Here in the wintery North, we wear jackets about 50% of the year.
So I'm thinking about a jacket based system as an alternative to a pack or bag.

The requiremets are a jacket with at least three med to large pockets. ( I often carry water.)

The nice thing is that you needs grab just your jacket and everything in in there, ready to go.

TReacher

ECWCS parka. It's Gortex so you can wear it layered or not. Quite lightweight on it's own, and waterproof. There are many different variations, at a wide range of prices. I bought mine a couple years ago, for around $100. It has two slash pockets, a sleeve pocket and two huge internal "map" pockets.

hey man. i have a tactical assault vest , which has lots of componets in it. its a kit in itself. it works well and i dont even feel the weight either. so yea i would say try and give it a shot.

the first time i tried to make a jacket vest kit on a old vest, it was horrible but im pleased how my new one handles.

Or, if you don't want the tactical look(being a teacher and all), you may want to try one of the Scott E Vests. They have fleece, leather, and other types of jackets with up to 52 pockets depending on the style.

http://www.scottevest.com/

Over on outdoors magazine there's an excellent article about building an on-body urban survival kit that appears to be workplace friendly:

http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=171

He's based it on a Filson wool vest, not exactly a jacket, but less likely to be taken off while indoors and not with you when you really need it.

I understand that this article (and his setup) might appeal to some people, but I hope that it serves as inspiration to most of the readers more than a goal to achieve.

As much as I love preparedness, wilderness and urban survival, I think this setup is waaaaaaaaaaay overkill. Too much of a burden to carry and manage (batteries, tons of small items) on a daily basis.

Am I the only one thinking this?

Does anyone still have the website of the guy who carries something like 50 lbs of 'stuff' in his coat? It was mentioned on this forum, maybe a year ago. Now THAT'S overkill! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Sue

Is Schwert still around? I looked, and his last post here was about two months ago.

I agree it looks like a lot of stuff, but it is destributed well enough that it isn't off balance, and most of it is pretty light. And since it lives in the vest, you don't loose anything becuase it is always IN the vest. Things get lost when moved from garmet to garmet, but if they always live in the vest, they are there when needed. The down side of this is, if you get it unbalanced, it can do some interesting stuff to your neck- I wore a vest like this for about 8 years on a daily basis and I can feel snow coming right between C1 and C2 becuase it wasn't properly balanced.

Now, I think Schwert might have a little more redundancy in some areas than I might carry, but I also carry more tools than most people think is needed- my bag of tricks, and before that my vest of holding, even has a small selection of sockets! It's what makes you comfortable. I never pick on a man's choice of comfort item so long as it is within sane limits. Anyone needs a backpack nuke to sleep at night.... Well, I might move if he sits next to me on the bus.

Probably the best jacket for that kind of stuff is:
http://www.orvis.com/store/product_choic...p;feature_id=17

Orvis' Ranger Jacket... They have few versions like a microfiber or increased waterproofness... I played with this jacket in the store and it is nice, soft and warm and very very very packable with gear. Good stuff

ANother jacket that comes to my mind is the one I acctually own and it is a 5.11 3in1 jacket. A lot of pockets and pretty easy on the wallet. Little strange fitting because it was designed with person wearing a bullet proof vest underneath but pretty cool in terms of capacity.

NO! I think that's a touch into the airy vapour of paranoia, but to each his own. One thing is for sure, he's prepared. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

If I was building a similar rig, I would work to make sure everything was as light as possible, and maybe cut out a few of the redundancies. But then, I admire his absolute comittment to the cause. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I bet you would get a few stares in more urban centers like L.A., Chicago, or New York.