Solo Internationional Long Range Patrol Cold Weather Smock
BLUF: the fact that 1/3 of my January PSBC course werewearing them at the end of FINAL EX says it all.
Solo International don’t seem to scream about their kit too often, however their clothing systems, much like their MOLLE kit is starting to become more and more prevalent. Maybe it’s a certain shop on a certain Battle School supplying a lot of kit or people struggling to justify obscure Crye kit, it doesn’t matter because SOLO make some fantastic stuff.
The LRP smock is one of those. It promises quite a few things, and actually manages to deliver on them. The waterproofing is sufficient that I can honestly say there was no requirement for Gore-tex throughout TAC (although it was more snow than driving rain) and was breathable enough to be worn on both GREEN DRAGON and up the Fan without too much degradation in performance.
Depending on what size you order, and what generation of smock you’ll either have one or two 5.56mm pouch sewn on to each side of the smock. At a stretch you can get 2x 5.56mm magazines into each, which makes this smock fantastic when conducting OBUA/Trench clearing operations as you can literally rock up with a CamelBak, your ammunition and a pocket full of grenades. The rear pouch is advertised as a map pocket, but it is more than capable of holding a bandolier or some more grenades/smokes.
The top and bottom bellow pockets are of a decent size, however be aware of over stuffing them, the tops won’t close properly unlike a G10 smock. You’ll be pushed with more than a Rite In The Rain sized notebook and your crib cards per pocket. The bottom ones are the same size, however if you’re using them as dump pouches be aware that any more than 3 magazines per pocket are a rattling, falling out nightmare (in my opinion). The hand warmer pockets are secured with zips, and do what they say on the tin. Unlike the G10 option, they’re not fleece lined. That’s a bonus as far as I’m concerned.
At the bottom sides of the smock are further zips that allow easy access to a pistol were you to have it covertly concealed on a belt. If you’re not ally enough to have a pistol then it allows you access to your trouser pockets too, so that’s a bonus!
The quality of materials is top notch, it survived all that Brecon could throw at it with only minor fading to colour which in all honesty may have been down to an accidental boil wash. The zips, buttons et al are robust and didn’t fail at any point. It’s also one of the few items that come with built in elbow pads where they do the job well without hindering movement (think the first run of issued PCS UBACS for a neoprene nightmare). I wear 180/96 PCS shirts and the Medium fit me fantastically, even over ECBA.
As with all items there have to be some downsides, but these are rather minor. Firstly, the cord for tightening the bottom of the smock can hinder drawing a pistol from under the smock. Easily remedied by getting rid of this bit of cord. It doesn’t bring much to the party. Secondly, the magazine pouches only fold away so much (you can turn them into an open topped pouch through the marvels of Velcro), so be aware that your battlebelt/webbing will need to be a little but looser than usual when wearing this smock to compensate. Thirdly, the Velcro that secures the cuffs doesn’t last that long when it is constantly wet. Again, not particularly difficult to fix, just something to be aware of.
At £180 full price, or currently £120 (05 Jun 16) its not a cheap piece of kit, but if you want cheap, buy Webtex and buy every time you deploy. For the amount of money you’re paying you get a piece of kit that in my opinion surpasses the Level Peaks offering.
