The hood on the Summit Zero has the traditional pull cord to cinch down the opening. Most hood designs severely limit your peripheral vision and give you a claustrophobic feeling. However there are instances where a hood is much preferred for keeping the weather from running down your back. I normally despise hoods and prefer instead to wear an appropriate hat for the occasion. The Condor Summit Zero features a very well designed hood. The solution was simply to leave the inner pockets open so that the zipper pulls are off to the side and out of the way. When shooting from the prone position on hard surfaces, these zippers would grind into a rib or two. When closed the zippers are parked to the center of the jacket. It was not really the pockets themselves, but the zipper closures. During our testing these two pockets caused some irritation. The inside of the Summit Zero has two lower front mesh pockets. None of the other pulls came loose in use. A simple dap of glue should repair the problem, but since the regular zipper pulls are still present it has not been a pressing issue. These work very well however we did have one pull off of its cord. All of the main zippers are augmented with what appear to be Chums style zipper pulls. The front and sleeve pockets of the Summit Zero have zipper “garages” built in to cover the zipper pulls when they are “parked”. This has got to be one of my favorite features of any jacket and one I find myself looking for when contemplating any jacket purchase. Under each arm the Summit Zero is equipped with “pit zips” that can be used to quickly vent heat before you start to sweat. This pocket is lined with a mesh material and can act as a vent when the zippers are left open.

The Summit Zero has a full width back pocket that can be accessed by zippers on either side. This makes routing your MP3 player or comms a simple matter. The biceps and Napoleon pockets are equipped with cable routing grommets. Inside each of the Napoleon pockets is a small pocket that is perfectly suited to holding an iPhone in place. The pockets are positioned in a manner that allows you to access them through the arm holes in your rig. When you throw on body armor or a chest rig you suddenly see why this is a “tactical” soft shell. When wearing the jacket in a casual environment the pockets may seem unusually high for use as hand warmers. The chest of the jacket has a Napoleon pocket on either side. The phone causes the sleeve to hang and swing in a strange manner. In our testing this did not work well as an iPhone pocket. The left sleeve has a single forearm pocket that seems perfectly suited for data cards or other flat, light items.

The sleeves are equipped with left and right biceps pockets. The Summit Zero has a ton of pockets to accommodate way more gear than the average person would want to haul. This can sometimes work well, but often in the shooting sports we have to carry ammo, magazines, ballistic calculators and other paraphernalia. It seems that many outdoor soft shells are stripped down to the bare minimum. This is very beneficial for weapons manipulation or dynamic movement. This material gives you great wind blocking and water resistant properties while still allowing a wide range of motion. It is constructed of a four way elastic stretch material with a polyurethane membrane. The Summit Zero is the latest in Condor’s jacket lineup. It has worked well in a range of climates all over the US. I have been using the Condor Outdoor Summit Zero Soft Shell for almost a year now.

Tactical zipper pulls