Page 42 - Airsoft Action Issue 126 June 2021

E
C
H
T
THE CAGE
E
AG
TI
C
T TACTICAL FLEECE E
A
C
L
EE
C
F
A
L
THE CAGE:
T H E CA G E:
T C T I C A L F LE EC E
A
TACTICAL FLEECE

SLOWLY BUT SURELY BUILDING UP INFORMATION THAT CAN BE USED TO CREATE OR ENHANCE

YOUR PERSONAL “GEAR LOCKER”, THIS MONTH THE AA CREW TURN THEIR ATTENTION TO A PIECE
OF CLOTHING THAT SEEMS TO COME IN AND OUT OF “AIRSOFT FASHION” - BUT ONE THAT IS
STILL A KEY PART OF ANY ALL-WEATHER, ALL-CONDITIONS LAYERING SYSTEM - AND THAT IS THE
TACTICAL FLEECE!

f you take a trip (soon now, SOON… PLEASE!) comfortable - your core temperature managed and
to any outdoor adventure store or outfitters then your personal performance optimal.
Iyou’re going to see racks and racks of one particular In this instance you could go as far as thinking of
item - and that’s the fleece jacket! “The Fleece” has a fleece as a very high-tech string vest and it does
been a stalwart performer in virtually any outdoor (basically) work in much the same way! The open
pursuit you care to mention for many, many years pore structure of the fleece fabric will let moisture
and, as with everything the technology that goes into, vapour move away from your body, but beneath a
their creation has just got better and better! shell layer it will also trap air in those same pores,
Sometimes though, the way that fleece itself is and air is a fabulous insulator! If you go back to that
labelled can be utterly confusing! There are summer “gsm” description, it’s therefore fairly obvious that the
and winter weights, microfleeces and grid fleeces “thicker” the fleece, the bigger those pores are and
and even windproof fleeces, so what should you be the more air is trapped, increasing insulation. It is also
looking for? Ultimately fleeces can be described as why you can pop on your thickest fleece on a cold
“thin” (100-weight) for summer but thicker, up to winter day and still feel cold without a shell layer…
300-weight, for full winter. For me, fleece is best string vests aren’t known for keeping the wind at bay,
categorised by weight in gsm – or grams per square are they?
metre – which can be quite confusing as you might For this reason we now see double-thickness fleece
not see weight measured in that format every day. The that helps in relation to windchill, along with both
first-ever fleece manufacturer, Malden Mills in 1979 membrane and non-membrane “wind and water
(or thereabouts), split garments into groups defined by resistant” fleece garments, such as GORE’s excellent
how many grams of fleece constituted a square metre, WINDSTOPPER. Here though, you’re beginning to get
so that’s still how I tend to differentiate them. into the crossover into softshell garments but that’s a
However, this is now pretty “old skool” as whole other thing that we’ll come onto in due course!
fleeces that we have on offer today have moved on TEAM TALK
substantially, so it’s probably better to think in terms As usual I threw out the question to the AA Team to
of the performance you want from the jacket, pullover see what they had to say. I asked them “Do you own
or hoodie and how you want to wear it. Traditionally, a tactical fleece? Which model is it, and why do you
fleece jackets were worn as part of the classic love it?” and this is what they told me…
layering system, with a base layer underneath to wick Chris: “I have two VIPER fleece hoodies that I
moisture (sweat) away from the skin and transport it currently wear regularly, Black and Green. They’re
out through your clothing system through the open- warm, comfortable, good value for money and quite
pore nature of the fleece to the breathable shell simplistic in their styling. Sometimes you don’t need
layer that would let moisture dissipate and keep you all the features and fabric types like those you find

42 JUNE 2021