Love by Gray

Review: How I Love My ScottEVest

Every once in a while I take a break from philosophy to talk about something directly useful or enjoyable. This is both! I received no compensation for writing this review; it’s simply a labor of love.

I have a thing for pockets.

Always have. It’s probably dating back to watching the “Wild Wild West” shows (kind of a cowboy James Bond). He always had nifty gadgets hidden in secret compartments and such, just the right thing at hand for whatever nefarious plot he was working to foil.

Fast forward a few decades and we are a gadget-rich culture and that is just a young Gray’s dream come true. Not just the phone; a phone with the multi-purpose case with the snap-on battery and four-way lenses and minimalist wallet attachment (with just the right cards). Oh, and the Note-to-Self privacy folder to put the phone in when I don’t feel like being tracked, and the Field Notes book and the erasable Friction pen and my business cards and…

There’s even an acronym created by people who fetishize the ability to have exactly what you need, when you need it, all the time: EDC, or Every Day Carry.

But it follows, therefore, that you need a place to carry them.

ScottEVest: A Pocket for Everything (and then some)

I’d seen ads for ScottEVest before (it’s one of those bedtime stories for entrepreneurs) but never really felt the need. Recent travel experiences had made good use of my GeniusPack airplane bag, but there was still more things to carry than I had convenient hands, and frankly my back was getting tired of straps over the shoulder.

I read that ScottEVest has, among other things, a “weight balancing system”, and that (plus a handy coupon) made me decide that yes, I was going to give it a try. I didn’t jump in all the way – I simply purchased the Travel Vest from the Outlet section of the ScottEVest Website.

Travel Vest, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways:

  1. Very fast delivery. I had it in a couple of days
  2. Quality Construction. The vest is light, but doesn’t feel cheap; the stitches are sturdy, the zippers work well; a lot of things that could have been done shoddy were instead done well.
  3. Designed By and For People Like Me. I’ve had the vest for a month, now, and I’m still having this kind of experience: Man, I wish there was a convenient pocket for X…oh, hey! There is! Right where I need it! The ScottEVest people put a lot of thought into the design of this, which (almost) always fits my needs perfectly.
  4. Did I Mention Pockets? There are twenty-four pockets on the vest, and I’ve been slowly adding things in to see where the point of “You look ridiculous and this is unwieldy will be. Haven’t reached it yet, and that’s with all of the following in the vest: two phones, two pens, notebook, snap-on lens, spare battery, full-size iPad, bluetooth keyboard, earphones, wallet, business cards, sunglasses, reading glasses, privacy envelope, wallet, and passport. I stopped before adding in my 15” MacBook pro – but there’s a pocket in back that would fit it nicely…
  5. Pockets with Accessories. This feeds right into my gadget-happy mind – there are parts of the vest that have pocket “upgrades”. For example, the glasses pocket includes a lens cleaning cloth attached by an elastic cord AND a little sewn slot to slide your glasses into. It’s not just a pocket – it’s a pocket that makes it easy to get things in and out of.
  6. Pockets You Didn’t Know You Needed. For example, the hidden pocket in the side where my wallet fits perfectly. Or the earbud-pockets on either side of the collar that means I always have sound available – and a cord management system to boot that makes it completely unobtrusive.
  7. Stylish. I’m vain enough that I don’t want a kind of military-style pockets-and-straps everywhere kind of look. From the outside, this vest looks like it has two pockets, unobtrusively on the front. It goes as well with a tank top in summer as with a button-down business casual on the plane.

Into Every Review A Drop of Rain Must Fall

Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s perfect. There are a few things that I wish could be better:

  1. Placement of the phone pockets. They are just a little too high up on the chest to be easily accessible – and while they have a neat touch-capacitive pocket that you could theoretically look at your messages through, my neck doesn’t bend that way.
  2. The Battle with Obsolescence. One of the pockets is designed for your digital camera, complete with a memory card pocket as well. Of course, people use their phones now – and memory cards aren’t nearly that big. However, I have found it fits my privacy envelope quite well.
  3. The Temptation to Overpack. This vest is a minimalist’s nightmare, because when you see a pocket you want to fill it! I have managed to resist, so far, trying to pack in sketch books, entire pencil sets, and MRE food packs into the vest…but it’s an ongoing battle.

However, those three issues not only are minor but it should be noted that I got an older model of vest – it’s entirely possible the next ScottEVest product I buy will have it fixed.

And yes, I will definitely be buying more, and recommend that you take a look as well. I’m especially interested to hear from anyone who buys one of their dresses or skirts with pockets – after hearing so many of my friends bemoan the lack of pockets in women’s clothes, I wonder if ScottEVest has figured it out?

If you want to check it out, you can use this link: http://fbuy.me/fwi-s to get 30% off your first purchase. They’ll also send me a 30% off coupon, but other than that, they’re not giving me anything for writing this review. It’s just that when I find something I love this much, I want to share it.

Got a bunch of pockets YOU love? Let me know in the comments! And if you’re wondering if the ScottEVest is comfortable, here’s a bonus review from Coco the Cat:

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