Triple Aught Design (TAD) Valkyrie Fleece
April 9, 2011
TAD approached me very politely (and a bit warily, as I’d just been ranting about pushy PR people blitzing me with press releases) about reviewing this jacket. Honestly I didn’t really have time to fit it in but I was so charmed by their approach that I just made time. I also figure that I should encourage companies who are trying to establish a women’s line. TAD has a well-rounded selection of men’s gear but this is their first women’s item and they are eager for feedback and for the word to get out. You know, just once I’d like to see a company develop a women’s line and only then start making stuff for guys. I bet it makes a difference. For instance, if ISIS started making dude stuff, it would be an uphill battle from the start; they’re known as a company doing women’s clothes so breaking into the men’s market would be tough for them.
Doing it TAD’s way also makes it difficult to establish a presence in the women’s market, but it’s probably not as hard because there’s just less out there for women in general. Still, when a new company launches and I wander through their booth at OR and see nothing for women, I pretty much just write them off and don’t think about them again. This didn’t happen with TAD; they wrote directly to me with this review request. Still, it will be tough for them to make a way into the women’s market since their line is so well-established for men, and it’s more of a tactical type line of clothing. Don’t get me wrong, I desperately wish that more tactical clothing for women was out there on the market, but when I see a tactical line I just assume it’s for dudes. No one bothers making it for the ladies – so let’s hope TAD stays the course and puts out some good tactical pants and other gear for women.
I do hope they make it in the market and expand the women’s line, though, because they have a great start with the Valkyrie. Naturally, I have my own preferences about gear, and one of the things I prefer in a jacket is a slim cut, long, roomy arms, and a juuuust right length. The Valkyrie has all these things which, to be quite honest, I didn’t expect from an established men’s tactical clothing company.
Arm length is a big deal for me. I’m not tall, but I am a size small so a lot of jackets and tops have arms that are too short. It’s that Law of Similitude thing again; many companies just make sizes proportional to each other; a Medium would just be a bit larger than a Small in all dimensions. Human bodies don’t work like that, so a lot of times I end up with my wrists poking out of jackets. I have no tolerance for the feel of a baggy torso so I live with the short arms so that I can keep the great torso fit. It’s very impressive to me that TAD figured it out from the get-go. I like the length; it’s past my hipbones but just barely. This gives nice coverage and makes it more comfortable under a backpack.
The jacket also has a really cool hood design. In this age of “must fit over helmet” hoods, it’s nice to have one that’s meant to just fit over your head. Novel concept! It’s also got a little built in brim which I find awesome. Brims are important if you ask me. This one keeps the snow off your face and gives the hood a little structure. Nice touch.
And the POCKETS! The pockets. Pockets are something that the industry in general does not do very well for women, if you ask me. I have so many great jackets with barely-adequate handwarmer pockets and one interior pocket, and nothing else. I get that a lot of things are minimalist and ultralight these days, so if there are just few pockets, I’m OK with that. What bugs me is when they bother to put a pocket on the item but make the pocket so small that you can’t use it for anything. The Valkyrie does not have this problem. It has tons of great pockets. Two handwarmers, three arm pockets (I LOVE arm pockets, by the way), and one giant back pocket. I love the back pocket. It would be hard to use if you were wearing a backpack but if you just needed to carry a few things it’s great. I can imagine using that pocket if you were out for a hike and took off your shell; you could probably stuff it in the back pocket. I’m unlikely to ever use that back pocket but I like having it there. Great option. The front pockets are huge, and the two bicep pockets are similarly actually useful for carrying things. There is a small forearm pocket on one arm as well, which is a little smaller than the others but if you can’t make do with the five other giant pockets, you might just want to break down and carry a bag.
The fleece itself is pretty warm and offers some level of wind protection from what I can tell. The zipper lets in more wind than is typical in a wind resistant jacket but that doesn’t bother me too much; at least the zipper is substantial and of good quality.
The jacket does have a few glaring limitations in my opinion. First, it’s a fleece jacket. I’m a dog handler. The tactical styling and many pockets of this jacket would be great in the field but I just see this thing getting COVERED in dog hair. Several times I have thought with regret that I wish it had a laminate shell. or WAS a laminate shell. But I do like the fleece itself. It’s a conundrum. If you don’t have a dog, you won’t care about this. I have a dog AND I’m vain; I hate being covered in animal hair so a lint roller is always in my arsenal. I only wear this jacket when I’m not interacting with Geardog, for this reason. I don’t even like to WASH fleece because the dog hair from the other clothes gets on the fleece and then you NEVER get it off. Fleece is tough for me.
Why not just wear it under a shell? You ask. That would be the natural solution and is clearly what the Valkyrie is designed for. But if I put it under a shell, I can’t reach all the cool pockets, so then I’m stuck with the pockets on my shell. This is why base and mid layers are usually so simple; there’s no point in dressing them all up only to cover them up. So that’s a conundrum.
The third downside is that the Valkyrie is not light. It’s not super heavy, but definitely not something I’d call “light”. That’s the price you pay for all these pockets. This is okay, as not every single item out there has to be feather light and fragile as surface hoar, despite what we’ve all been told time and time again by the industry. Usually, though, when you buy something a little heavier, you’re buying it because it’s also a little cheaper than its ultralight counterpart, and the Valkyrie isn’t very cheap.
I don’t want to dwell too much on the downsides because I want to encourage this company to keep going. This is a very well designed jacket and I do like to wear it when I can. The downsides I’ve listed above might not bother other people; and I’ll say for sure that if a fleece jacket is what you’re in the market for, this is an excellent one to consider. The details are extremely well-executed. The jacket is of high quality, well constructed, with excellent attention to detail. TAD is clearly a company that can make good, tough clothing and can design well for the female body. My vote is for them to take this exact design and construct it out of a water resistant softshell material. This would eliminate the need for a hardshell on top and would also eliminate the dog hair problem. I’m impressed by the design and the execution and I’d bet they’d turn out a killer softshell. What do you say, TAD?
