Clothing is one of the most important things you can pack in your survival backpack. This includes getting the best edc jackets to help you brave the outdoors. When you are forced to travel in cold temperature, having a suitable jacket can greatly reduce your likelihood of getting frostbites.
Most people already have a jacket as part of their everyday carry items. In this article, we will give a comprehensive review towards the top 5 edc jackets we found in the market and help you decide which is the BEST one that you should opt for.
Important features of the Best EDC Jackets
To lay out a list of the exact features that you need would be impossible. It would greatly depend on the conditions that you are wearing it in. However, I have managed to come up a list of general recommendations (good-to-have’s) for an EDC Jacket.
1. The Jacket is made with solid construction
EDC Jackets should be made from relatively comfortable and durable materials. Usually, I would recommend looking out for jackets made from polyester, fleece and nylon.
The ideal jacket should be rugged enough for your daily activities.
2. Resistant from external elements
The jackets should (to a certain extent) be water-proof, moisture-wicking, capable of suffering scratches and windproof.
3. Contains sufficient pocket
This would highly depend on whether you would prefer storing things in your jacket or an edc backpack. The jacket should be designed in a way where it contains sufficient pockets.
Best EDC Jacket Comparison Table
| Product Image | Product | Price | Waterproof | Weight | Layers | Hood | Arm Zippers | Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Rothco Special Ops Tactical Jacket | Check Price on Amazon | Yes | 2.2 pounds | 3 Layers Construction | Concealable Hood | Yes | Great option for EDC. Waterproof material with many zippered pockets and concealable hood. |
  | Condor Summit Soft Shell Jacket | Check Price on Amazon | Yes | 2.0 pounds | 3 Layers Construction | Stow-away Hoodie | Yes | Best bang for you buck. Condor jacket offers excellent comfort and water resistant exterior. |
  | Helly Hansen Seven J Rain Jacket | Check Price on Amazon | Yes | 3.0 pounds | 1 Layer | Fixed Hood that is adjustable | No | Protects you from the rain and wind. Great for survivalist to brave the outdoors. |
  | Outdoor Research Helium II Jacket | Check Price on Amazon | Yes | 0.4 pounds | 1 Layer | Adjustable Hood | No | Lightest of them all. Ultra light jacket with water proof and breathable properties. |
  | 5.11 Tactical 5-in-1 Jacket | Check Price on Amazon | Yes | 1.0 pound | 2 Layers | Removable Hood | No | Best tactical jacket by 5.11. Offers 5 different jacket configurations and extremely versatile. |
Best EDC Jackets
1. Rothco Special Ops Tactical Jacket – Suitable for Everyday Use
Company Introduction – Rothco is one of the world’s leading military, tactical and outdoor clothing supplier. It’s a family-owned business founded by Milton Somberg and Howard Somberg in 1953.
Today, Rothco is serving our 10,000 dealers throughout the globe. Initially, Rothco started producing military products but they eventually ventured into he outdoor space.
Overview – The Rothco Special Ops Tactical Jacket is a versatile jacket, suitable for various occasions. It’s a soft shell tactical jacket that is made with waterproof polyester outer shell.
Characteristics
Colors – The jacket is available in 7 types of colors – either Midnight Navy Blue, Black, Coyote Brown, Gun Metal Grey, Olive Drab, Subdued Urban Digital Camo, Woodland Camo.
Size – Besides the usual small, medium and large-size, you can get it X-Large, 2X-Large and even up to 7X Large.
Product Dimension – The product dimension is 12 inches x 10 inches x 8 inches
Weight – The jacket weighs around 2.2 pounds.
Solid 3-layer construction – The Jacket’s 3-layer construction will be able to deflect wind, wick away moisture and help retain heat.
Stand-up Collar – The jacket comes with a Fleece Lined stand-up Collar.
Number of Pockets – You can find a total of 6 pockets on this jacket.
Suitable for both genders – This is a versatile jacket that will be able to look good on both men and women.
Features
Waterproof – Besides the solid 3-layer construction, the jacket comes with a waterproof polyester outer shell.
Zippered Pockets – The Jacket contains 6 zippered pockets which is great for you to store your everyday carry items and essential gears.
I would highly encourage you to pursue outdoor activities such as hiking, camping or hunting wearing this jacket.
Concealable Hood – The hoot on the jacket is concealable and removable.
To conceal it, you can hide it within a zipper pouch in the collar. It’s basically hiding it in the fleece lined stand-up collar.
To remove it, you can just detach it from the jacket totally.
Loop Shoulder Patches – The jacket comes with two 4 inches x 4 inches Loop shoulder patches. You can attach morale patches on the loop field. The shoulder patches comes with zippered pockets for you to store your everyday carry item.
Highrise/ Zipper Chest Pocket – There’s one cool feature for the Zipper chest pocket – You can basically pass your wire through the port, later the D-Ring and finally the Small Opening in the Top Pouch.
This is a useful feature if you love listening to music. You can place your mobile music devices in that pouch.
Internal Zipper Pocket – The Jacket comes with an internal Zipper pocket so that you can store additional items in your jacket.
Two Way zipper – The 2-way zipper that comes with the jacket is designed to allow you to easily access your gears that are in your pants or around your waist.
Adjustable Elastic Wrist Cuffs – The adjustable elastic hook and loop wrist cuff can allow you to cinch around your gloves. There is even a forearm zipper pocket near the cuffs for you to store some of the smaller everyday carry items.
Underarm Ventilation Zippers – If you ever more into a warmer environment, you can utilize the underarm ventilation zipper to help keep you coo.
Double Zipper Back pocket – The back pocket is an excellent spot to store larger items.
Drawbacks
Sleeves may be a bit long – The sleeves may be a bit long but I would say that it’s normal for a tactical jacket to have long sleeves. Also, you can tighten the sleeves down once you put the jacket on.
Little Neck Room – If you were to stow the hood away, the neck area will feel a little tight.
My thoughts
Excellent Fit – if you choose the right size, the jacket should fit you well. Generally, the jacket should feel fitting except the part ear the arms which will feel a bit wide.
Great for putting holsters or concealed carries – The length of the jacket is just nice, especially if you are planning to put your holsters on your pants. There’s an elastic sinch on the right side which is inside the waist band of the jacket, when it is not tightened, it will remain inside. If you re carrying holsters, this will help prevent any interference with the holstered sidearm.
Excellent mid-layer in cold weather – This jacket is an excellent mid-layer jacket, which feels comfortable and helps keeps you warm. The outlet that is available is great for outdoor activities, it allows moisture to escape without letting you become vulnerable to the cold surroundings.
Depending on your preferences, you may not even need to put a layer on top of this jacket when the weather is cold.
Can be used under the rain – If you are faced with a medium downpour, you should still be kept dry with this piece of jacket.
2. Condor Summit Soft Shell Jacket – Best Bang for the Buck
Company Overview – The supplier, Condor Outdoor products Inc, was founded in 1994. It’s main line of business includes the wholesale distribution of sporting and recreational good. It is headquartered in Irwindale California, USA.
The company started focusing on manufacturing gears made for the great outdoors. Since the product line expanded, the company started focusing its efforts in manufacturing focused gears. They are responsible for creating the popular Condor 3-day Assault Pack, which gave the company a great reputation.
Their products are field tested every by their departments and agencies all over the country to ensure that every one of their product has premium quality.
Characteristics
Color – The jacket comes in 7 colors including Graphite, Black, Cayote Tan, Olive Drab, Navy, Tan and Navy Blue.
Materials – The Jacket is 100% made from Polyester. The material used to make the jacket is durable, waterproof, lightweight and breathable. The fabric is pretty elastic too.
How does Condor outdoor do it?
They manufacture billions of microscopic pores that are smaller than raindrops, but it’s much bigger than a water vapour molecule, which helps give it the above qualities.
The Outer Layer is the layer made from 100% polyester which is an elastic and high-density fabric.
The Mid Layer of the jacket is made of a breathable film membrance.
Finally, the Inner Layer is made with super fine fleece to help ensure comfort.
Sizes Available – You can select a jacket from size S to size XXX-Large. All of the sizes are made available.
Features
Stow-away Hoodie – As with most great edc jackets, this one comes with a stow-away hoodie as well.
Two-shoulder pockets – The jacket comes with two shoulder pockets which helps allows you to store and access your edc items with ease.
Two Highrise/ Chest Pockets – The jacket even comes with 2 chest pockets for you to store larger items in it.
Drawstring waistband and hood – With the drawstring waistband and hood, you can be sure that the jacket securely fits your body without letting any external elements exposed to your body.
Two 4 inches x 4 inches shoulder patch panels – The jacket comes with 2 shoulder patches which allows you to put your desired logo.
Temperature Regulation – The 3-layer combination which the jacket is made of helps to wick moisture, stop water from passing through and helps circulate body heat.
Zippered Armpit Area – You can unzip the area around your armpit when the weather gets hot or when you want to improve the ventilation in your jacket.
Has waterbeading feature – The jacket is sprayed with 3m Teflon to help with waterbeading. This is a pretty high-quality spray which does it’s function quite efficiently.
The PTFE Coating by Teflon is excellent for keeping you dry even when there’s a downpour.
Drawbacks
Jacket seems to run small – Condor line of products seem to run small, which means that you may want to get a jacket that is larger in size to get a better fit.
Bulky front pocket – The front pocket tends to be a bit bulky. You will have to pull your jacket down once in a while.
Tough Zippers – The main zippers feels pretty hard and it’s not as smooth.
My thoughts
Excellent Fit – This jacket has an almost perfect fit. It is not baggy at all but the jacket gives enough space for your arms to move freely too. With this great fit, you will feel comfortable and it should look good on you.
The length of the jacket and the arm length are great too.
Even if you have a small built, this jacket should be able to fit you well without being too tight or look baggy.
Excellent construction – The jacket is obviously high-quality. The stitching and construction of this jacket is excellent.
Suitable for a variety of temperature – Be it cold or warm, you will feel pretty comfortable with this piece of jacket on.
Sufficient room – With this jacket, you will have enough room to wear a layer of thick fleece underneath the jacket if you are feeling cold.
3. Helly Hansen Seven J Rain Jacket – Excellent for Rainy Seasons
Company Overview – Helly Hansen is a Norwegian textile and gear for the outdoors. It was founded since 1877 by Helly Juell Hansen.
Currently, they are still developing excellent gears for people to face harsh environments with ease. They are known for various market innovations including the first supple waterproof fabric, the first fleece fabric in 1960’s and manufacturing the first technical base fabric in 1970s.
Today, they have patented several technologies including the Lifa® Stay Dry Technology and patented H2Flow® temperature regulating system.
Characteristics
Color – The Jacket comes in a total of 29 colors! I’ll just list out some significant ones including Navy, Charcoal, Black, Grenadine, Alert Red, Ebony and Racer Blue.
Size – Some of the available sizes include Small, Medium Large, X-Large up to 5X-Large.
Here is a size chart for men:
Here is the size chart for women:
Materials – The Jacket is made from 100% polyester. The back of the jacket is made with polyurethane.
Dimension – The jacket is 4-inches high and 13-inches wide.
Weight – The jacket weighs around 3 pounds.
Features
Waterproof and windproof– The Helly Hansen Seven J Rain Jacket is made with Helly Tech 2 Ply Fabric which makes the jacket waterproof and windproof. This fabric is able to keep water out of the fabric while allowing sweat stored inside to evaporate, which is essential for keeping you dry.
The HellyTech contains unique membranes which stops water molecules from going in but lets the moisture stored in the jacket to escape. This makes the jacket ideal for various activities despite your surroundings being windy, wet and cold.
Water-repellent treatment – The jacket comes with Durable Water Repellency (DWR) Treatment beads water.
Full weather protection – The jacket is fully seam and sealed which is required for full wewather protection.
Quick Dry Lining – The jacket comes with quick dry lining which wicks sweat away from the body.
Hood – The jacket comes with a fixed hood that has multiple one-hand adjustment points. This helps ensure that you can easily adjust the hood while keeping it securely on your head even when you are hit with a massive downpour.
Despite the hood being fixed, it’s fully adjustable. It’s made to keep external elements from your body.
Adjustable Cuffs – The jacket comes with adjustable cuffs which is designed to help keep you warm. This helps ensure the jacket is fitting too.
Bottom Cinch Cord – The bottom cinch cord contains a fully adjustable bottom hem cinch cord that guarantees a perfect fit. Also, it helps you to keep heat inside your body despite being in cold surroundings.
Draw Strings – Also, there are draw strings at the bottom of the jacket. Unlike most jackets, the draw string for this jacket is located on the inside of the jacket hem.
Drawbacks
Not breathable – Since the jacket has polyurethane in it, it’s makes the jacket not breathable. However, since the jacket is light, you can let the heat escape when the hood is down and the front is open.
My thoughts
Excellent for daily commute – If you are going on your best urban commuter bikes daily or walking, the Helly Hansen Seven J Rain Jacket is a solid jacket that helps keep you warm and dry. It’s definitely a jacket you should consider.
Great for braving the outdoors – This jacket will feel really comfortable for mid-30 – 50 degrees temperature range, even when there are some wind and rain.
Even when the surrounding is really humid, the moisture wouldn’t be able to enter your jacket too.
Great for a range of weather – For most of the temperature conditions, wearing this jacket and some light fleece would be sufficient.
Since the sleeves are fully lined with soft nylon, if you are wearing a short sleeve shirt when the weather gets warm, you won’t feel too hot.
Excellent for travel – The jacket is really well-made and is capable of shedding the rain really well. It will be able to keep you warm and drive despite a downpour. Plus, it looks awesome too.
Great Fitting – The jacket fits really well to your body and you will be surprised at how good you will look in this jacket.
4. Outdoor Research Helium II Jacket – Great for the Outdoors
Introduction – Outdoor Research is a well-known company for manufacturing technical apparel and accessories. It is a company that was formed since 1981 and is based on Seattle.
Characteristics
Size – The available sizes for this jacket includes small, medium, large, X-large and XX-large.
Colors – The jacket comes in 20 colors! Some of the range of colors include Black/ Hydro, Pewter, Cayote, Lemongrass (yellow) or Hotsauce (Red).
Dimension – The jacket has a dimension of 14 inches x 11 inches x 2 inches.
Weight – The jacket weighs 1 pound.
Features
Zipper Closure – The jacket comes with zippered chest pocket and one Velcro pocket that is located inside the jacket. There’s a small loop at the inside pocket which allows you to attach your keys.
Fully seam taped – All the seams on the jacket are well-seamed, making it thoroughly waterproof (or weatherproof even).
Pertex Shield & Ripstop Nylon – The jacket is made with Pertex Shield and 30D ripstop nylon, which makes the jacket really solid.
Adjustable bungee cords – The hood and waistband at the jacket has adjustable bungee cords.
Drawbacks
Lacks Adjustability – The Jacket does not contain that many features that allows it to be adjustable. Since the manufacturers wanted to make the jacket lightweight, they took out the wrist adjustment straps and used elastic wrist openings instead.
The other 2 adjustable features include the waist adjustment strap and the hood adjustment strap, which gives you minimal flexibility.
Lack Breathability – The waterproof feature of this jacket comes at one cost – where it lacks breathability. Your shirt may get a little wet from your sweat.
My thoughts
Storm Protection – You can bet that the jacket is 100% waterproof. Also, the jacket is super-breathable. The jacket will be able to keep your body dry despite a heavy downpour.
Ultralight rain jacket – If you are looking for an ultralight rain jacket, this is definitely the one for you.
Excellent Fitting – The fitting of this jacket is great. You can even get it one size larger if you plan to wear 1 more layer below.
Also, the jacket does not balloon out like some lightweight rain jackets if it is zipped sufficiently.
Really comfortable – The jacket feels really comfortable. Since it is lightweight, you wouldn’t notice the layering even when it’s over a t-shirt.
Solid Construction – The jacket has really impressive construction since it is made with Pertex Shield and 30D ripstop nylon.
5. 5.11 Tactical 5-in-1 Jacket – Most Tactical EDC Jacket
Introduction – 5.11 is an extremely well-known brand for making high-quality tactical items. The 5.11 Tactical 5-in-1 Jacket is no exception. The other masterpiece which they have made is the 5.11 Tactical backpack which gained huge amount of popularity in the survival community.
Obviously, the company developed this jacket with quality in their mind. Besides this jacket, 5.11 Tactical manufactures shirts, pants, bags and other accessories. 5.11 promises readiness beyond limits.
What does 5-in-1 mean? – Basically, 5-in-1 Jacket means that the jacket comes with five different configurations. Instead of getting five different jackets (Which is much more expensive), you get it at a price of getting 1 jacket.
Here are the 5 different configurations:
1. Jacket with inner fleece sweater
2. Jacket shell with no fleece sweater
3. Fleece Sweater
4. Fleece sweater with sleeves removed (This makes it look like a vest)
5. Fleece sweater with jacket on top (when each item is worn separately)
Characteristics
Materials – The jacket is made from mainly fleece.
Dimension – The front panel of the jacket measures 5 inches in width x 5 ½ inches in length.
While the back panel measures 12.5 inches in width x 9 inches in length.
Colors – The jacket comes in 2 colors – Dark Navy or black.
Size – It comes in a range of sizes ranging from X-Small to 5XL.
YKK Zippers and Prym Snaps – Throughout the jacket, 5.11 only use high-quality YKK zippers and Prym snaps on the 5-in-1 Jacket.
Features
Removeable ID Panels – The jacket is primarily designed for duty personnels, where they are required to show their ID for identification. The ID Panels designed on the jacket are meant for personnels to put their IDs.
The panels are located at 2 places: the chest area and at the back.
You will be able to clearly show your badge using the ID Panels so that you can be easily identified if there is such a need.
Side zippers – The side zippers are there to help improve ventilation. Also, it allows you to easily access to the side arm, where you can store your everyday carry items.
Zip-off sleeves – The sleeves on the inner fleece of the jacket are removable so that you can relieve some heat especially in hot weather.
Removable Hood – The hood is highly versatile and functional. You can choose to wear the hood depending on the weather condition. When there’s a downpour, you can choose to wear the hood. However, when the weather gets hot, you can stow away the hood easily.
This hood is made to help keep water off from your head area.
Furthermore, the hood is highly adjustable especially with the elastic cording and the cinch locks, allowing you to move the hood according to your comfort. This provides great versatility which is important for fit and use.
Ready Pockets – The ready pockets basically mean pockets that are made easily accessible to you. They are made to store documents and other everyday carry essentials such as your handphones. If you are not carrying bags around, the pockets would be really helpful.
The patented document chest pockets are located both on the outer jacket and fleece inner liner. 5.11 wanted to make the jacket extremely practical, allowing you to store gears such as guns, flashlights or other accessories into these pockets.
Back-up-belt system – The jacket features 5.11’s patented Back-up belt system for you to securely stow critical gear along with you.
Hook and Loop closure sleeves – The sleeves come with hook and loop closures, which aids you to help keep water out of your body when there is a downpour. You can loosen the closure and let ventilation in when needed too.
Fleece Liner comes with Nylon Lining – Both of these linings are significant. The fleece liner is there to help keep water out from the jacket and help ensure your body stays dry.
While the nylon lining helps ensure that the jacket is easy to wear on and come off, especially when you are wearing it on top of a shirt. If it’s a straight fleece, this causes friction and will often be harder to put on or come off.
Drawbacks
Not too breathable – The fact that this jacket is waterproof, windproof and extremely solid comes with a price – that it is not too breathable. If you wear the jacket, you will feel warm. This will make you sweat.
My thoughts
Extremely Tactical – The Jacket allows you immediate access to your side-arm, has hidden ID panels and strategically placed pockets. It’s definitely meant for people who wants a tactical jacket.
Versatile – You can wear the 5.11 Tactical 5-in-1 Jacket either separately by itself, or with an underlayer such as a fleece liner.
Since it has removeable sleeves, you can wear the liner separately so that you can modify the jacket into various ways to help you stay comfortable in different conditions.
The jacket keeps you dry – The jacket is lined with fleece, which should help in keeping you dry. Even the zippered hand pockets are lined with fleece to help keep your hands sufficiently warm and dry.
Waterproof and Breathable – You will surprised at how high-performing the 5.11 Tactical 5-in-1 Jacket is. The jacket has a waterproof and breathable outer jacket, that is made to resist wear and tear too.
To top it off, the fleece liner that comes with the jacket is durable, water-resistant and even wind-resistant.
Great Fit – Even if you wear a layer underneath, the jacket will still fit really well. The jackets should be able to cover you up to your wrists.
Keep you warm in the winter – This jacket is able to keep you warm even if you were to walk under the rain or on snow. With the hood equipped properly, you should be able to keep out most external elements too.
The raincoat will keep your body really warm. Definitely a jacket to brave bad weather.
Tough Jacket – Despite the jacket being soft and breathable, the whole jacket is generally tough as well. It is able to resist a beating.
Concluding Thoughts
I hope that the comprehensive review of each of the best edc jackets which I found in the market helped you decide on which jacket you should get. They are suitable for different individuals, depending on your personal needs. I would encourage to give deep thought and invest in a high-quality edc jacket, since you are going to use it every day. A high-quality edc jacket more often than not is more durable and comfortable than a cheap one. Hence, remember to spend wisely!