pmcimagazine.com
SNUG(PAK) AS A BUG
It’s that time again when we all need to contend with colder weather, so “in house technical clothing
guru” Bill turns his attention to some great kit which will help you to keep “snuggly in your snivel gear”
when the mercury plummets! - By Bill Thomas
A
s I sit writing this I can tell that winter is
upon us just by the temperature in the
office, and the fact that I’ve finally ditched
my usual shorts for a pair of trousers, and
my t-shirt for my go-to Helikon-Tex hoody
fleece and jeans. Just this morning we had
our first frost of the year, and from what
the “meteo” is telling me that’s just the
start of a potentially cold and snowy winter ahead; on
my recent trip up to see the guys at the range, gritting
teams were out doing trial runs on the motorway so for
me it’s definitely time to get planning for those frozen
days of training!
Although I’m still in two minds as to whether or not to
invest in “snow camo” (I have this debate with myself
year on year!) it is time to break out the insulated jacket
for downtime on the ne, and I truly believe that this is a
crucial piece of gear to own for two main reasons.
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Firstly, after a hard mornings training you’re going to
have built up a head of steam but when you’re out on a
basic range with no heated reload zone (in many cases
you’ll be operating from the back of the car!) it’s very,
very easy to chill down quickly when you stop for lunch.
This leads all too quickly discomfort and on a cold,
snowy winters day I’ve seen many guys leave at
lunchtime as they’ve become too chilled to continue.
Secondly, in the UK it’s often not the cold, pretty white
stuff falling from the sky that we need to contend with
but sleet and icy rain, so you’ll totally get why I find an
insulated jacket to be and indispensable bit of kit!
I know that I keep on about a correct and effective
layering system in your gear, but in the winter months
you really need to push up the insulation levels of your
mid-layer so it’s seriously worth considering some form of
lightweight lofted garment. Once upon a time everyone
would have been saying “get a down jacket”, and in