Team SNAFU

Winter’s here, which of course means, the cold. As this is the coldest Winter the UK has had in 10 years, I decided I needed a decent piece of cold weather clothing. After scouring around I found the SPEAR Polartec Fleece. I purchased a “large” one (extra-large for UK sizes) from wasted_youf of the forums.

When I pulled it out of the box, the first thing I noticed was just how soft it was. I promptly tried it on and found it to be very comfortable. Not only comfortable, but extremely cozy too. As it was a cold morning and the heating wasn’t on, I decided it would be a good idea to keep it on to stay warm, and stay warm I did.

Not only is it soft and comfortable, but it’s durable too! On the upper back and forearms there is a sort of polyester material which will stop the fleece material being worn away due to hard use. As someone who likes to get down and crawl through the brush, this is a huge benefit to me.

There are four pockets in total on this fleece. Two front pockets and then two pockets on the inside near the middle of the torso. The former have zippers on them whilst the latter is an elasticated band. I use all four pockets on a regular basis and have had nothing fall out of any of them.

Both armpits have a zipper opening to allow fresh air in for when you get all sweaty. This is a very welcome feature to me as I can just open the armpits up after a winter morning run to cool down without ditching the jacket. I thought that these zippers would get in the way or chafe, but that is just simply not the case.

The fleece can be pretty much “sealed up” thanks to three reasons. Firstly, the zipper goes all the way up to the neck, so not much of that hot air will escape out of the collar. Secondly, the wristscuffs can be tightened around the wrists using velcro closure. Finally, the waist can be closed up using shock cord. The end result is one very toasty torso!

The only thing I am not so pleased about is the way the paracord on the zipperpulls are tied. The knots are very loose at all times even after tightening. This is of course not a huge problem as there are many solutions to fixing this. Such as tying a decent knot, for example.

In conclusion, this is a very solid (yet so soft…) piece of clothing. It’ll keep you warm during the bitter winter months, and it’ll survive against the elements to boot.

<<< Back to Articles	Written by TMC, 1st February 2007
PRODUCT REVIEW: PECKHAM ECWS SPEAR FLEECE
CLICK TO ENLARGE	Winter’s here, which of course means, the cold. As this is the coldest Winter the UK has had in 10 years, I decided I needed a decent piece of cold weather clothing. After scouring around I found the SPEAR Polartec Fleece. I purchased a “large” one (extra-large for UK sizes) from wasted_youf of the forums. When I pulled it out of the box, the first thing I noticed was just how soft it was. I promptly tried it on and found it to be very comfortable. Not only comfortable, but extremely cozy too. As it was a cold morning and the heating wasn’t on, I decided it would be a good idea to keep it on to stay warm, and stay warm I did. Not only is it soft and comfortable, but it’s durable too! On the upper back and forearms there is a sort of polyester material which will stop the fleece material being worn away due to hard use. As someone who likes to get down and crawl through the brush, this is a huge benefit to me. There are four pockets in total on this fleece. Two front pockets and then two pockets on the inside near the middle of the torso. The former have zippers on them whilst the latter is an elasticated band. I use all four pockets on a regular basis and have had nothing fall out of any of them. Both armpits have a zipper opening to allow fresh air in for when you get all sweaty. This is a very welcome feature to me as I can just open the armpits up after a winter morning run to cool down without ditching the jacket. I thought that these zippers would get in the way or chafe, but that is just simply not the case. The fleece can be pretty much “sealed up” thanks to three reasons. Firstly, the zipper goes all the way up to the neck, so not much of that hot air will escape out of the collar. Secondly, the wristscuffs can be tightened around the wrists using velcro closure. Finally, the waist can be closed up using shock cord. The end result is one very toasty torso! The only thing I am not so pleased about is the way the paracord on the zipperpulls are tied. The knots are very loose at all times even after tightening. This is of course not a huge problem as there are many solutions to fixing this. Such as tying a decent knot, for example. In conclusion, this is a very solid (yet so soft…) piece of clothing. It’ll keep you warm during the bitter winter months, and it’ll survive against the elements to boot.