Helikon SFU Next Shirt Polycotton Ripstop Black

Great service from Military 1st as usual. As I've come to expect from Helikon..you get a whole lotta kit for a really decent price; this shirt is no different. I have a few now. They're well fitted, practical, well designed and built to outlast me. Being just an unlined polycotton material, they can either be a shirt on their own or a shell over the top of a t-shirt/ base layer. I wear mine the latter way and treat them with Nikwax cotton-proof to give them a slight water and wind repellent edge. They are a little over sized; I am a 44" chest so usually take a large in tops but a Medium in these still gives me room for a thin mid-layer...the side bar adjusters are a blessing to give it some 'shape' when it's too warm for one. I think, if I was pressed for a way to improve on them it would be to add pit zips and a mandarin colour, like their CPU shirts, but that's neither here nor there. Great shirts/jackets for weekends away sightseeing, working, family days out...with all the storage capacity, their uses are endless.

The jacket does fell bib on me but thanks to the straps on the cuffs and jacket are easy to tighten up and make it fit well.

Although there has been no field trial as received quite recently, I will update in a few months if I remember..But my first impressions are: this item sits somewhere in between my other torso coverings. I see it as a really think shirt for slightly cooler or maybe more arduous tasks where you need a bit more protection, getting through undergrowth or where the use of the body against surfaces is neccessary and you need something to protect you a little bit more without wearing a full blown jacket or worry about damaging something thinner...i would also see this as a thick jacket, for those hotter climes or working around camp where the weather requires a bit more covering *hot and cooler enviroments) as well as those camp tasks I allude to above...it has a shed load of pockets, well stiched, nice size and I feel that they are well placed for those bits and bobs you need on you. The velcro will meet the wants of those who like a few moral patches or even wearing rank and trade patch's when on ops, whether beer ops with former muckers or real ops...I like the design and feel, I got the coyote and like this colour as it has less tac presence that black, green etc...so at this point I would give it 5 stars and recommend it..

The quality of the shirt is exceptional. However, I had some trouble with the size. The shoulders and upper arms fit very large, but the length of the sleeves and the overall shirt is relatively short. The seller was very helpful. I would recommend the item and the seller, it just didn't fit me at all.

Great piece of kit. Tough, warm material in a good effective woodland pattern. It's slightly too long, but a small - short version is available so this is entirely my fault for not buying that. Space on both shoulders for velcro patches (flags, blood type etc) and also space on the chest for name and branch tape. Obviously this doesn't apply as I'd imagine this would be used mostly by servicemen, but a good addition nonetheless. Good shirt, good price.

I am 6'1" and have a 44 " chest, so I bought a Large size hoping it would be not too tight. I was wrong, the label was wrong or sizing is wrong the Large is more like a XXL with arms the right size for Large.

I've had three of these now. They are hard wearing but watch out for cigarette burns. Eight pockets in all so you can distribute the weight of all the stuff you can carry. I use the large plate sleeve pockets for a cap and small flat packets. Cool in summer ok over a fleece shirt in winter. But it's not waterproof.

I'm 6,3" slim/regular man, and the size L/regular was a bit too big, not in arms length, but in circumference. It's as it was made for bulkie/oversized people. Rather than that, it's a nice shirt.