Winter is here and the CP Compact Alpine Overwhites, unveiled at SHOT Show, are now available.
Also available, the lightweight Alpine Pack Cover offered in Small and Large.
cryeprecision.com/ProductDetail/accow191lxl_compact-alpine-overwhites
Tags: Crye Precision
Just in time!
If I didn’t have the hyperstealth ones I would jump on these!
Since I hate goretex bottoms, this system is not for me. I don’t want to sacrifice a dry crotch for easy pocket access.
Overwhites aren’t typically waterproof anyway, long coat+chaps often helps with crotch swampiness with waterproof stuff anyway.
Overwhites are typically water resistant (just like these), which is usually enough to keep your pants dry- but if your overwhites are just gaiters and a coat then wading in waist deep snow is going to cause some wet dick (in the negative sense).
Their selling point (“Compared to a traditional over-pant, the gaiters provide more mobility and better access to pants pockets while being less bulky and more breathable.”) just doesn’t appeal to me, since my mobility is usually more limited by the snow (or skis/snowshoes) than the clothing, and my overwhites have both cargo pockets and pass through slits.
If you see a use for these, great. I am sure they are excellent. I’m just not going to spend my money of them because I don’t agree with their design solutions.
Not here, the old issue ones were cotton.
The newer issue OW’s are nylon, but a heavier weight than most of the commercially available new types. They weight more and take up a lot of cube in a ruck. I can pack a top bottom set of the various new IW in less cube than a top or bottom alone of the issue IW. Army anyhow, the USMC OW’s we were able to test are a similar material to the commercial sets we tried.
Also still finding cotton OW’s at CIF with same NSN’s as the Nylon.
If you aren’t using any of the better softshell pants in winter, try them, you basically have to sit in a puddle to get them wet.
I remember chuckling under my breath when I saw that set-up at SHOT. The coat is basically the same cut as the old fish-tail Arctic Parka (but with a straight hem) and more practical lower front pockets.
As for those hold-ups / leg warmer things…. fail. That elastic holding them up is gonna get uncomfortable after a while of wearing them, and if they restrict the blood flow to your lower legs and feet becuase they’re too tight, well that’s gonna suck in the Arctic.
If they’re worried about access to your pockets while wearing overwhites then just put some pockets on the overwhite trousers and transfer the contents of your combat pants pockets to those.
The other thing that I think is dumb about these is that a lot of times when we were up in Alaska we worn the overwhite pants without the parka (for better camo while in among the trees). These things don’t cover enough of your legs for that to be effective.
Sorry Crye – you got this one wrong.
Spot on. If the elastic is too tight, they’ll compress any insulation (thus rendering it ineffective) or worse restrict bloodflow. If they’re not tight enough, they’ll drop down (which happens a lot with gaiters).
I do however see the advantage of something waders-style : overwhites are rarely very form-fitting and a crotch that’s too low restricts movement.
I guess their logic was that you’d wear the parka with it, which drops low, therefore the lack of camo on the upper leg isn’t an issue… But as you point out, that doesn’t work in forest areas where you would only wear the bottom.
Strike-Hold,
My thoughts exactly. Having spent a lot of energy on a related project last winter I was shocked to see the Crye solution at SHOT last year.
I would love to get just the parka so I could continue some informal testing i was doing last year, but I’m going likely not going to spend my own money this winter. If Crye needs a field rep I am available in Jan.
I’ve been wanting these for so damn long! That’s it, Disney World is cancelled kids. Daddy has to become a geardo again.
I hoped Crye would come up with something better. I guess the designer has not spent too much time on skis and snowshoes in tactical enviroment…
You guys do realize that these have been fielded for some time, right?
This is the first I’ve seen of them. Though I admit I stopped looking for them after nothing in MC Alpine surfaced for about a year after the pattern was announced. Too bad I’m not at Drum anymore. It’s harder to pitch these kinds of purchases to the wife when they have no immediate zompocalypse applicability.
The coat is really great and the gaiters actually work quite well. I had some doubts when I first tried them, but trust me, Caleb and Greg do their research- tons of it on every product.
As SSD has stated these have been fielded for awhile. Most things Crye sells have been used extensively in the field long before they are sold to the public and many of their best designs are never even offered to the public.
Here’s another hint for the gaiters- you can always take them off! One guy I know did rig his with some 550 cord to his belt loops just for extra security from falling down, but I never had issues. I also admittedly never wore them in DEEP snow. Didn’t need to, didn’t want to, because the snow covered up my legs better than an overwhite would. Just my 2 cents. now I’m broke.
Yet another significant product release from Crye Precision. As the snow will be flying soon, looking forward to getting a set of these very soon(yep, definitely have to have the pack cover too!)! Thank you for yet another informative post, SSD!!