Back in 2015, well known apparel brand Propper introduced a variant of their BA Softshell jacket in the US Woodland Camo pattern. This is one of the few softshell items produced in this camo and while I would describe it overall as being mid range, it is the best of the modern options that have been manufactured. It has been out of production for a while, but there are a few still available in stock as of my publishing this post.
Visible from the back of the jacket are the armpit ventilation zips and what would traditionally be described as a ‘game’ pocket. Historically the game pocket was a large pass-through pocket along the lower back in which one would stow dead game birds, though I doubt anyone has ever carried a dead pheasant inside a Propper softshell.
While a few modern production smocks and other such outer jackets have occasionally been featured with pockets on the lower back, such a feature is decidedly not in high demand these days. If anything is ever stored in such a pocket it completely precludes the wearer from sitting in a vehicle (comfortably anyway), or indeed on most chairs.
On the left chest a horizontally zipped pocket stows away an ID display panel edged with reflective tape and with a loop strip along the top, which is a somewhat common feature built in to jackets aimed at the US police and LE market.
Both sleeves have an external pocket in the bicep area with zips in the usual places you would expect. Only the right sleeve has a an exterior loop field for patches and overall this is far from a symmetrical design. I would imagine the layout serves a purpose for some people, but I definitely prefer all my symmetrical issued smocks and other outer jackets.
All of the closure zips are a rather nice YKK coil type with the pulls featuring a rubber-like plastic outer sleeve and springs that keep the pulls in place (rather than flapping around loosely). These are actually the same zip type used on Gen 1 and a handful of very early Gen 2 garments from Crye.
On the right side of the chest is a vertical pocket intended for quick access documents which closes, unusually, via magnets. This makes access very fast indeed with no need to close up a zip or adjust velcro, but is frankly unsuitable for an item of military clothing. At the end of the day however this is a jacket designed with police work in mind that has simply had the Woodland camo pattern applied to it.
Pockets are all constructed from mesh internally which means any pocket can pull double duty as a vent and will work just fine for the majority of items you may wish to stash. However they are not super rugged and will not make the best places for stashing particularly heavy, rough or sharp objects over time.
The main front closure zip has a sizeable storm flap running its’ full length and there is a good internal mesh pocket on the chest for more sensitive items.
I like the fact that the wrists have both a velcro cuff and some elastication, as this allows for both a proper fit and quick on-off with the jacket. Also shown here is one of the internal forearm pockets, these are built in to both sleeves but in my opinion are a superfluous feature, primarily designed to move products and are a pretty poor location to store equipment.
Being a polyester outer shell is a cost saving measure and softshells from the likes of OR, Crye and Arc’teryx are essentially exclusively made from nylon. But, being polyester (with that bit of spandex adding some stretch) and made in China keeps the cost closer to the 100 mark, rather than the 300-400+ that you’ll pay for those other brands.
With the BA being lined with fleece it will keep off a good amount of wind and rain and retain a fair amount of warmth, but also won’t be very breathable. I would not describe this as a high activity jacket for extended trips in to the field. In those cases, separate layers for insulation and weather protection are the superior choice.
Above on the left is the Propper softshell Woodland fabric, on the right is an unused Crye shirt in Woodland NYCO, the fabric for which will most likely have come from a mill that produces Berry compliant material for the DoD.
Black is black and the green is a good match between the two items, though the brown is rather red-ish on the Propper jacket and the tan is a very light shade. Overall not too bad of a match though. When viewed on its’ own the BA does a good job in terms of representing the US Woodland camouflage in both pattern and colouration.
I continue to hope that FirstSpear will do a run of Wind Cheaters in US Woodland so I can replace the Propper BA, but as a collector and hobbyist it serves its’ purpose more than adequately and it is quite well assembled overall.
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