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Arctis B110 Windproof Smock – Field Trial

HERE for  my previous post on this subject.

Noting that there was a “Severe weather alert” out for windchill, I headed up to my training site Monday/Tuesday to get some work done on the ranges.

I’m not one to usually be too worried about the cold, but was it ever cold! Colder than a snowman’s testicles! The external temperature in my car was -16 Celcius (that’s a useful temperature for you Fahrenheit people, you know, where zero is freezing….yep. -16 C is about 3 Fahrenheit). That was without the wind chill. We can all deal with cold, just put another layer on, but when it is combined with windchill it is a killer, you will rapidly find yourself hypodermic, more so if it is also combined with rain.

When out working in the woods, I was wearing Danner boots, jeans, thermal top, down jacket, windproof smock, hat and gloves. Very comfortable. Normally I would overheat rapidly in all that gear, but given the biting cold I would get a little warm and cool down rapidly. It was the sort of weather where at night, outside without gloves, your hands would rapidly be in pain and hypothermia would be minutes away.

Here is a ‘selfie’ of me on Tuesday, working on range 1, in my smock:

Max_ Selfie_Arktis B110

The Arktis smock is excellent, hard wearing. I was carrying logs in my arms, on my shoulders, chainsawing and similar. Great pockets for gear. There was a noticeable improvement in warmth when wearing the smock over just the down jacket.

Disclaimer: with my order of the A310 waterproof layer, Arktis have thrown in an Allen Belt freebie. I used to have one of those. I’ll review it when I get it.

It is supposed to warm up for the Patrol Class on the 18th!

Live Hard.

Die Free.

Max

9 responses to “Arctis B110 Windproof Smock – Field Trial”

  3. I would suggest getting rid of the jeans especially if they are make of cotton. I am sure you are aware that when cotton gets wet all ability to keep you warm is gone and can be a real killer in cold temps.

      • Send it to me in Alaska. Ill test, trial, evaluate, abuse or otherwise properly defile it in a manner befitting such a prestigious garment. Ill test that smock till it screams, then I’ll send it back..

        Bergmann

  4. I did some research on Allen Belt and gather it is a piece of UK Kit, but could not get an image of one. In general, what is it?

    • It’s on the ArktisUSA site. Basically, it’s like a standard chest rig (3 center ammo pouches with flanking admin pouches) but without the shoulder straps. It just has a waist strap. The idea (and it has a history, which I can’t correctly recall) is that it can be worn to the front or rear. So it’s switchable for vehicle or dismounted operations. I always considered it a vehicle thing. Arktis say they sell a lot as bug out kits. They also say it is popular for atv and horse operations.
      I’m not entirely sold yet, I will have a look at it. I had one once and I think it is a balance between not overloading it, because it doesn’t have the shoulder straps. Could be a useful piece of kit.

  5. Allan Belt Kit..

    http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx48/bootnknife/CIMG5025__zps970b269c.jpg

    http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx48/bootnknife/CIMG5027__zps2fcee040.jpg

    http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx48/bootnknife/CIMG5022__zpsb9a519f9.jpg

    http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx48/bootnknife/CIMG5023__zps7f875711.jpg

    http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx48/bootnknife/CIMG5024__zps2aef6369.jpg

    http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx48/bootnknife/141_zps143b225e.jpg

    Bergmann

    • Also note that there are different models out there with different hardware. Pictures may vary..

      Bergmann