Indestructible Utility Jacket

A lightweight jacket designed for protection

Since the birth of the denim jacket in 1880, rugged and lightweight utility jackets have been used to protect people carrying out the toughest jobs in the toughest places. After denim became the default uniform for cowboys, miners and labourers, it was followed by the leather bomber jacket built for fighter pilots in open cockpits at 25,000ft. We’ve now taken the principle of a utility jacket – a rugged, long-lasting design that can be worn anywhere and for almost anything – and rebuilt it with the strongest material in the world.

Why you find Dyneema® in survival situations

To understand just how tough Dyneema® is you have to look at how it’s being deployed in the world today. It’s used to make bullet resistant vests, armour and helmets. It’s used in panels on tanks to protect against stronger ballistic threats like anti-tank projectiles. And you’ll find it in bulletproof cockpit doors in most commercial planes in the US. Unlike other high-strength materials it’s so light it floats on water, and it’s resistant to the long-term effects of moisture, UV light and chemicals, which is why it’s now also being used in artificial limbs.

Dyneema® has tethered satellites and pulled up shipwrecks

Instead of using traditional jacket materials like denim or leather, we’ve built our jacket from the same material that was used to make the ropes that pulled up the Concordia cruise ship when it sank. It’s also the material that was used to create a 30km long tether designed to pull a capsule back down from space – despite reaching space it weighed just 5.5kg and only needed to be 0.5mm thick. And it’s the same material being used to create 1 centimetre thick tsunami barriers to stop 20 metre waves.

Why you probably haven’t heard of Dyneema® before

The reputations of materials are created over decades of exposure, heavy marketing spend, or moments in history like the Nylon riots in 1945 that created brand recognition overnight. Dyneema® has had none of these things. But there’s a difference between how well something performs and how well known it is, and sometimes the best things are secret. Whether it’s famous or not, this is currently the strongest fibre on Earth that you can build a piece of clothing out of.

Earth never reaches the melting point of Dyneema®

The melting point of Dyneema® is a subject of discussion online as it’s lower than the polyester used in most clothing today, and also the aramid fibres used in military gear. But to put it in context we’d have to return to the Hadean period of Earth around 4.5 billion years ago to find air temperatures that would melt it. The melting point of Dyneema® is around 130°C, which is 73 degrees above the hottest air temperature ever recorded on Earth of 56.7°C in Death Valley, California.

Two secret passport pockets designed for hostile environments

On either side of the chest you’ll find two hidden pockets designed to hold things you might want to conceal in a hostile environment. With a hidden zip entrance, they’re each large enough to hold your passport, money, maps or documents without any danger of them falling out. Or they can also concertina out to fit a phone or GPS inside them. They have reinforced stitching so you won’t tear them if you’re rushing, and they can be double locked with a metal fastener. Built in front of each pocket are two open pockets for tools or gear.

An anti-mosquito and anti-bug collar

The collar can be worn in 4 different configurations. In jungle mode, you’ll want to use all the features of the collar – which means turned up high and fastened tight. It’s a reinforced double collar which means you can fold it right up to meet your hairline at the back and jawline at the front. This keeps the sun, wind or mosquitos off the back of your neck, and helps stop any bugs getting down your back.

The collar is built to hold its position

You’ll find two strong, lightweight and quiet snap fasteners that secure the collar in place. It creates a completely different shape to a standard collar as it double fastens across your throat to keep mosquitos or the elements out. Both poppers are attached with reinforced stitching. We’ve also used heavy duty zig zag stitching to strengthen the collar, so whether you’re wearing it up or down it will hold its shape in any conditions.

Impact-resistant buttons made from corozo nuts

Every button on the jacket starts life as a corozo nut buried inside the spiky fruit of the Tagua Palm trees found on the coastal mountain ranges of South America. Corozo is phenomenally strong so can be carved with stunning precision. It’s highly resistant to scratches, extreme temperatures and impact, so won’t crack or splinter. Made from 100% organic fibre, each button has a unique grain just like a fingerprint, so no two will ever be the same. And all buttons are sculpted with a highly polished 30° taper towards the edges to make them easy to slip into place.

Free-floating buttons anchored on military tape

Even the way the jacket buttons up has been engineered to withstand freezing fingers, sweating hands and hostile vegetation. Rather than being sewn onto the jacket, the buttons on the front have all been threaded onto a heavy duty woven tape that runs the jacket’s entire length. The tape is then stitched onto reinforced panels above and below each button. The construction allows the jacket to flex and withstand any tearing forces, as each button is free to slide 2 centimetres up and down its section of military tape.

Sleeves that stay rolled up in any condition

When you’re wearing it as an overshirt you can roll up the sleeves and they’ll stay rolled. Dyneema® Black has the same thickness as denim so the material is weighty enough to hold its position. The sleeves are engineered in the shape of a moving arm. And each sleeve fastens with a corozo nut button at the cuff.