Arktis Ark Air smock

Labrat

Well-Known Member
Having picked one of these up from Ebay, I thought I'd do the courtesy of a quick review

So, hopefully you all know that Arktis and Country Covers are the same people, and according to the advert on their ebay store, they are building another brand 'Ark air' to branch out a little, and were selling off some prototypes etc.

Basically, its an SAS smock, with a Suede shoulder yoke and waterproof drop liner

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The Hood is also suede lined

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Pockets are nylon lined to make them tougher

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And the sleeve end is velcro and taped, attaching to the dropliner

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Overall, construction is top notch, as you'd sort of expect given the origin - the jacket is quiet and rustle free, two way chunky zipper, one internal chest pocket plenty big enough for smartphone or wallet

The storm flap is fastened with three buttons and velcro at the top and bottom (which seems silly, either or would be more logical, so black mark for noisy velcro)

Its a bit longer than my old SASS (lancaster) smock which is good, The Suede adds a lot of weight and warmth to the top of the jacket, would benefit from pit zips I think, but not *too* warm, so still perfect for spring/autumn and cold summer mornings.

waterproofing seemed fine in this mornings shower, surface DWR is good, but obviously that can wash out and need retreating to keep the jacket from wetting out.

Big positives:

the cut of the sleeves is bang on, very comfortable and still flexible, the taped ending of the sleeve is very comfortable on the wrist and not at all bulky, which makes a née change when checking your watch
overall the 'weight' of the jacket covering the body is perfect (subject to comments on hood below)
lower pocket position very good
napoleon pockets nice and big

Negatives:

The hood is ridiculously big for a civvy or stalking jacket - I can genuinely pull the hood over to my chin, add in the suede lining and this must add a pound of needless weight and bulk
sorely missing some of the refinements that should/could be there like pit zips, pocket organiser in the chest pocket for pen/maglite etc. loop inside pocket to attach keys securely
missing a poachers pocket for cloves/scarf etc (better than filling up your front pockets)
Longeer length means you can't access your belt to get at knife - should be a scallop or similar at side of jacket
no sleeve padding

Overall:
Its a bit psychotic - the jacket is intended to be a diversification away from military kit, but its essentially just a a military jacket with suede sewn onto it, IMO they need to lose the rank slide and sleeve pen pocket, lose the external chest pockets (keep the napoleons but maybe put them inside the storm flap instead of outside) and put some hand warmer pockets on there instead - and that hood is just silly, needs to be smaller and not so heavily lined - the money they save on the hood would improve the rest of the jacket no end (pit zips etc)

for the £115 paid, its very good, but could be much better - I think that if I'd paid the £235 they are asking for the country covers version (i.e.. without the suede) then I'd be kicking myself.
 
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