hat or a helmet?

No hood measurement is printed by the supplier. It is cut close and it sits under the collar rather than bunching behind the neck, which is the shape that usually works, but there is no figure here to promise it against your particular lid.

Can I put patches on the sleeves?

Yes. Both biceps carry hook-and-loop faced panels sized for patches and name tapes. Nothing is included — the panels come bare.

Is the hood removable?

Not specified by supplier. It photographs as fixed, with no zip-off track or press studs visible along the collar seam, but the supplier does not state it either way.

Specs