Even before I ever dreamed of writing and taking pictures for a living — I’ll just pause here to let my fellow journalists and bloggers finish laughing hysterically at the idea that earnings from journalism could be considered “a living” — I rocked one of those photographer’s jackets. You know the one — zippers and pockets everywhere. I was a Geek King in the jacket, but I didn’t care; it let me carry all my gizmos and, yes, sometimes even photography gear.
Only the most wizened, old-school photographers use those vests anymore. And there are far better ways to shlep a quiver of gadgets — like the magnetic-sleeved, 22-pocket, Personal Area Network-equipped Tropiformer by Scottevest. Oh yeah.
Your first question is probably about the term “Personal Area Network”: It’s a routing system that’s been integrated into the jacket for keeping things like headphone cables out of the way, and lets you route USB cables from, say, a portable battery (not included) in one pocket to your phone in another.
The magnets are, of course, to keep the sleeves attached to the jacket, making them easy to pull off if you want to turn the jacket into a vest. And don’t worry — Scottevest says they’re “tech-friendly.”
Twenty-two pockets is only about half the pockets in my old photog jacket; but then again, this thing has an iPad pocket, a locking pocket with a one-way zipper and even a clear pocket that lets you work a touchscreen without taking your hand out of the pocket (?). So it wins.
The Tropiformer is $150 from ThinkGeek.
