[ Kit Reviews ]

Helikon Level 7 Winter Jacket

Now although some of you may not wish to brave the snow & ice for a shoot it does offer a unique experience, one that I have enjoyed myself on a few occasions.

Now before the doom & gloom that is 2020 ADK had travelled overseas testing the Helikon Level 7 Winter Jacket in Andorra amongst other places to see how it would perform & give you our readers some info on how to keep warm on those cold game days, other than running around & getting rounds down of course.

Although this is my first experience with a Helikon product the firm have been in business for over 30 years & they’ve clearly learnt a lot in that time. This Jacket is exactly what it should & claims to be.

As this is the first piece of Helikon kit I’ve ever purchased I’ve got to say I’m extremely impressed. I can certainly attest to its ability to keep you warm in the cold after wearing it in Andorra up a mountain at -14 with wind-chill on top of that whilst blasting along on a Snowmobile the cold was certainly not on my mind. It feels nice & light to wear & allows for an excellent range of movement but with that well-made, tough, quality feel to it. The YKK zipps used on the jacket are good quality as you’d expect from them & it’s water & windproof which I can definitely vouch for after wearing it on some lovely Manchester days.

So far I’ve tested this jacket in 0 to -18C temperatures & all I’ve had on is a baselayer top & t-shirt with no problems. Not only that I’ve hiked, run & snowboarded always maintaining a nice temperature thanks to the clever Climashield Apex insulation.

The Level 7 comes with 2 huge external pockets which have ample room for multiple Mags or Pyro which means you can hit the field without a Rig or Belt Kit which makes you nice & light on your feet. These pockets are also fleece lined which not only keeps your hands warm in the safe zone but on the field can keep some much needed warmth for your spare AEG batteries & gas mags.

Internally you have 1 zipped chest pocket which is a dry pocket along with 2 large mesh pockets designed to hold wet clothing & dry it out which I have put to the test with a t-shirt & it worked a treat. On the field however they make a great storage for gas bottles or anything else you might want to get in. The feature I’m most impressed with due to its ingenuity is the Collar-stowed adjustable hood that has been made so that it is compatible for use with a Combat Helmet, it’s a fantastic idea from Helikon that shows they’ve put some real thought into the usability of the Level 7.

This whole package when not in use compresses into a small compression bag which is handy as we’ve usually got that much kit to carry every little helps.

If you’re liking what you’ve read on the Helikon Level 7 Lightweight Jacket & are wanting to pick one up then unlike other clothing items from European manufacturers the Helikon size scale really is spot on, you really won’t need to go up a size, I mean I ended up with a small which is something I haven’t been since I was 12. I went for a Black version for an all-round use but there are 5 colour options in total including a Camo version.

I’d like to thank Mike & the guys at Military 1st for their very quick responses & delivery when I picked the wrong size, thinking I knew best, it was a pleasure to deal with them.

If you’d like to see more from Helikon then let us know or if you’d just like to see what else they have on offer then visit helikon-tex.com

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