5.11 Sabre 2 Jacket Black

The key aspects of this jacket are,

Well made
Operator friendly and intuitive
Refined but with practicality as its sole purpose

As soon as I got the Sabre Jacket I could see the quality of it. All the stitching was tidy and secure with no loose threads or any sign of corners being cut. I have previously owned a buffalo and Artkis all weather coats neither of which matched this on quality.
The weather I have worn this in so far has been cold below 3degrees, wind and just about every type of rain. At no point have I felt let down by it.
The jacket took a good five minutes for me to work my way around to establish all the pockets and functions. Even now I believe I have probably missed something. The amount of pockets is amazing and all of them are in practical locations. Despite the number of pockets some are very discreet so the coat does not appear to be over loaded. This keeps the overall look of the jacket smart yet practical.
The jacket looks like a standard black soft shell jacket so at first glance and on covert work the jacket does not stick out. This is probably the best feature of it. All its added extras are tucked away. It has three ID pull outs which are fully removable and can be tailored for your role, they are one large rear one and two on the chest. The sides unzip further than any other jacket I have used before allowing easy quick access to PPE. Built in to support this is a plastic locking belt system which releases the side in one quick pull. I have never seen this before and it works well.
AS I mentioned earlier I have probably still more to find out about this jacket. This is probably the only draw back as there is so much going on with it. I would strongly recommend that you spend a good amount of time exploring the jacket and working out what works for you. There are so many little touches with the jacket. I especially like the clip in the left hand pocket which I use for keys.
The jacket is clearly designed around tactical use and exceeds any other jacket I have used before. However it has not lost its ability to protect you from wind and rain. The hood works well and is easily stored away or removed all together. This may not be the warmest jacket but I never expected it to. It protects me from rain keeping not only me but my kit stowed inside dry. The fully sealed zips work well not only for rain but for cutting out wind. This is a lightweight jacket and at times it is easy to forget that as it carry’s out the same role as some bigger coats.
I have been very impressed with the Sabre 2 and it really is the small attention to detail and refinement of the jacket that makes this so special. All the small features from large patches to smart 5.11 branded lining make this a super jacket

May be expensive, but it is a great upgrade! I did have the old version and was slightly worried but you are definitely paying for quality here!