INTRODUCTION
When we first launched this project roughly 15 months ago we pretty much told everyone out there that we would seriously take into consideration review requests sent to us which is partially also the reason why we started testing wrist watches (although i have to admit that i like wrist watches as well). Of course we all knew that eventually some people would request reviews of products that don't really belong in a technology related review site but being flexible is not a bad thing and so we decided to allow everything that may even slightly fit in one of our article/review categories. Fortunately our gadgets category allows us to fit a very wide range of product reviews regarding pretty much anything that can improve our daily lives and one such gadget is the Stuffa Jacket which we've been using for slightly over a month now with very positive results.
Stuffa is a collective group of friends with a common interest in designing innovative products for spontaneous adventures. Our launch product was born out of a frustration of taking extra bags for weekends away and flights. So we designed a Stuffa Jacket - a good-looking, lightweight body warmer with 12 stuffable pockets concealed within the lining, capable of holding up to 5kg of clothing. Or just your wallet, keys and phone. Up to you.
Just how many times have you gone on a trip only to realize that you forgot something at home or that you wanted to pack something along for the ride but didn't fit in your backpack so you decided to leave it behind instead? Well the Stuffa Jacket was designed for people who want to avoid exactly that so thanks to the 2 years of design put in by them it allows you to pack almost as much stuff as you would in a small backpack (according to Stuffa you can pack up to 4 t-shirts, 4 pairs of socks, 4 pairs of pants, 1 lightweight jumper, some gloves, a scarf and 1 pair of jeans). Of course you can also pack other things in the 12 total internal pockets offered by the Stuffa Jacket such as food and small lightweight electronic devices (for example we fitted a portable battery pack, 2 hands free wireless Bluetooth earsets, 2 small MP4 players, one smartphone and two action cams in 5 of those pockets). True we didn't believe that this was possible in any jacket for that matter but as you will also see later on we were quite surprised since it obviously is.
SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
THE STUFFA JACKET
Our Stuffa jacket arrived inside two plastic bags, the one from the courier service/postal office and the one from the factory (much like every other jacket we have ordered from abroad).
The jacket is available in black (men) and red (female) colors and its exterior is made by nylon which does offer a small amount of protection against rain (the lack of sleeves however is a problem when it rains).
A medium sized company name is placed on the upper left rear of the jacket.
Worth mentioning is that the quality of the main zipper is not something I’ve seen in many other jackets (even the one i got from puma has an inferior quality zipper).
The zipper goes all the way up to the collar and thanks to the interior micro fleece coating it's very soft and comfortable, again something we just don't see with many jackets out there.
Both exterior pockets feature the same quality zipper so you can rest assured that whatever you place in them stays there.
The company logo is placed at the upper left front of the jacket (i was expecting both the name and logo to be together).
Inside the jacket Stuffa has placed a small drawing of the jacket showcasing how many things you can fit in it and in which pockets.
Here we see all 12 internal pockets which are indeed concealed within the lining, or at least most of them are.
Although the rear internal pockets are larger and vertically placed meaning you can easily place "larger" things there the side ones are actually placed diagonally and since they come without any strap/zipper to secure them (we hope that can be fixed in future versions) you can't really trust placing heavy things there (certainly not in the two lower ones).
As pointed out by this etiquette to wash the jacket you need to use 30 degrees temperature water maximum (although i do suggest taking it to the dry cleaners instead).
Here we placed some clothing and electronic devices in the internal pockets to see how many and how large they are.
CONCLUSION
The Stuffa Jacket may not be perfect but still it's quite innovating and because of that i do hope that other companies (especially sports oriented ones like Nike, Puma, Rebook and Fila) will follow their example. The Stuffa Jacket is indeed very warm, very comfortable, the quality of materials used is very high and it offers enough room for you to carry what you'd normally need a small backpack to fit them in. Of course like i said it's not really perfect so in the future i do hope that Stuffa makes a version with removable sleeves (if you use it during the winter your hands may get a bit cold) and zippers for some of the interior pockets so you can also use them with slightly heavier things. Also i would like to see the Stuffa Jacket available in more colors since just black for men and red for women may not appeal to some people (at the very least white is a color that should be available).
There are currently two ways for people to get the Stuffa Jacket, one is to order it directly from the Stuffa website for a price tag of 110Euros and the other is to get it through Amazon for a discounted price tag of 85Euros (Purchase Directly from Amazon.co.uk) which naturally is a lot more appealing (however according to Stuffa this discount will not last long). Unfortunately currently there's virtually no availability in the USA so your best choice is to order it directly from the people at Stuffa. Overall the Stuffa Jacket is a must for people who go camping, hiking or even for people who do Xtreme sports since you can never have too much space for your things in such situations. Personally although i can't find anything wrong with it i do feel that it has room for improvement (namely interior zippers, removable sleeves and more colors) but even as is i really enjoyed using it and that's why it gets our Golden Award.
PROS
- Quality
- Warm
- Comfortable
- 12 interior pockets
- 2 External Pockets with Zippers
- Current Discount Price
CONS
- Availability in the USA