Well, if you’re going to travel, you’ll need a good watch, of course (preferably one with a GMT complication, of course). You’ll also want to have a good jacket. There are a lot of options, and us recovering tech guys would tend to think of ScotteVest with their multitude of pockets (as we discussed here). Well, the just-announced MSSRS Travel Utility Jacket looks to be another option in the same vein.
While I’d say a lot of what SeV has on offer follows traditional, more conservative styles, the MSSRS Travel Utility Jacket definitely takes things in a trendier, more downtown vibe. Though, that said, I think this would be a great coat to be in the outdoors, regardless of it’s the city or the forest. You see, this jacket has one thing my own SeV jacket cannot lay claim to – water resistance, along with a hood. This lends a lot more flexibility to what you can use the jacket for.
Even if you were going to simply use the MSSRS Travel Utility Jacket for your daily commute, the plethora of pockets will certainly help you carry a lot of what you may need on your person (without necessarily going to a bag, such as the NutSac). I mean, here’s the run-down of the pockets (and their site will give you the visual guide to this as well):
- Large Headphones Pockets (not small headphones but Beats Studios size)
- Passport hidden pocket
- Plus-size Phone pocket
- Wallet Pocket
- Sunglasses pocket
- Metro card Sleeve pocket
- Drinks pocket
- Tablet hidden pocket
- Tablet pen pocket
- Credit card pocket
- Business card pouch
- Cash and coin pouch
- Key-ring hook amongst other utility pockets.
So, yeah, safe to say you’ll be able to carry quite a bit on your person. What will be interesting to see is how that will all work, particularly if you have the bulkier items loaded in. You see, the MSSRS Travel Utility Jacket is intended to have a long, slim look to it, so those external pockets (at least) may flare out some. This is something that will be more difficult to tell until we’ve got one in (and we are working on that for you, dear reader).
Even if you use only a quarter of the pockets regularly, the MSSRS Travel Utility Jacket offers some nice utility. Aside from storage (and the aforementioned water resistance), you’ve got straps on the sleeves to help roll them up (giving you that safari look), reinforcing in the shoulder and elbows (common wear areas), a heavy duty zipper, and an oversized hood complete with a drawcord that matches the drawcord at the waist. Those last two items are of interest to me as well. First, with the oversize hood, I will admit to having a big noggin, and standard hoods generally leave the front of my face exposed, requiring another hat still to be used. So, a bigger hood is good by me. And the dual drawstrings, that will allow for some “on the fly” tailoring of the jacket, which is never a bad thing.
I’ve seen quite a few technical and travel jackets pop up on Kickstarter lately, and they’ve had some relatively high price tags associated with them. These are fine if you were already thinking of something with a larger price tag, but also a liability when it comes to a relatively new brand. Fortunately for you and me, the MSSRS Travel Utility Jacket is hitting with an early-bird price of just $109, which is quite nice considering all the functionality you’re getting here, along with the more modern styling. You can find out more information at the company site, which will also notify you when the project launches in July. Oh! And it’ll also allow you to sign up for a chance to win one for free (not too shabby). And, as I mentioned earlier, we’re working with the brand to get one in for review (looks like that’ll be in early July), and we’ll give you our hands-on impressions when we’ve got that. mssrs.co
