Napier Chiltern Jacket

Best known for airgun hunting Pete Wadeson also does his fair share of pest control with a shotgun and feels the Napier Chilton Plus Fleece Jacket is a very cleverly designed garment…

The Napier Chilton Jacket has been a main stay in Napier’s shotgun clothing line for quite some time. Now renamed the Chilton Plus Fleece Jacket, it has seen a radical re-design and upgrades. This new ‘Plus’ version is made from double layer fl eece with anti-pilling outer, resulted in it being warm, relatively light in weight and windproof.  It’s also very stylish in Olive Green with black lining and trimmed in dark tan. You can’t miss the two elongated shoulder suede pads at the front and they’re benefi cial for a secure ‘base’ for the shotgun butt to be tucked into. The padded and ‘extendable’ fold back high stand up collar is as practical as it is comfortable, enabling it to offer the shooter even more wind proofi ng in a key area.

It uses a heavy duty 2 way zip for the front and the sleeves an also be removed using cleverly concealed zips. They allow the full length arms with elasticated cuffs to be quickly and easily removed to convert the ‘Plus’ into a practical summer Skeet Vest when required.

AWD

The Chilton Plus has two generously sized reinforced cartridge holding bellows pockets at the front and two internal wallet pockets. The main pockets are 50% larger than on the original Chilton.

This is where the ‘Plus’ is radically different from the original, as the main stowage areas can now distribute any extra weight added to the garment evenly from the shoulders down. Termed ‘AWD’ (Active Weight Distribution), this clever system allows maximum weight to be carried within the pockets without it feeling much different when worn half or fully loaded. The AWD design was originally and relatively recently developed for the company’s Regent skeet vest and works just as well if not better with the Chilton Plus, absorbing the weight of cartridges in the pockets and The high ‘extendable’ stand up collar is well padded – note the discreet zips that enable the sleeves to be removedevenly distributing across the shoulders as opposed to just hanging on the neck.

The company claim: ‘this remarkable and unique feature makes the Chilton Plus the perfect garment for clay and game shooters, the original has long been a favourite with keepers and stalkers.’ It’s hard to argue with the claim as it certainly lives up to expectations. When worn it does feel different to other similar jackets, so whatever has been done to upgrade the garment in terms of helping ‘lighten your load’ works.

The Napier Chilton Plus Dual Layer Fleece Jacket is priced at £89.25 in sizes M-XXL.