Condor Soft Shell Jacket

[sierra hotel]

First Impressions

With winter coming in Pennsylvania I was in need of something light weight, yet warm to wear under my gear. I was looking for something "tacti-cool" that wouldn't break the bank for me. That being said condor's new jacket has the looks and features I wanted at the right price point for me.

 

I ordered my condor soft shell jacket last Friday from Airsoft Arms and received it this Wednesday. Their online store has it for $79.99, and offers free shipping on orders over $100. After receiving the package, I was immediately impressed with my first once over of the soft shell's visual aesthetics.

 

[before I get into the next section I want to apologize for the quality of the pictures. My camera is out of commission so my friend and I took shots at work with his I-Phone. The lighting isn't the best either and distorts the color in some of the shots. The pictures of me wearing the soft shell are closest to it's actual color.]

 

 

I am 5' 7" and 160 lbs. so I ordered a medium jacket in OD.

The jacket it fits me quite well so adjust accordingly for your height/weight.

 

From the front:

 

,the side profile:

 

and a shot with the mandarin collar zipped up:

 

 

Construction

According to the jacket's label, it's make up is :

"Outer Layer:100% polyester, 4-way elastic, high density fabric

Mid Layer: breathable film membrane

Inner Layer: Super Fine Fleece"

 

The inner fleece in the jacket is warm and the entire thing feels well put together and sturdy. Stitching was an issue brought up by some when these jackets were launched, and there are a few questionable seems on the inside. I don't know enough about sowing to predict how these will hold up though they do seem quite sturdy. It seems more cosmetic than anything but only time will tell. One con about the jacket so far is the front zipper; mine consistently gets stuck when I try to undo it and takes a couple of tries to get open.

 

Pocket's

If you like pockets than this is certainly the jacket for you as this one weighs in with a whopping eight pockets.

 

- 2 x chest pockets

- 2 x shoulder pockets

- 2 x inside pockets

- 1 x left forearm pocket

- 1 x large lower back pocket

 

Here you can see the shoulder pocket(s) which have space for velcro attachment. I have a dual American flags on mine right now and still have room for additional patches.

 

 

Both the shoulder and chest pockets have quartered rubber squares which allow you to thread electronic wires into the jacket from the external pockets. This is quite useful for comms., I-Pods, etc. . .

 

 

In addition the chest pockets each have a plastic d-ring (not visible) and two smaller sub-divisions within. The larger of the the inner "pockets" can easily fit a cell phone or money clip, with the smaller being the right size for holding writing utensils.

The lower back of the jacket has a large zip compartment which a zipper on each side for easy access.

 

 

The inside pockets lack the wiring feature available in the chest/shoulder pockets:

 

 

Finally the lower left fore arm pocket is quite small. I'm not sure what this pocket would be handy for storing.

 

[sierra hotel]

Adjust-ability

Condor's soft shell offers a range of adjustment options to make sure you get the perfect fit. The adjustable bits (pretty self-explanatory) include:

 

- 2 x waist elastic adjusters

 

- 2 x wrist adjustment straps

 

- 3 x hood elastic adjusters

These allow you to adjust the circumference around the front of the hood (adjusters in front) as well as the height of the hood (in the back, not visible). The entire hood also stows via the zip compartment you can see in the picture. This is another one of the jacket's draw backs; the stow away compartment looks bloated and stuffed with the hood stored away. (this could be to my inability to pack it efficiently) I've been wearing it with the hood out for precisely this reason.

 

The jacket also has the "pit-zip" feature which you can see in the picture of the shoulder pockets above. These are particularly useful for those who overheat/sweat easily and want to vent some body heat.

 

Conclusion

If you can't tell by the tone of my writing I am quite impressed with this jacket. It does have a few draw back's which I mentioned (faulty zipper, and poorly stowing hood), but overall I am happy with my purchase.

 

Some of you requested that I do some snow/water testing with it. I wasn't able to do anything major but the jacket consistently shed entire glasses of water while I was wearing it (without a hint of moisture inside).

 

I think for the price this product is perfect for the airsofter looking for a good entry level shell. I have owned and still do own other Condor products. All of which have been great when it comes to longevity, so I hope this soft shell gets to see allot of use. IMO it's a pretty good looking jacket so I've actually been wearing it to work for the past few days. I hope this review serves as useful for those of you who are considering this great piece of kit.

 

Cheers!

Edited December 5, 2009 by sierra hotel

[crackisbad]

That actually looks really sexy! Glad to hear that it sheds water really well as that will come in very handy over here in Seattle. Great, add one more thing to my shopping list. It never ends

 

 

[bbondaloose]

Now, whether to go get a Black one for a MW2 loadout, or grab a OD one for all around green-goodness.

 

How warm is the thing itself? I live in Long Island, NY so it doesn't get too cold after December, so I don't want to be able to only wear this for one month, and just binge it in the closet after. Do you think it'll be not too warm to wear in the Spring, and Fall? Maybe even just chilly nights.

[sierra hotel]

How warm is the thing itself? I live in Long Island, NY so it doesn't get too cold after December, so I don't want to be able to only wear this for one month, and just binge it in the closet after. Do you think it'll be not too warm to wear in the Spring, and Fall? Maybe even just chilly nights.

 

It's pretty thick, I'd compare it to like a light or medium jacket. Definitely warmer than a fleece but not as warm as say a heavy wool jacket. While I think the pit zips will help I'm not sure how well it will do in warm weather. I'd say you can prob. get away with it in fall/winter.

[pamparius]

is it breathable?

[Squab27]

Thanks for the great review, looking forward to receiving mine even more now.

 

Do you think this jacket will stand up to the elements and the stress of airsofting with it?

 

 

[Boogeyman]

It's to bad they ripped TAD off in a major way.

[hugh_b]

can't find these in the UK. Can anyone point me in the direction of a US store that will ship internationally?

 

Hugh

[Horse]

It's to bad they ripped TAD off in a major way.

Are you referring to the TAD Spectre Hoodie?

$300 is a LOT of money for a jacket - I don't care who makes it.

[Graham]

Hey Hugh,

 

We have an account with Condor. We can ship to the UK. Shoot me an email at graham@eaghq.com if you are interested.

 

Thanks Hugh,

Graham

[Zmarre]

I guess this is the same jacket as www.marsgear.com sells?

 

Does anyone happen to be able to compare it to the EBB softshells?

[REVOA4]

I guess this is the same jacket as www.marsgear.com sells?

 

Does anyone happen to be able to compare it to the EBB softshells?

 

I do have a condor jacket on order so I can't comment on that at the moment, but I have owned the EBB soft shells so I have some input on them. The EBB jackets do look the part of tad gear but it honestly kinda feels like your wearing a garage bag, it has a kind of a plastic sack feeling to it, lol, hard to explain. There is no liner on the jacket so the zippers for the pockets and lots of excess material on the inside irritated my skin when wearing a t shirt under it. Some kind of liner would of been great! And the stiching is, well...acm. Not the best but should be OK for airsoft.

 

I'm not sure if I like the collar/hood design on the Condor jackets, so I will wait till mine arrives and see.

[Radrockin]

Hey Great Review.

 

I will comment on the elemnets ..

 

I saw many of the condor shells in use at our operations here in Utah. It was snowing and the operators were in the snow taking cover all day and we all stayed warm and toasty as well as dry.

The Hood came in Handy and not to mention the warmth and dry factor this shell provided. Condor did a great job for the price. Readyone, Patagonia, Primaloft, those are great products if you are fortunate enough to get them however, if you want the next best thing then the outershell will do your justice.

I too wear mine everyday.

dont forget the shag factor that goes with this piece of KIT.

Tan version

Tan and Black Versions

 

I was on the ground as a SAW operator Most of this Operation. My Lower half was cold from contact with the snow on the ground while my upper half remained just fine.

 

from my understanding Condor is backordered on these until after xmas.. (rumor)

 

Glad you got one of these.

 

[Black Stena]

Thank you for the review. Made me buy one

[sierra hotel]

UPDATE

 

This past week end, like Utah, we got a few inches of snow in Pennsylvania.That being said I had a chance to do some weather testing with the soft shell. I took my dog for a few long walks in the middle of a snow storm with it on.

 

The first time I just wore the shell over a t-shirt. Someone asked in an above reply whether the jacket is breathable. My answer is yes, you do get a bit of air flow through the shell but not a ton. I think the air flow is just enough to vent moisture and humidity from sweating.

 

The next two times I took a walk in the shell I first tried a sweat shirt under it and then some Underarmour respectively. In the thread I started to discuss purchasing this jacket Radrockin suggested pairing the shell with either a fleece or Underarmour (or something similar). I will agree with him that this would be the optimal way to go about it. This set up allows you to hang on to the max amount of your body heat while simultaneously keeping you warm and dry. One detail I might add though is that if you overheat easily I would wait to double up until you get into really low temperatures.

 

While a snow storm doesn't produce as much moisture as say, a thunder storm, some snow did accumulate when I had it out. When I brought it in the snow melted each time but there were no traces of moisture inside the jacket.

 

Thanks for all the kind remarks about my review. It's the first one I've written and the positive feedback has given me some incentive to write more in the future.

Edited December 8, 2009 by sierra hotel

[REVOA4]

just noticed that new color will be available in January, looks like RG?

 

http://www.condoroutdoor.com/602_Soft_Shell_Jacket.aspx

Edited December 9, 2009 by REVOA4

[Boogeyman]

Are you referring to the TAD Spectre Hoodie?

$300 is a LOT of money for a jacket - I don't care who makes it.

 

 

No the Robin hoodie, the stand up collar was what made me think it. I was a TAD customer long before I found airsoft so I still get a bit peeved over clones( even though AS is centered around clones). And yes three bills is alot for a jacket, so I went with a stealth @ 260

 

I actually turned a friend on to these condor jobbies as a soft shell to look at and am curious to see one for myself. He liked the review

[Frakk2k]

Does any HK stores sell this?

[kojak]

...The EBB jackets do look the part of tad gear but it honestly kinda feels like your wearing a garage bag, it has a kind of a plastic sack feeling to it, lol, hard to explain. There is no liner on the jacket so the zippers for the pockets and lots of excess material on the inside irritated my skin when wearing a t shirt under it....

 

I've worn my EB "3rd Tactical Softshell" over a thin underarmor gym shirt and the zippers didn't bug me at all (except the "pit zip" which can dig into your side if you happen to leave it half-zipped). It sounds like you got a different version since mine doesn't feel plasticky either, at least compared to most water-resistant materials.

 

It is most definitely unlined, but I think that makes it more versatile for layering purposes when all I want is a little wind and rain protection without added bulk.

 

The Condor softshell I ordered from USCav is finally on the Fedex truck, so I'll do a side-by-side photo comparison with the EB version as soon as I can find the time and light.

[REVOA4]

Got mine today from airsoftoutletnw.com (the only retailer that has them instock but they are selling out fast!!!! they do have tan colors in stock last time I checked today)

So far I like it. Liner is really soft, stitching seems good at first glance, and just seems like overall build is good for the money.

 

Here's a pic for size reference. I'm 5,10"-5,11" and I got a large.

 

Edited December 16, 2009 by REVOA4

[Special K]

just noticed that new color will be available in January, looks like RG?

 

http://www.condoroutdoor.com/602_Soft_Shell_Jacket.aspx

 

It's Foliage green, I asked when I ordered one from airsoft extreme (OD XXL). I like the TAD stuff but the price is on par with northface gear. Given the choice I go with The North Face gear for back packing and Cabela's for hunting gear. I like the look and construction of the TAD "tacticool" stuff, but for playing airsoft or tacticool around town warm and water resistant; I think this is a good pick for close to $100 with shiping. The TAD stuff is a bit on the paying for the name side. While it can be true you get what you pay for. Some company's bank on that and put a premium price to go with a specialty item. I know Boogie is going to crush me for saying this for he is a TAD purist. I love ya boogie Thanks for the review.

Edited December 16, 2009 by Special K

[crackisbad]

Ah damn you Nate, my life was so much simpler when I thought everything was sold out. Now I had to go and order one through AirsoftoutletNW

 

Now we play the waiting game

[REVOA4]

Ah damn you Nate, my life was so much simpler when I thought everything was sold out. Now I had to go and order one through AirsoftoutletNW

 

Now we play the waiting game

 

lol, I was on a mission from god to find them after every retailer sold out in like a matter of weeks! Funny enough this store in Portland has them, processing and ground shipping only took 1 day up to Seattle .

[crackisbad]

Sweet! That means I could be getting it by friday!