In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to tell you that I do not own any of ScotteVest / Scott Jordan's products, nor have I ever owned one of his products. I have been eyeing them with the common Pavlovian response that most gearheads would suffer from whilst perusing Mr. Jordan's website - gross salivation and clothing-envy.
Something happened in the advertising world that Mr. Jordan must swim in, because he is a businessman, that is most interesting to me. It will be to you as well.
I get hammered by some people because I don't like sacred cows. I don't like being taken advantage of, to say the least. Our Beloved Country, once the shining example of liberty and opportunity has become a sheep-shearing festival. We are taking every financial hit that every opportunist can throw at us. It's a contagion of greed. No amount of money is ever enough to these locusts.
So, Mr. Jordan wanted to place an ad in Delta Sky Magazine.
There was a problem. You see, Mr. Jordan specializes in turning sharp-looking light jackets, vests and other garments into the civilian equivalent of load bearing gear. He has designed clothing to carry all of your day-to-day necessities and niceties, gadgets and gizmos and this sort of thing is very attractive to the traveler as well.
Me? I'm not going to subject myself to the circus that is going on now at airports. FORGET IT! I have better things to do with my time than be irradiated or groped. I also have no interest in paying additional "security" fees to pay for the bureaucratic buffoons to irradiate or grope me. They have quite the scam going on! "Money for nothing and your chicks for free," like the old Dire Straits" song goes.
So, Delta Sky Magazine rejected his ad for one of his ingenious pieces of clothing because he is selling a garment that allows a traveler to efficiently and effectively carry their stuff without resorting to more carry on luggage which the airlines get to charge outrageous fees for.
Here is a link to the story on Mr. Jordan's website.
If you have to fly for business (to make a living), and that's the only reason I can see to subject yourself to the unnecessary exposure to radiation as well as the humiliation and degradation of the current security procedures, you should seriously consider negating the airlines money-grubbing, gouging fees. Purchase one of these fine garments and crank up your MP3 Player or iPod, kick back and enjoy the flight.
Mr. Jordan is encouraging people to download a high-resolution version of the advertisement so they can print it out and leave it where air travelers can find it. Wonderful idea!
The only problem is, if he hits them hard enough and they cry to the TSA, you might find garments that have the ability to conceal things more tightly controlled.
2 comments:
I have used a jacket as LBE since the mid-eighties, when I discovered it was so much quicker to x-ray everything loaded into the jacket rather than fumble with my pockets once in line. I have a ScotteVest and it serves that purpose on a couple of occassions.
My most recent experience was this past summer, at a small local airport. I had forgotten that I had a Spyderco Cricket (all stainless version) in one of the too many pockets of the vest. The vest was placed in the top of my carry-on. It took many trips through the scanner to find it. For ~10 minutes they studied my bag and jacket. I was stunned and embarrassed when they produced the knife. The TSA staff was very gracious and understanding. I could put it in a non-reserved checked bag for a $50 dollar fee. I said "No thanks, keep it." The TSA gal said "Are you local?" I said yes, she said "If you've got the time, go put it in your car." She escorted me out of the security area and handed my the knife; and I put it in my car. I thanked the staff for their patience, they were quite pleasant and cheerful the entire time. (I hadn't seen that knife for months.)
I had gone through that vest a couple of times before going to the airport. Some of the pockets are not "closed." Meaning that an item can come out of one pocket and float between fabric layers and roam the rest of the jacket body. This can happen when you toss your jacket over a chair or it gets picked up and dropped elsewhere. That's what happened with the Cricket. I've had it happen with keys and some tools.
I still like the jacket. I consider it light-duty. However, I do not have a legion of e-tools and devices for which the ScotteVest really shines.
You should write your own reviews of gear. The more the merrier. 8-)
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