Helikon-Tex Patriot Heavy Fleece Jacket

XXL reviewed
Pros:

Thick material.
Well-made and heavy duty fleece. Slightly too large to fit under a rain coat of the same size (xxl). Quite warm nevertheless.

Double zips.
Handy double zips at front. The lower zip enables easy access to trouser pockets, anything stored on belt. Personally I use the lower one on my mountain bike so that the jacket doesn't ride up.

Elbow pads
Tough elbow pads to protect from scratches. These aren't padded though.

Large hood
Hood can easily accommodate a winter hat and maybe a climbing helmet at a push. No a cycling helmet though.

Lots of pockets
2 Map pockets at rear.
2 chest pockets (slightly too high imo)
2 Bicep pockets
1 left forearm pocket

Cons

Cuffs very tight
The cuffs are extremely tight. I wear a Garmin Fenix watch and it's an extremely tight squeeze. On more than one occasion the cuffs have pressed the button on the watch. If you are wearing gloves these would have to fit over the cuffs as opposed to under.

Velcro grips are long enough.
The Velcro straps on the cuffs only just reach the Velcro and are pretty useless because of this.

Inside pocket not a pocket!
The outer chest pockets have a lining on the inside of the jacket. These look like internal pocket. I slipped my phone in the top and it fell straight out of the bottom, so not a fault, just something to be aware of.

I bought one of these last winter and I have found it to be very warm, the material is dense so windproof to a greater extent than lighter fleece material, not quite windproof but definitely keeps more wind out. The size was spot on for me, I am reasonably broad across the shoulders and there is plenty of room in the shoulders and arms. Lots of pockets. My only critisism would be that the side pockets are too high to be comfortable for hand warming, although you could use them for that if in dire need, it wouldn't be comfortable to walk around with one's hands that high up, so I wear gloves, no problem. Other than that I would say a warmer fleece than the equivalent money would buy you in many other mountain specialist makes.
Brilliant service from Hennies as usual of course, my best source for knives and gear, delivered super fast to my door. Good for advice on any related subject too.

I'd had a lesser manufacturer's black, hooded fleece for about 12 months when, as every review of the product had told me the zip failed! I originally looked at the helikon patriot but cheaped out. My advice to anyone reading this is don't. I've had the patriot for 2 days now and it's perfect. Great zips, pockets are large enough without being silly, so comfortable and feels hard wearing but I suppose time will tell on that one. I'm 6'2" and 14st ish so the xl was bang on for me with room for a big jumper as well. Not my first Helikon product but can't believe I didn't go for this in the first place. It's very, very good!

I have been utilising mountaineering and general outdoor gear for decades and remember well when Fleece and general Polartec material really started to be accepted by Mountaineering professionals. Over the years there have been many variants on fleece garments, some really good innovations and some very poor attempts in so called outdoor gear. This HeliKon-Tex Patriot Heavy Fleece is a fine example of a well made, versatile heavy duty fleece. Note the wording heavy, if your focus is on light weight materials and outdoor kit this may not be for you, for all others this is a must buy and is one of the best fleece jackets i now own. The price is really good and backed up by the outstanding service The Legendary Heinnie Haynes Team provide relentlessly. Ordered late Sunday night-delivered early am Tuesday.

Well first off? This fleece is really warm if your on the move all the time? And even if you're not it's still a very warm fleece, I like all the pockets in it, great for carrying all of my stuff phone , keys, bits and pieces!! Have worn this out in some very strong wind and I was only wearing a thermal top on underneath it, and was really warm, the fit is a bit big but that's great for layering up as am only 5ft 3in tall so a small fits great on me? Overall am loving this fleece will have to buy a couple more in different colours , well recommended.

Pros: wonderfully soft, warm and practical as a summer jacket or winter under layer.

Cons: a cold wind will find its way through at the elbows, armpit and neck area, front pockets are too impractical for hand warming and not much use for anything else. Far too pricey, especially when you compare to ex-military kit.

Receive this today! Very warm very comfortable. I'm 183 cm and 90kg, large fit me well except the shouler are a little bit wider.

Ok so this short review is only a preliminary as I received it this morning but have been wearing it all day.
Sizing - There seems to be a lot of wondering about sizing as Helikon site seems to be way out (lost in translation somewhere i suspect) . Ok so for another example on sizing I am 5'10 42 chest I took a gamble and ordered a Medium it fits perfectly. There,s enough room o fit a few layers underneath if needed and it fits well with just a Tshirt underneath.
The product itself seems well made and on the one I received the stitching all seems in good order (something to watch out for with helikon its either good or its falling to bits). As a fleece I would say its a Medium/heavy fleece rather than a heavy.
Its a nice design and nice fit plenty of pockets.
The only gripe I have is one that's been mentioned before as its a hoody type fleece my immediate thing to do is to put my hands in the non existent waist pockets, its not a massive drawback but had they put a couple of hand height pockets in this item would be a 5star.

Overall for the money you wont get a better hoody type fleece than this.

I bought this on a visit to HH about six months ago, I have always wanted one of these, but held back because they seemed to only go up to a 3xl where I am always a size 4 or 5xl 56inch chest, Rich at HH was as helpful as ever, he gave me one to try on it fitted like a glove (well a fleece actually) I was astounded to see it was only a 2xl so bare this in mind when sizing.
Now the jacket itself, I used to carry a bag around with me certainly during the winter this has been my EDC jacket I've ditched the bagand carry everything in this bad boy, keys,wallet, phone,earphones, notepad & pen, medication (insulin)and blood testing kit, and it doesn't look like you've got anything in it and its lovely and warm. I will be buying all my recreational clothing from HH.