Off Grid Fleece Jacket

Name: Off Grid Fleece Jacket. Bear edition
Brand: Vollebak
SKU: SWH016KHKXSM
Price: 105 GBP
Availability: OutOfStock

A heavyweight fleece built with weatherproof wool.

£525 £105 Out of stock

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Model is 6ft 4 / 193cm with a 40 inch / 100cm chest, and wears size XL.

Built from a weatherproof two-layered wool
The wool is compressed and strengthened in boiling water
Giant front pockets hold 10 litres

Your great-great grandfather lived off grid. Your children’s children will live off grid. So the question is, could you? If you had to start from scratch, build a house, generate your own energy, plant crops, find your own water, and raise a chicken or two?

Like all our Off Grid gear, the Off Grid Fleece Jacket focuses on toughness, comfort and utility to help you survive off the land, and it’s built with materials and techniques that were around long before the grid existed.

It starts with wool that’s compressed and strengthened in boiling water – a technique that’s been used for centuries to make clothing for brutal Siberian and Alpine winters. A soft, bonded lining turns it into a two-layered jacket that’s insulating, wind resistant, breathable and hard-wearing. And giant front pockets, which are big enough to replace a backpack, transform it into a wearable shelter that can take on the coldest, harshest weather.

Technical Details

Two layer material made in Italy: 76% wool, 21% polyester, 3% polyurethane

Thermoregulating

Insulating

Breathable

Wind resistant

Naturally water repellent

Four way stretch

2 giant layered front pockets with one 1 zipper and 2 side zippers

Half zip collar with metal snap fasteners

Fitted hood

Metal snap fastener adjusters at cuffs

Metal snap fastener adjusters at hem

Material weighs 480g/m2

Jacket weighs 1020 grams

Avoid machine washing to protect the wool

Wash it cold if you’re on the grid

Wash it in a cold stream if you’re off grid

Jacket constructed in Portugal

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A heavyweight fleece built with weatherproof wool.

Combines ancient and modern techniques

The Off Grid Fleece Jacket is constructed from a technical two-layered material which combines ancient and modern techniques. The outer layer is made from a rugged wool which we strengthen by submerging it in extremely hot water. As the fibres react to the heat, they begin to compress which makes the wool stronger, more wind resistant and more water repellent than regular wool. The process also creates natural microscopic bubbles in the wool which work like a barrier between your body and the cold.

Built for cold and harsh environments

Soft, elastic and superb at keeping your temperature stable, wool is incredibly effective in cold and harsh conditions. It’s also naturally water repellent and fast drying. So when humanity does head off grid, wool will be coming with us. But one property wool isn’t necessarily known for is extreme durability, so we set out to change that and adapt it for the toughest off grid environments.
Used to combat winter in Siberia and the Alps

Variations of this method for strengthening wool have existed for thousands of years. You’ll sometimes see it called ‘felted wool’ or ‘boiled wool.’ If you’d visited the Austrian Alps a few hundred years ago hunter gatherers called it “loden,” and they wore it to stay warm and dry through freezing temperatures and icy blizzards. Head further back to 600BC, and nomadic tribes in the Altai Mountains were using the same materials to help them survive brutal Siberian winters.
How we source our wool responsibly

While wool is an amazing material, it has to be made ethically and in the right way. To create the Off Grid Fleece Jacket we work with Manteco, an Italian mill based in Tuscany that’s been producing advanced and sustainable wool fabrics since 1943. All of the wool we work with has to meet Manteco’s Standard for Animal Welfare Guarantee, which ensures the welfare of the sheep as well as preserving and restoring the land they graze on.

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The Off Grid range

As parts of our planet become increasingly difficult to live on, and we’re forced into new and unknown terrain, we’re going to need solutions to help us. So our Off Grid range is a system of clothing we’ve designed to help you live remotely. It doesn’t matter whether you’re going off grid for a weekend, a year, or you’re selling up and unplugging for good. With vests and jackets made from the same stuff as body armour, high-strength utility pants and shorts, and the strongest rain shell ever built, we’ve focused on toughness, comfort and utility to help you live remotely and survive off the land.

The Grid might be doomed

Today we are truly plugged into the matrix – with the electrical grid, running water, gas, and Amazon all on tap. But what if the grid is a blip? After all, we survived for two million years without it. With many predicting wars over natural resources in the not-too-distant future, being disconnected from the production of everything we rely on for survival doesn’t feel like a great idea. So our Off Grid range is built for a future in which you have to rebuild your life with your bare hands.

Pockets that can replace a backpack

There are two giant pockets on the front of the jacket which are big enough to replace a backpack. The first opens with a long horizontal zipper protected by a storm flap. The second pocket is layered underneath it, and opens with vertical zippers on either side. You can use them to tuck your arms in when the weather turns hostile. Or to carry supplies. Or both – because at full capacity the pockets hold up to 10 litres together, which should be enough food to last a few days.
The cuffs and hem keep out the elements

You’ll find adjusters at the cuffs which tighten with a belt and heavy-duty metal snap buttons. Each adjuster has three tightness settings so you can create a seal around your wrists or gloves to protect you from the elements. And we’ve added the same adjusters at the hem of the jacket so you can tighten it up to stop cold air from getting in.
A fitted hood and a zipper at the collar

The hood is shaped to fit snugly around your head without the need for adjustment. And the half zip collar is protected by a storm flap and fastens shut with metal snap fasteners. You can close the collar when the weather turns, or to open it up if you need to get rid of some heat.
Wear it like a shelter

The Off Grid Fleece Jacket is designed for physical and psychological comfort, so we’ve constructed it with a relaxed fit which mimics the architecture of a shelter. This looser fit makes it easy to layer up underneath, and it also works with the natural stretch of the material so that you’ll never feel restricted when you move.