Beyond Clothing LLC

[SAR_Squid79]

I am currently deployed to Afghanistan, and it's pretty cold over here right now. Our standard issue Cold Weather Gear that we came with was completely inadequate.

A few weeks ago, we all received full 7-Layer cold weather systems from Beyond Clothing / ADS Tactical.
http://www.beyondclothing.com/products/
http://www.adsinc.com/beyond-clothing

This stuff is hands-down THE BEST cold weather clothing I've ever had in my life - military or civilian! It's comfortable, it fits PERFECTLY, it looks cool, and IT WORKS!!! ...and it's made in the USA. I absolutely think that this cold weather clothing system is definitely worthy of an Overland Journal review! I think the complete system costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,500.00. I own several pieces of Triple Aught Design (A.K.A. TAD Gear) clothing - which I've been very happy with, but this Beyond Clothing stuff beats the pants off of Triple Aught Design, IMO. I can't post pics from over here, but I'll post pics of all this stuff when I get home.

The 7-Layer System consists of:

LEVEL-1

• Silk Line boxer-brief underwear
• Silk Line t-shirt (short sleeve)

LEVEL-2

• Base Line midweight long sleeve shirt
• Base Line midweight long underwear

LEVEL-3

• Grid moisture-wicking half-zip pullover
• Grid pants

LEVEL-4

• Fleece Jacket
• Fleece Vest

LEVEL-5
(my favorite layer!)

• Glacier "Cold Fusion Shock" Soft Shell Jacket (AWESOME!!!!)
• Glacier "Cold Fusion Shock" Soft Shell Pants

LEVEL-6

• Primaloft "puffy" Jacket
• Primaloft "puffy" vest

LEVEL-7

• Ridgeback Waterproof Jacket
• Ridgeback Waterproof Bib
• Ridgeback Waterproof Pants

 

[Bighead]

Good to hear you received some decent cold weather gear. I remember how cold it was there during my winter deployments sitting on an OP at 10,000'.

That is a brand I haven't heard of before. I'll be curious to see what your thoughts are after the deployment.

 

[sbly]

SAR,

I have a quick question for you. The improvements over the TAD stuff, is it just the overall quality, durability or is it the design that makes your BeyondClothing a better product? I have been wearing Arc'teryx for awhile but I'm always looking at adding quality items to the kit bag.

Sorry to hear about the cold weather, but hey think of all the new "Overlanding" cold weather gear you got, rock on big Navy. If you need to warm-up take a trip up/down to Kabul, the weather has been nice the last few months.

sbly

 

[SAR_Squid79]

As far as Beyond being better than the TAD gear... I think it's the same level of overall quality, but more 'user friendly', better fit (for me), and costs a little less.

By user friendly, I mean that I think the Beyond pockets are positioned better, the hoods on the Beyond Clothing items are removable (TAD Gear hood is not stowable or removable), etc.

I would say that the TAD Gear Recon or Ranger hoodie would be the closest equivalent to the Level-5 jacket I listed. While my Recon Hoodie (which I also brought over here) is warmer, I would give the edge to Beyond - once again because the hood is removable, and it is more water resistant. Wind resistance is about the same.

 

[RiverCityDave]

I couldnt agree with you more man, I have been in almost 18 years,a nd by far the VERY best thing I've ever gotten in the Army is my 7 layer gear. I was over there last year and I was honestly comfortable most of the time, even in gnarly weather.

I cant say enough, it is super well thought out.