CLAW GEAR AVICEDA FLEECE HOODY
RAL 7013, or Brown Grey, is a colour that is being picked
up by many manufacturers for tactical clothing. We
take a look at a great mid-layer garment from Claw
Gear to explain why.
I
t’s very interesting to see how the tactical gear and
clothing industry has “trends” every bit as much
as the fashion business and recently I’ve noticed
that a number of European manufacturers have
begun to offer garments and kit in “RAL 7013”.
So what is “RAL 7013” and why is this colour
suddenly so popular? In 1927 the German
Reichs-Ausschuß für Lieferbedingungen und
Gütesicherung (State Commission for Delivery Terms and
Quality Assurance) invented a collection of standardised
and numerically referenced colours which has been
continually expanded from that day on. If you check out
www.ralcolorchart.com and search for RAL 7013 you’ll find
it in the “Grey” pallete; RAL provides a colour standard for
all manufacturers to adhere to.
In the tactical world this colour works in a wide broad
range of ways. For professional end users the Brown Grey
colour blends into a broad spectrum of environmental
settings and can be perfectly combined with other block-
colour or camouflage clothing or equipment. Brown Grey
gear is becoming increasingly popular because it works
very effectively in all settings; it’s equally at home in
towns and cities as it is in the backwoods. It’s a subtle and
clever tone that allows the user to visually blend into their
surroundings.
RAL 7013 is the colour predominantly used by the
Austrian Armed Forces so it’s hardly surprising to see Claw
Gear, who are based in Steyr-Gleink, being at the forefront
of this colour adoption. Claw Gear are highly innovative in
what they produce not just in terms of cutting edge design
and their use of the most up to date fabrics but also in
their choice of colour options.
Claw Gear have worked this colour into their entire
range of tactical clothing and recently they sent me one
of their Aviceda fleece garments to trial. This lightweight
mid-layer garment is extremely comfortable to wear and
the modern styling allows a full range of unrestricted
movement. It’s made from a 100% polyester fleece fabric
which looks and feels great, and high quality YKK zips are
used throughout. The fleece itself is water repellent and
breathes extremely well, making the Aviceda a superb
layering piece. I especially like the low-profile hood which
works perfectly in conjunction with a hard or softshell
outer layer, effectively eliminating cold spots around the
neckline.
The Aviceda also benefits from two lower, mesh-lined
handwarmer pockets, pockets on both upper arms with
velcro patches for team/unit patches, and an inner pocket
which allows routing for comms cables; the outer
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pockets are neatly trimmed with black fabric which gives
the jacket a visually stunning appearance as well.
Weighing in at just 410g the Aviceda is easy to pack
and takes up minimal space in a pack, so it’s absolutely
ideal if you want to stow it away “just in case”. Overall
it’s a superbly designed jacket made of high end fabrics
and components, and the finish of it just oozes quality
and attention to detail. If you’re in the market for a new
performance fleece jacket in the very latest “tacticool”
colour then I would thoroughly recommend you take a
very close look at the Aviceda.
Claw Gear is currently available direct from the
manufacturer although I’m led to believe that it will soon
be more available in the UK. The Aviceda costs
€74.90 and is available in RAL 7013, Black,
Coyote, and Solid Rock (grey) in sizes small
to XXL. For more information please visit
www.clawgear.com
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