OTTE Gear HT Insulated Hooded Jacket

Description:

According to the OTTE Gear website, the "The HT Tactical Jacket is designed for the warrior who lives life on the edge. This piece of tactical gear integrates 200G Primaloft® Gold Insulation to give you the best cold defense in the world. The weatherproof Patriot Lite fabric lets you move with speed and stealth. Protect your chin from chafing with this jacket’s microfleece chin guard. The drop-tail silhouette provides extra protection on your six. Use the elastic drawcord to tighten the bottom hem and keep wind out. The relaxed cut provides plenty of maneuverability. Size up if you need to wear body armor underneath. Whether you’re slingin’ lead on the range or backpacking over rugged terrain, the HT Tactical Jacket is an essential component to your tactical gear" and features:

"200G PRIMALOFT® GOLD INSULATION: The HT Tactical Jacket features the highest performing synthetic insulation to help you accomplish the mission in extreme conditions | Learn more about 200G Primaloft® Gold Insulation

TECHNICAL DESIGN: Protect yourself from sidearm abrasions (OWB/IWB) with the internal 200D MultiCam® reinforcement patches and the DWR Patriot Lite fabric makes this tactical jacket weatherproof

BUILT-IN HOOD: The stiff brim and insulated hood comes equipped with side and rear adjustments to keep it secure as you slay targets in wet weather

TACTICAL POCKETS: Gear up to invade the wilderness with the two fleece-lined hand-warmer pockets, two Napoleon-style chest pockets and a large internal mesh pocket

YKK® VISLON ZIPPERS: Trap heat inside and keep your tactical gear secure with this jacket’s military-grade zipper closures".

I purchased this jacket for retail directly from their website for $249.00 in this light-colored "tactical grey" version, they have cool guy colors available now though.  You can use code IGHOOKUP for a discount.  I purchased it in January of 2021, after I sold a KUIU jacket that did not fit me at all - will cover this later on.

Reason for Purchase:

I previously owned several high-end jackets, the Arc'Teryx Atom LT, and then the KUIU Super Down XL, which I had to return and get an XXL because it was too tight on the waist, too long on the arms, then I purchased a KUIU Elements Hooded Jacket in XXL, which was also too short on the wait and too long on the arms.  I liked KUIU jackets up to that point because they really do their job keeping me warm without the hefty that most insulated jackets automatically come with.  I didn't mind the hefty-ness of a jacket, but I needed it to fit me correctly, the ones I had up to that point did not.  Every other sweater-type jacket I had to that point fit me fine, but the jackets did not.  Enter the OTTE Gear HT Jacket, I saw a few people wearing them at a class and tried one on, immediately asking myself where it was all my life...

In The Field:

I decided to go with the typical size I wear, XL, and when the jacket came I immediately realized this was sized by someone who was actually wearing a jacket with concealed items and an average build.  As you can see, inside the jacket you have hood tightening pull cords and its soft black fabric that won't scratch your face when it's negative degrees outside.

The hood is soft in the back, semi-structured in the front, which makes for a good barrier from wind, and it actually sits on top of a cap if you have one.

As you can see it's pretty durable.  I wore this jacket every single day in the winter with the hood most often on snow / rain days and it looks untouched.

The head pocket is pretty deep, you can easily fit a scarf and a thick winter hat under there without issues.  It won't fit a ballistic helmet, however, which is to be expected.

The pull cords are retained by these plastic retention clips and the YKK zipper is very large with a premium zip movement.  It's got a cover so it doesn't bite your face or clothing.

The cuffs are stretchy enough to shove over gloves and they have very nice stitching that you don't feel against your skin in the cold.  They are tight enough to keep the heat in and not let the cold air in.

The HT Jacket has two sets of pockets.  It has inner high chest pockets and lower waist pockets on the outside.  The zippers are still the premium type with a pull cord and they are covered with a decent amount of material to prevent any issues with the zippers coming out and snagging on stuff.  

The top chest pockets are deep enough for the average medical items like the RMT, or a few mags.  

Close up on the zippers, very much premium made.

Exterior lower pockets don't have covers but they are very deep.  You can easily fit a glock 17 and your hand in one if you're into that type of thing.

Ownership and Usage:

On the inside, you have these Multicam Cordura fabric sections stitched in, which are the big bendy parts on a jacket that snagged most often and rip, they are also the sections that contact pistols or other kit most often, so this material provides abrasion resistance and a level of silencing of that contact.  This is an awesome feature that every single jacket must-have from this point forward.  If it doesn't I don't even look at it.

The sections of Multicam are on the sides and on the front by the zipper area for those who carry items AIWB.

The inner mesh pocket is absurdly large.  Like, large enough to put a large soft armor panel into if you needed to.  I put a 2" RMT in there just to show you how big it is.  You could probably fit two glock 34's in there if you needed to, or two 30 round AR mag's.  

The tail hangs low and you'll sit on it if you don't move it out of the way.  Some people like that, I don't personally care one way or another, it's pretty good for keeping your posterior covered.

Final Thoughts and Recommendations:

Buying a jacket for winter sucks.  It sucks even more because every single company in every industry wants to get their hooks into you with "brand" this and that.  I have owned literally a dozen jackets in the last ten years, from duty jackets to mission-specific jackets, to super cool guy jackets.  This HT Insulated Jacket is the best heavy winter jacket I've ever had.  Mind you I don't start to wear a jacket in the winter until it is in the low 40's, even then I usually make do with a heavy shirt.  This 200 weight jacket makes you feel the burn very quickly.  I spent several days outside in the low single-digit temperatures and I had this jacket zipped up all the way, it worked well enough to keep me warm.  I had a few days with it where I was wearing a plate carrier on the outside and it worked well then too.  I usually wear this jacket with it half-zipped up.  The overall sizing of this jacket is perfect.  The sleeves are just long enough that they don't bunch up or give me too much material, while the length is just long enough to allow me to draw from concealment and clear the waist with the jacket still zipped up.  That's not a characteristic these types of jackets usually have, but this one has it.  The attention to detail is awesome overall, I have nothing but good things to say about it.  You should check out their items and see what jacket fits your particular requirements in your particular area.  OTTE Gear has a code they gave me to give out for this post, IGHOOKUP gives you a pretty decent discount.  Check out it, and you're welcome.