I recently took a long, difficult trip with camera equipment and reporting tools -- notebooks, laptops, chargers, all the bits and pieces. Knowing that I was going to be weight challenged, and keeping in mind Michael's technique of loading up a photo jacket before boarding the plane, I began looking for a jacket-of-many-pockets that doesn't look like a photo jacket, and might also keep me warm.
I found this site:
http://www.scottevest.com/v3_store/?gclid=...CFQ_NIgod4mjXHgand bought their Evolution jacket.
I didn't encounter much rain, but did encounter some, and it was pretty waterproof -- there wasn't enough rain for a good test, but what there was, didn't get in.
The jacket has an amazing number of pockets. I did some traveling with a Nikon D3 in my hand, with a 17-35 on the camera, and a 24-120 in a pocket, along with pens, a notebook, sunglasses, and still managed to look like a guy in a jacket. My jacket was black, and was quite successful in obscuring the fact that my pockets were stuffed full. Never caused a comment going through security in several different countries.
The material is slick, and feels kind of cheesy; but if you look at yourself in a mirror from five feet, you pretty much look like any guy in a jacket. That is, it looks neat, and not eye-catching. Has a hood tucked under the collar, and that was useful at times -- a good wind barrier. You can roll it into a small space, and it doesn't wrinkle much. Quite warm. You can zip off the sleeves and wear the jacket as a vest, but I didn't try that.
My one big reservation was the zippers. They have small teeth, and a couple of times, got stuck in the cheesy-feeling fabric. I always managed to get them loose, and they are apparently of the self-repairing kind, because they never broke, but I worried about it. Another thing -- none of the breast pockets was big enough to take a standard long airline ticket without folding it. There were pockets big enough to take it, but they were located in places where you might bend it while sitting down...You might not want to do it, but you could literally put a camera body in this jacket, and a couple of lenses, and not look too lumpy...
It has cell phone pockets, glasses pockets, little snaps so you can thread iPod buds through it...
place for a water bottle...etc.
I kind of recommend it, but have to say that you might not like the feel of the fabric, and you might worry a bit about the zippers. Nothing broke or ripped, and I wore it pretty much 20 hours a day for two weeks, and even slept in it a few times..
JC
