Investment

I haven’t had a light jacket in some years. I’ve had two winter coats but each is too warm for the current weather, when it’s cool in the morning and warm in the afternoon. I needed a jacket, or windbreaker of some sort.

My first stop was ThinkGeek, where I hoped to find something suitably geeky. The only thing that caught my eye was the Ultimate Personal Area Network hoodie, but the price was way more than I wanted to spend on a sweatshirt. Amazon had it for the same price.

On a lark, I visited the manufacturer’s website, SCOTTEVEST, where I was delighted to find a Father’s Day sale offering the same hoodie for substantially less. I bought it, even though it offered more gimmickery than I really need. I don’t carry an iPod with me at all times; nor do I listen to much music while on the go. In fact, I don’t have many gadgets. But I do need something for cooler weather.

The hoodie arrived earlier this week, and I’ve had occasion to wear it several times. My biggest complaint is the company logo emblazoned on the back: I hate being a mobile billboard for the companies that produce the clothes I wear. My only other real gripe is that the “integrated keychain” takes up too much space in the right pocket. I haven’t tried out the “personal area network”, in which I thread headphone cables from the pocket through the inside of the jacket up to the collar. I suppose I should probably give this a try.

The weight management system, however, gets a big thumbs up from me. I put my Treo 650 in the breast pocket, and I could hardly tell it was there. Treo owners know the heft of these devices, and I was truly pleased with how comfortable the hoodie remained even with the load: it didn’t pull or sit off my shoulders in any way. I also really like the magnetic pocket snaps. They work well, without increasing the weight.

I heartily recommend the Ultimate Hoodie as a Father’s Day gift to all the geek dads out there. Get it while you can – as much as I like this jacket, I wouldn’t want to pay the normal full price for it.