NTOA Member Tested and Recommended Program

Thank you for participating in our “Member Tested and Recommended Products Program.” The StormForce Jacket has been tested and recommended by the members of the National Tactical Officers Association. Your overall score was a 4.32. The NTOA Member Tested and Recommended logo may be used solely on the specific product that was tested.

Attached with this letter, is the Member Tested and Recommended Logo which can be used on all marketing pieces for this product. Also attached is a copy of the complete reviews that your company can use as well. 

Since the review is completed, it will now be added to online Member Tested product database.  To make the review complete, we would like a digital image of the product that has been tested. This review will soon be published in The Tactical Edge journal and in our online database. New in 2008, we are introducing an annual listing of all approved products and scores in The Tactical Edge journal.

Please contact Corey Luby at marketing@ntoa.org if you would like to advertise your products in any of our publications. Once again, thank you for participating in this worthwhile program

Thank you,

Corey Luby
coreyluby@ntoa.org
800-279-9127x20
 
Watershed
StormForce Jacket
Overall Score: 4.32
http://www.gowatershed.com

TESTER
Tested by a police officer from New York
Design 5
Performance 5
Ease of Use 5
Size 5
Quality 5
Durability 5
Storage 5
Versatility 5
Convenience 5
Application 5
Comfort 5
Accuracy 5
Cleaning & Maintenance 5
Individual Score 5
The Watershed StormForce Jacket is the lightest, warmest, most comfortable jacket I've ever worn. I wore the Stormforce during a Noreaster storm this past weekend which started with snow, changed to sleet & ended with freezing rain drops & I didn't only stay dry but also toasty warm in my custom-made jacket. The inner fleece liner is what kept me warm & the light outer shell deflected all water and moisture. The hood has elastic tie strings with adjustable stoppers that molded to my head perfectly. I made it tighter when the sleet started & was able to move with comfort & ease & had full visibility which is important when on patrol. I built my Stormforce with pockets for both of my hands. Both sides have Velcro for the front of the pocket which is very large any can hold a ton of things, including a memo book, keys, a wallet, cuffs, cell phone. On the outside of these velcroed pockets are 2 small pockets which are adjacent to each other and can hold 2 slim flashlights and pens. There is also a slit on the side of both pockets that has fleece on the inside which keeps the hands very warm & protected. Next to each pocket is a button and a zipper which can quickly be undone (or left unbuttoned & unzippered) so there is easy access to a firearm, extra magazines, a flashlight, cuffs, a radio, a baton, or mace. Watershed covered the zipper (and all zippers on the jacket) with a material that allows no water to penetrate through keeping whatever it is covering completely dry. The elastic that attaches to all the zippers on the Stormforce are very sturdy and the plastic that is connected to each elastic has ridges on it so if your hands are wet you won't slip when unzipping. The interior of the left side of my Stormforce has a large zippered pocket that I put my wallet & keys in. There is an extra piece of material on the outside of the jacket with two holes where I affixed my shield and name plate. When I exited my ramp at the end of tour I accidently rubbed against the door and got dirt on my jacket, so I took a warm cloth to the area & the dirt came off immediately. This jacket is totally superior to all the jackets I have worn before. I am still amazed at how warm & dry I stayed in this awesome jacket. I would highly recommend it to all my brothers and sisters in the law enforcement field.

TESTER
Tested by a police officer from Montana
Design 4
Performance 4
Ease of Use 2.5
Size 3
Quality 4
Durability 4
Storage
Versatility 4
Convenience 3.5
Application 3.5
Comfort 3
Accuracy 4
Cleaning & Maintenance 4
Individual Score 3.63
The testing that I completed on the Watershed Stormforce Jacket was a two part test.

The first part was actually entering the Watershed website and building a jacket to my specifications. The overall process initially seemed quite easy and fairly cop proof. The ease was quickly overshadowed by the large number of options available in the coat construction. Had it not been for Corey at NTOA, I am not sure what I would have ended up with. It would have been a real bonus for someone at Watershed to contact me personally when the order was submitted to review the coat and discuss the options that I chose.

With that said, the coat that I received was exactly what I ordered. Having seen the coat, I would have made a few slight changes in the order but these are only cosmetic and by no means functional flaws in the design.

The coat itself appears to be bombproof for the most part. I do have some question as to the plastic clips that attach the liner to the outer coat inside of the sleeves. I have not broke one yet but I feel that this is only a matter of time. As for the rest of the coat, I can find no flaws or week points. The coat is very warm and is definitely water proof. I wore the coat for two full shifts in blowing and drifting snow and sleet and at least my upper body was completely dry and totally warm. I wish I could have said the same thing for my legs.

All in all the coat is outstanding. The lower ratings that I gave come entirely from the build process. Those of you who are serious about buying one of these coats would be money ahead to call and discuss the coat you want with one of the customer service reps from Watershed.

TESTER
Tested by a police officer from Florida
Design 3.5
Performance
Ease of Use
Size 5
Quality 4
Durability 5
Storage
Versatility
Convenience
Application
Comfort 2
Accuracy
Cleaning & Maintenance
Individual Score 3.9
This jacket test began with the use of a unique website based custom jacket building process that all customers use when making a purchase. The interface is a good design that displays the initial jacket type you selected as a base image. It allows you to change colors, add on options, features and customized the size specifically for your body. As you complete each section, by answering a series of interactive questions, you see your jacket being built before your eyes. The jacket is modeled in 3D and you are allowed to rotate it to see any angle. I was enthralled with the process and found myself tinkering with the many different options available which were great. As you build your jacket the price is calculated through each section to give you a total and with your product to view.

I really enjoyed the building process as I felt like I was truly getting a personalized/custom jacket that would work and fit me best. However the interface still needs some work. At times there was a progress bar that would come up in the middle of the screen about ¾ through the building process and would not go away. For example this happened every time I selected the “Ultimate Stealth option”. Though annoying that it would not go away it did not stop the build process. Also towards the end of the build were several unfinished context help windows that had no information. For example I was interested in seeing what rank options were provided and there was no information in the help window to explain what they were other than you could select a type of rank. After six months of I returned to the interface the noticed that the same problems persisted. Though again this does not stop the process it is blemish on an otherwise great interface.
After completing the build I ended up with a Gor-Tex waterproof StormForce jacket that had a fold down collar, snap-on hood, over the gun belt length, fleece lined pockets, waterproof pit zippers, a custom worded reflective back panel, sewn-on patches, cloth badge (both of which I supplied via mail), epaulettes and a zip-in fleece liner.

The jacket then arrived with my specifications and the patches and cloth badge that I supplied were sewn on properly and placed perfectly. I was immediately impressed with the quality construction of the jacket and the looks of the exterior was very professional. There was thoughtfulness by WaterShed about the placement of the pockets and compartments around the jacket. The fleece liner in it was extremely comfortable. I particularly liked that there were small clips to hold the liner sleeves in place at the wrists, in addition to the standard inside zipper. The exterior zippers were indeed constructed to be waterproof and have enough tabs to open in every direction you could imagine.

Unfortunately when the fleece liner was removed I was very disappointed with the jacket. When worn without the extra liner the jacket felt stiff and uncomfortable. There was no main thin liner like lighter jackets have and it felt rough as if I was just wearing a plain raincoat. The contrast of the unbelievably comfortable zip-in liner to nothing at all when removed was like sweet and sour. Also the fleece lined pockets were only half lined. The front part of the pocket or the part where the back of your hands touch was lined but the portions where the palms face were just the outer Gor-Tex fabric. To be fair I checked two other law enforcement jackets that I had and both were the same way. I think the texture of Gor-Tex made it seem rougher than the other jackets. It would have been nice if both sides of the pockets on a custom jacket were lined.

Being in the southern part of the United States I do not have the occasion to wear a cold weather jacket often. There were only a few days which I did and with the fleece liner the StormForce jacket was superb. However with the majority of days being cold enough for just a light jacket the StormForce with the fleece liner removed made me feel not interested in wearing it. I always felt like I was just wearing around my issued yellow type rain coat.

I am conflicted about this review because I feel the jacket is constructed very well and it would definitely suit someone from a northern colder climate (with the liner) without any real complaint. But if you are in a southern more tropical climate (without the liner), which this review is being based, I would not recommend this jacket due to the comfort problem.

TESTER
Tested by a police officer from Texas
Design 5
Performance 4
Ease of Use 5
Size 5
Quality 5
Durability 5
Storage 5
Versatility 4
Convenience 4
Application 5
Comfort 5
Accuracy 5
Cleaning & Maintenance 5
Individual Score 4.77
The product I tested was the Watershed Storm Force Jacket. There are two parts to this test, first one: the web site. Incredible, it’s a build your own jacket kind of website. Very easy to use and the options for your jacket are great. We can sit here for hours talking about what options and what other stuff is on their website, the best thing I can say is to go to gowatershed.com and check it out for yourself. NTOA gave me the opportunity to build my own jacket with all the bells and whistles I wanted. I was told to go all out. So I did. It probable took at least two hours to build the jacket, this was only because they have every option imaginable to add to your jacket, and the website builds it in front on your eyes so you can see what the finished product looks like, really cool.

Second part: Second part of this test was to test the actual jacket. I received the jacket I ordered in about 6 weeks, not bad for a company that builds your jacket to order. It came with arm pit zippers, duty belt zippers extra pockets, reflective stripping where I wanted it, and extra radio pocket in the front, drop down POLICE panels for stealthy application, all of this stuff and I haven’t started on what the liner came with. The liner had its own personal touches, pockets and panels just like the jacket. One of the nice features of this jacket is that the liner comes out and zips to make another lighter weight jacket, and the shell kind of doubles as a rain jacket, really nice. We haven’t started our cold season in south Texas yet, however our rain and hurricane season has started and the jacket without the liner is perfect. The only suggestion I could make would be to possibly make the outer shell reversible and the inside high vis yellow, or at least make it an option. But without the high vis yellow, the reflective stripes are in the right places and you can still be seen. I can’t wait for it to get cold so I can wear the jacket with the liner.

I would recommend this jacket to other officers, I have started already. All I can say is just go to the website and check it out for yourself. Its free to build your dream jacket online. If you mess up, you can start over, if you want to save it, you can save it. Check it out. Gowatershed.com