Good Jacket for Bushcraft? - Track Jacket from Swedteam

Hello, welcome back. In this video, we're going to be taking a look at this jacket, which is the Swede Team track jacket. And this is sold for hunters and bushcrafters, outdoorsmen, that sort of thing, hikers. And the price that it's sold for may surprise you, because it is ridiculously cheap. Now, if you're watching this video on YouTube, I'll put the link to the Amazon Listen for this jacket, where it is stupendously cheap, in the video description and also in the pinned comment, so check that out if you're interested. This video is really just to run through the various features of the jacket, and I'll give you really just an overview of what I think of it. As you can see, this is like a dark brown and olive colour. They are very, very popular colours for jackets and what I would generally go for. So that is a plus point. It also fits pretty well too. This is the C52 size. It's a European sort of measurement. That is equivalent to the UK large. And as you can see, it fits me absolutely perfectly. I'm approximately... Oh God, I don't know what it is in metres. Approximately five foot... nine tall roughly Oh God, I don't know, 13 and a half stone. Again, I don't know what that is in kilograms, but it fits me very, very well. You know, it doesn't feel too baggy and it doesn't feel too tight. And it's still got a bit of room in here if I wanted to put like a hooded fleece under here. I've got a couple of Swazi hooded fleeces and I would generally wear them underneath relatively light outdoor jackets just to give me an extra layer of insulation. If the weather gets out fine, I'll just take that off. All right, so we've got two pockets in the front, which are a good size. We've got something called a poacher's pocket in the back, for us to load our, you know, hunted kill in there, if we choose to do so. Quite a useful place to put a map there as well. And then here in the front, we've got two breast pockets, which again are pretty big, as you can see. We've got a draw cord on either side to allow us to nip it in a little bit around our waist. I don't have to nip it in very far. And then on the left hand inside, we've got a pocket again, which is pretty big. And like a little mesh sleeve here, which you can also put something in there. Oh, and I also forgot about this one, which is classed as a radio pocket. A little handheld radio would go in there. Aerial would stick out the top. It's easy to get a hold of and talk into. Now the sleeves have each got two press studs on, so you can adjust it to the size of your wrists. I tend to have it on the tightest one. It's also elasticated as well, so it's not going to flop down over your hands, although it can be pulled down over there if you're particularly cold. The zip, which runs all the way up the front, it's got a storm flap on with press studs. And this zip extends quite a long way up because you've got an internal collar here. Again, press stud on the top to secure it and that keeps your neck nice and warm. But you've also got a hood as well. Now it doesn't have any wire in here but as you can see it does hang pretty nicely. Some of them you get they just flop or the flop down at the front. This one holds out Pretty well, I've got a nice clear line of vision. However, if I wanted to pull this in tighter, I do have the option to do that. Now, the cut of this jacket is good in that it fits somebody of my frame very, very well. And the back of it hangs down a little bit further than the front, which keeps your backside warm as well. If you were a little bit shorter than me, you'd probably be able to pull that down and sit on it. Now, the zip-on here is plastic. But it's well sewn in. In fact, all the stitching everywhere on the jacket is very, very good. It's all just single stitching, but it's pretty much impeccable. You know, I cannot see any loose threads anywhere. It's a very, very well-made jacket. I personally would have liked to have seen a more heavy-duty zip on here, but that is going to do the job. As I say, it's not going to pull apart. Very good. Oh, actually, one thing I forgot to tell you before is it's got vents for under the arms as well. That's just the mesh on the inside, and that's on the outside, so we've got a zip that goes all the way up there. It's like a self-sealing sort of a zip as well. There we go, that's that mesh on the inside. And that just helps to allow water vapour from your pits to escape if you're doing anything strenuous in this. That's the back as you can see we've got a bit extra material here to cover your shoulders likewise we've got that from your elbow down over that is good that's a nice touch you know because obviously that's going to take the weather and that's going to take lying on the ground especially if you're in like a prone position for shooters that's a useful touch. Back of the hood again you've got a little bit extra material up there. And you've got a draw cord there as well, which allows you to make it smaller for smaller heads. And the Velcro there allows you just to roll it up and fasten it back to make it like a thick collar. All in all, quite an impressive garment. Although this jacket isn't classed as waterproof, it is classed as showerproof and rain resistant. I think it's got a 3,000 head resistance or something. Most outdoor jackets would have either 5,000 or 10,000. So on the face of it, this isn't waterproof. However, first thing I did when I got this, I put it in a bowl of hot water along with some Nikwax, and that has pretty effectively waterproofed it. I've been to a few of my son's football matches wearing this. Rain's been bleaching down and it's just beaded off. I've been dry underneath it. So that Nikwax stuff is a really good investment if you're going for one of these jackets. And that is exactly what I did with this fella, which is my Fjällräven No. 8 Anorak. It's made of, you know, similar material, heavier duty, and to be honest, the Fjällräven is better made. It's a better jacket, all round. But, the Fjällräven jacket is more than ten times the cost of this. So really, the summary of the positives for this is that it fits well, it's very well made, it's definitely going to last me a lot of years. It performs well, especially with the Nikwax on it. You know, this is effectively a waterproof jacket now, although I would imagine the Nikwax will need to be reapplied every few years. Ah, the discomfort. The design of it is good. The pockets are just in the right place. Where are we? There we are. Nice and big. I honestly can't understand how they make it for the price, which leads me onto the only negative. Now in everything you see online regarding Swedteam, they'll say they were founded in 1919, the garments have been designed and manufactured for the harshest conditions up in the Swedish highlands for hunters and trappers and all that sort of thing. What they don't tell you is these are made in China. Ideally, when I'm buying outdoor clothing, I want to go as local as possible, ideally, you know, UK or European, although, saying that, I do have some Arc'teryx stuff, which I think is Canadian, perhaps, but they're all, like, you know, ethics, ethics, ethics, ethics, recycled this, recycled that. To me, that's pretty important. You know, Swedteam aren't the only outdoor gear manufacturer to be outsourcing their production to China, but I would have just preferred to buy something that was manufactured either in the UK or at least in Europe, you know? That's just me, though. For most of the folks, they probably wouldn't care. They'd just look and say, how much is that? Well, that's a pretty good jacket. I could do with one of those. Bye. You know if you're looking for a good outdoor jacket at a ridiculously low price this is probably the one you want. Thanks for watching, see you next time.