Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1034474
Clawgear is an Austrian brand offering of a wide variety of tactical clothing . We have mentioned their products many times so far, e.g. Defiant Flex and Enforcer Flex pants. Rapax, the jacket featured in this article, is a basic tactical softshell for urban activities. Why urban? We will refer to that in a moment. FABRICS Let us start this short story of Rapax with the material it was made of. Clawgear used a three-layer laminate with stretchable outer layer (97% polyester and 3% elastane), microfleece, and a PU vapor-permeable membrane compressed in-between for breathability and resistance to water. Purists will not call it a softshell – in their opinion, softshells with membranes do not meet the requirements of that category because the material should have no membrane, while the windproof and water resistance properties (to not be mistaken for waterproof properties) should be ensured thanks to proper composition and weaving. Clawgear Rapax is available in four colors: black, olive gray (RAL7013), Solid Rock (gray), and Coyote (sand brown). CUT The cut of Rapax is rather far from clothing for alpine use. The lower part of such jackets is narrower and perfectly fit to the user's body in order to ensure the best possible freedom of movement. In the case of Rapax, "box cut" would be the best description as chest and the bottom are of almost identical width. What are the advantages of such a solution? For sure, it will work perfectly in the case of additional insulating layers, carrying concealed weapon, or in the case of people suffering from "hydrops". The back of Rapax is slightly extended, which prevents the jacket from shifting upwards when you bow or crouch. This jacket is fastened with a one-way main zipper with wind flap underneath that protects the user against wind or damp. The zip ends with a simple stand-up collar, without a hood. The jacket has five pockets in total: Ä two large pockets, so-called handwarmer pockets, on the chest that are fastened with zippers and have quite a universal range of applications; they can hold mobile phones or large wallets; Ä a pocket on the left side of the chest with a vertical zipper; Ä an internal zippered pocket, which is on the right side and can be used for carrying items that we would rather keep in secret; Ä an asymmetric pocket on the left sleeve; this one is also fastened with a zipper and its size is spacious enough for a mobile phone. The bottom of the jacket features an adjustable drawcord – plastic barrel-locks in the inside are to prevent the elastic drawcord from protruding, so that the jacket will not get caught by surrounding objects. The sleeves were sewn in a clever way – the are no seams on the armpits, so there will be no unpleasant feeling while wearing a backpack, while the way the sleeves were sewn in ensures great freedom of movement. The sleeve cuffs have flaps with Velcro straps to make them fit well to the user's wrists. Each of the sleeves has a panel of Velcro loop for patches or name tags. The top edge of each panel has two cuts that can be used as pen holders. www.fragoutmag.com