SCOTTeVEST Men's RFID Travel Vest, Black, Small

Even though I do not travel much, I did send several friends an email explaining about my purchase and how very satisfied I am with SCOTTeVEST and gave them my reasons for my purchasing this item and why I suggest they should do the same!

I ordered a small because that's what I usually wear but it's too tight around the armpits AND extremely loose around the waist. The previous reviewer that said to buy one size up was totally right but not because the sizes run small. It's because the sizes are fit for a person without a chest/back and has a huge gut. This is made for people fit/shaped like a pear. I guess that's the stereotype of the average American? Are they trying to say not to gift this to someone unless they're a "husky" American?

I'm not sure who designed this vest but the see-thru windows for a cellphone are a disaster. First if you have a screen protector on the face of the display (glass). the phone won't even begin to slid into the pocket because it hangs up on the plastic window. I mean they marry together and you have no way of getting them loose without putting all of your fingers down the front of the pocket between the phone screen and the plastic window. To make matters worse I have a see-thru case on the phone from Otter-Box and the material sticks to the plastic window even worse, so I can't even reverse the phone in the pocket. Another brilliant move is that I have an iPhone 8 Plus with an Otter-Box case which will not fit into the pocket so I can attach the Velcro strip the pocket isn't deep enough. I mean doesn't anyone at ScottEvest even own an iPhone 8 Plus and OtterBox case geez! Nice idea but take the plastic windows out and put fabric in its place and make the pockets longer by at least a 1/2" PLEASE. First vest I have purchased and the last one, I can not recommend this vest. Some of you make think its my fault for buying the phone and case combination and I would think the same but please this is how people buy the products so ScottEvest listen to your customers!

I bought this vest (Scottevest RFID Travel Vest, Large) for a trip to Alaska. When it arrived it fit well enough but I had so much trouble with the zippers that I returned it. Instead I bought the Scottevest RFID Travel Vest w/ 2-way zipper, which is identical to this vest except for having a 2-way zipper in front instead of a 1-way zipper. I was afraid to order another 1-way zipper vest because of the very sticky zippers, so I ordered the version with a 2-way zipper and it came just before I left for Alaska. I wore the version with the 1-way zipper around my house and yard for 2 or 3 days, and the version with the 2-way zipper for about 14 days on my Alaska trip. Because the design, construction, pockets, website specs and fit of the 1-way zipper RFID vest are the same as for the 2-way zipper RFID vest, my comments apply to both vests.I wore the vest every day, several hours per day, on a recent Alaska trip in early July that included two 7-hour plane flights, three 1-hour flights, a 7-day cruise and about ten light hikes on forest trails and walks on city streets (no backpacking or camping). Outdoor daytime temperatures ranged from 50 to 70 degrees F in sun, clouds and rain (of course a vest covers only the torso and not the arms, so it is necessary to add a rain jacket or use an umbrella when it rains).Summary: This sturdy, rain-resistant travel SEV vest has numerous pockets that can keep a lot of useful stuff close at hand. After a couple of tries I was able to find a size that fit OK. Throughout the trip the zippers kept sticking and some even required pliers to budge. The vest was fairly heavy and warm, which was not a problem on cold days or on planes, in cars and while walking around the ship. When I got hot on outdoor hikes and walks I could ventilate my front by opening the main vest zipper, but the back of the vest did not breathe causing the back of my shirt to become hot and sweaty at temperatures above 70 degrees F (a problem similar to one I encountered with an SEV windbreaker on a trip to China). When the sweating problem got too bad I had to remove the vest; if I had had a suitable small daypack I probably would have switched to it instead of the vest for hiking or extended walking. The dual phone pockets held my iPhone 7, but the rubbery transparent panels in the phone pockets made it difficult to insert and remove the phone, which was a snug fit. While the vest has many positive attributes, the sticky zippers, non-breatheable back and sticky phone pockets led me to return it. I was glad I purchased the SEV vest via Amazon Prime, which has an equitable return policy, because awhile back I purchased directly from SEV a convertible jacket that had an obvious stitching defect and was unable to return or replace it.Detailed Review: (for those who like to read long reviews)1. Durability. After 14 days and 60+ hours of use this vest showed no signs of wear and tear; though it no longer looked new it still had creases due to the original shipping. A few loose threads appeared here and there that I was afraid to pull on or cut for fear some stitches might unravel.2. Usefulness. It took me a day or two of experimenting to determine which pockets were best for holding various items, and another day to remember where I kept everything, but I quickly found good uses for almost all of the pockets. The mix of objects in the pockets of course varies depending on whether one is on an airplane or ship, in a car, hiking through a rainforest or strolling down a boulevard. I always used the vest to carry my wallet, cell phone, camera, sunglasses and keys, and at various times carried ear buds, ear plugs, inflatable pillow, sleeping mask, gloves, water bottle, boarding pass, passport, pen, chapstick, iPad, mini-umbrella and knitted hat (not all at the same time, of course).3. Water- and stain-resistance. The vest sheds rain well, but since it is a vest it obviously cannot keep one’s arms dry, which really requires adding an umbrella or rain jacket or poncho. I wore the vest during many meals but did not spill anything on it so I can’t evaluate its stain resistance.4. Fit. I am 6 ft tall and weigh 190 pounds and wear a size L in shirts and sweaters and L or XL in jackets. The size XL vest was too large and loose for me, even with many pockets filled with stuff. The size L fit comfortably with all pockets empty, and fairly snugly with half of the pockets filled with stuff like cell phone, camera, wallet, sunglasses, etc. I was able to wear the size L vest over a shirt or sweater or hoodie with a T-shirt as the base layer. On rainy days I wore an XL rain jacket over the size L vest. On cold days I wore an XL full-zip hoodie over the size L vest.5. Appearance. In ads for travel clothing the vests and jackets appear to be sleek and smooth and well-fitting because there is little or nothing in the pockets. However, once you put items in even half the pockets your torso will show lumps and bulges, though not as badly as with the old-style safari jackets and fishing vests with all the pockets and flaps on the outside. On the other hand, anyone who buys travel vests or jackets with lots of pockets is likely to care more about usefulness than style. When you wear this vest you may not look like a model or blend in with the locals, but you will have the satisfaction of discouraging pickpockets and being able to carry needed items close at hand.6. Issues.a. Sticky zippers. Almost all of the vest’s pockets have zippers, and most of them jammed or stuck at one time or another during my 14-day trip. Some of the zippers stuck repeatedly every day, which became extremely frustrating. There were even a few zippers I had to unstick using my mini-Leatherman pliers. The really sticky zippers were mostly on the exterior and had metal pulls; the interior zippers with rubber or plastic pulls generally worked OK from day one. While the sticking zipper problem began to ease after two weeks of heavy use and encouragement from my pliers, it should not be necessary to use pliers to move or adjust the zippers on a new garment, especially a very expensive one. I don’t think finding and using good zippers is rocket science; I have several old, under-25-dollar, full-zip hoodies and fleeces with no-name zippers and none of them has ever been sticky. One way to improve this vest significantly would be to upgrade to YKK or other high-quality zippers. [I experienced this major sticking zipper problem on both the 1-way RFID zipper vest and the 2-way RFID zipper vest.]b. Breatheability. On several hikes and walks while wearing the vest the back of my shirt got wet from sweat while the front remained dry. These were 2 to 5 mile treks over somewhat hilly terrain or on city streets, ambient daytime temperature 50-70 degrees F, mixed sun/clouds/rain, no backpack. When I started heating up I was able to ventilate the front of my torso by partially or totally unzipping the front of the vest. However, the back of the vest did not breathe and there was no way to ventilate the back, so no moisture escaped and eventually the back of my shirt got wet from sweat. After I returned from my trip I wore the vest over a shirt during a hilly walk at 81 degrees F and got a sweaty back after a few blocks. (I had a similar problem with an SEV windbreaker on a trip to China; OK at temperatures up to about 70 degrees F, a tendency toward excessive heat and sweating above 70 degrees.) While removing the vest stopped the sweating problem, an alternative would have been to wear a small daypack instead of the vest for outdoor treks. Possible design solutions to this problem might be to add a back vent or to use a breatheable fabric. (I had the same breatheability problem with both the 1-way and 2-way zipper RFID vests.)c. Phone pockets. My iPhone 7 in a thin case fit snugly in both of the two internal phone pockets. However, the pockets have a transparent, rubbery panel that caught on the phone, so it took both hands and considerable manipulation to get the phone into and out of the pocket. This problem occurred even when I removed the phone from its case and tried to slide the phone into the pocket by itself. One possible solution to this problem would be to substitute a durable and slippery see-through mesh material for the rubbery panels. (This problem occurred on both the 1-way and 2-way zipper RFID vests.)7. Summary of Pros- The vest has many pockets that hold lots of things that are convenient to have close at hand when traveling.- You can load the vest with stuff, wear it to the airport, put it into a tray and send it through the scanner.- The vest looks smooth and fairly attractive when the pockets are empty.- The front of the vest can be ventilated to control moisture and temperature by opening the very useful two-way front zipper part way or all the way. (Can be ventilated with a one-way zipper but the two-way zipper version of this vest is more versatile.)- The vest is water repellent.- The interior phone pockets will hold an iPhone 7 with a thin case.- The interior RFID pocket, a desirable security measure, holds a wallet and passport.- The small interior ID pocket holds a driver’s license and hotel room card key, so when you need them you don’t have to dig them out of the wallet in the RFID pocket, which is inside another pocket.8. Summary of Cons- Some of the zippers repeatedly stuck or jammed, some even requiring pliers to unstick.- The back of the vest is not breatheable or ventilated, which caused hot and sweaty conditions while I was walking or hiking at temperatures around 70 degrees F or above.- The vest shows bulges and lumps when half of the pockets are filled, even with a vest one size up.- The rubbery panels on the phone pockets “grab” the phone and make inserting and removing it a two-handed and inconvenient process.9. Bottom line. The vest is very functional and has many positive attributes, but for me these are outweighed by the issues noted above, so I returned it via Amazon Prime. (I ended up returning both the 1-way and 2-way zipper RFID vests for the reasons noted above.)

I got the rfid some time back. I was offered the product via scottevest which I agreed to receive. At first the vest was great, lighter weight then my previous garments from scottevest like the Quest vest, was very breathable which was great. Then I started having zipper malfunctioning on the main zipper, the zipper would unzip itself when vest was zipped up, I was caring 2 phones, and small odds and ends and it seemed to have exceed weight capacity of the vest. I contacted Scottevest and they replaced my vest which was great..... the less great part is that this happened twice. Its like there was a bad batch or something.Based on this experience I would go w a quest vest rather then rfid vest due to the number of returns. Top marks for customer service, wish had better luck w zippers.

This was a gift and it was perfect.

Scottevest as a daily organizer has changed my lifeNow i have only to remember to wear my Scottevest with keys in right waist pocketPhone and wallet in inside left pocketGlasses pens license everything’s in one amazing organized garmentGoing through airport security is so easy take off my vest run it through the metal detector and put it back onNever a problemThank you for the best product for organizing the hectic lifeSecure not possible to pick the pocketsI love the scottevest which changed my life for the betterNo stress

Has a place for everything an no worries about being picked. It was an everyday wear item as we traveled extensively on busses and the subway. I no longer had to carry my wallet in my front pocket. It fit very well and had a place for everything. Thanks.