Jack Pyke Evolution Clothing

Not too long ago, I expressed my views on the latest camouflage design from Jack Pyke, when I detailed the difference in appearance from their English Oak pattern it has evolved from. Here, I’m looking at garments that’ll serve well from this part of the year into the following seasons to come. I say this, as not only am I dealing with light to medium weight upper body apparel, but also of course due to the fact Evo is much more versatile throughout the seasons.

No sweat

First up, are the ‘Quick Wick’ tops including a short, long sleeve T and the Armour top. They can be worn as an undergarment, or on their own in warm weather, making them highly versatile pieces of clothing. All are made from a material called ‘smartweave’, which is a fast wicking, 100% polyester mesh fabric that is breathable and offers a reasonable level of wind proofing. Ideal when adopting a more active hunting style, or when a base layer is required that has attributes that keep the wearer comfortable and dry. The material’s unique, honeycomb construction gives an increased surface area, which causes the evaporation process to accelerate, thereby rapidly moving moisture away from the surface of the skin; so, you won’t stay wet when you sweat! Also, synthetic fabrics such as this are termed ‘hydrophobic’, which means that they resist the penetration of water.

Protective armour

The quick wick Armour top has a ¼ length neck zip, high collar, is of a long-sleeved design and its hemmed cuffs are naturally stretchy. Although it can be worn as an under or over garment, I’d choose the former, as not only is it superb at keeping you warm when you need it and equally cool when you don’t. The zipped neck allows you to further regulate body temperature, along with the twin underarm panels, which when combined, help to eliminate the feeling of clamminess.

Well-fleeced

The Fieldman Fleece Hoodie is a general purpose 250g, medium weight, polyester fleece. It features a front pouch pocket, has snug fitting elasticated cuffs and a drawstring hood. All adding up to make it very useful as an outer layer, as it offers a welcome amount of insulation plus a surprisingly good level of protection from the elements. It is available in green, English oak and now the new Evo camo, making it a good choice to wear over either T-shirts or the armour top should you require an extra amount of upper body insulation.

In stealth we trust

Now, we have two garments manufactured from Jack Pyke’s tried and tested stealth fabric, as used for their very popular hunter jacket and trousers, both of which I tested recently in this pattern. The material used is 100% polyester, brushed tricot with laminated membrane, which also means both are waterproof, breathable and silent in use. The Galbraith smock is of a medium length design and features an integral padded and lined hood with toggle adjusters, plus baffled neck zip with padded Velcro fasten over flap. The cuffs incorporate adjustable Velcro fastening wrist straps and also have internal elasticated weather shrouds.

For stowage, it features a traditional large front pocket with waterproof zip, plus cover flap and includes two angled lower pockets, both of which have weather proof zips. The main body of the smock has a mesh inner, while the lower hemline also includes a toggle adjusting drawstring. It is available in Forest Brown, Forest Green and of course English Oak evolution.

Another evo to go

Last, but not least, we come to the Rannock Jacket. Still available in Forest Green or Brown, like the others featured this has gone Evo so to speak. It shows a very lightweight build, manufactured using Jack Pyke’s stealth fabric and not dissimilar in cut to the smock, except it has a full mesh, nonpadded inner including the hood and features a full-length double opening zip at the front and storm flap opening with weather-proof press-stud fasteners. There’s a hood with a drawcord, two front lower cargo-style pockets with Velcro closure over-flaps and adjustable Velcro straps at the cuffs. A very useful feature of the Rannock’s hood is that it can be turned down and tucked inside, creating a padded high stand-up collar.