Windows Phone Thoughts: Summer With SCOTTEVEST: Reviewing Performance T-Shirt, Hidden Cargo Shorts, & TEC Hat!

Torture Test 2: Server Build & Install
The week after I had the Lawn Wars T-Shirt & Hat test, I decided to test the cargos out on a road trip from my home in Marblehead to Cleveland to install a server. My friends and I built the server, and the stop in Cleveland would serve many purposes - from configuring the new box and mounting it at a data center, to running errands and catching up with family. I left my house on Wednesday morning ready to go, and made a quick stop up at work.

The first thing I did was to wash the hidden cargo shorts. A small note accompanying them stated that some pairs had been overlooked when the factory did its "pre-washing", so it advised a first wear wash. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that SCOTTeVEST enjoys placing little tags inside many of the pockets with suggested usages for that pocket (a nice touch) and washed many of those! In retrospect, I think that the SCOTTeVEST products reviewed would have benefited from an "owner's" manual of sorts. Nothing fancy, but perhaps something that included the "X-Ray" image of the item and a walk-through of the various pockets. It would have allowed me to find all of the little slips before Mr. Washer did, and it would have been a fun experience to put on the shorts and eagerly place my hand in each pocket step-by-step, to find usages!

In packing my "gear" that morning, I slipped my phone, keys, wallet, and pen into the front pockets of my cargo shorts. Because of the deep pockets feature, as well as the divider that keeps an otherwise very large pocket sectioned off into 2 or even 3 smaller pockets, I was able to keep the objects from bumping together (a great thing since my K-JAM's faceplate is already scratched up!)

Upon arriving at work, I noticed the first problem with the cargo shorts - my hands! My hands are a bit bigger than most, and at times I really had to squeeze them into the pockets. While it wasn't very annoying, it certainly required me to stop and think about where I wanted to put my hands before placing them in the pocket - to make sure I got my hand into the correct pocket to dig up what I had put there. This issue, I'm sure, would be lessened if my hands didn't so much resemble those of King Kong.


Figure 5: The pockets of the SCOTTeVEST Hidden Cargos contain a flap (with one side under my hand, the other side above) that one slides their hand in to access the "shallow" and "deep" pocket (s).

Somewhat of a side note to the issue above, not too annoying but way too quirky not to mention, was an interesting issue I had with remembering which pockets I had placed my gear in! Pretty quick I realized I had to pick a pocket and keep my item in that pocket all day lest I forget and dig in the wrong pocket. The experience of not remembering which pocket I put something in isn't new, but with hidden cargo shorts, just remembering that it's in the "left" pocket isn't enough! Quite an odd experience!

The Drive
My office is in Toledo, and I was heading to Cleveland. If you're not familiar with Ohio geography, that meant I was going to drive approximately 100 miles on the Ohio Turnpike (I-80) - a two hour trip. It was during the drive that I realized one of the downsides of hidden cargo shorts. Namely, you can't easily reach into various pockets along your legs as you can with normal cargos. While standing and walking definitely put you at a disadvantage reaching those pockets on normal cargo pants or shorts, to sit is to realize their true value. My advice to anyone that keeps their phone, toll card, wallet, headset, etc., in their cargos while driving - stick with regular cargos and save your SCOTTeVEST Cargos for a day involving less driving.

The Configuration
Configuring a 1U server isn't too intensive a sport, but it does require a lot of sitting. The Cargo Shorts were extremely comfortable to sit in for long periods of time. The magnetic closures on the back pockets (and on the inside of the front pockets) made sure that my hastily written notes weren't lost out of my back pockets!

In the world of "Configuring a server with friends", the shorts didn't necessarily need one feature that the world of "configuring a server at work" does, but it was still nice to have. I'm referring to the professional look of the shorts. Cargo pants are nice when you want to appear ready-to-action, but the svelte lines of dress pants or dress shorts are needed in a corporate environment. The hidden feature of these hidden cargo shorts provides that, and while I didn't need it on this adventure, I can see it coming in handy in future scenarios!

The Install
Finally the time came to mount and install the 1U system at our data center. The shorts moved well with me as I made a bunch of disjointed movements trying to convince the rails to snap into place and slide my pizza box back into its new home. Of course extra pockets come in handy when keeping a plethora of screws, brackets, and other miscellaneous things with you during an install! Overall the shorts held up well under the frequent squatting, standing, pushing, pulling, holding-in-place, passing-the-screwdriver, and cursing-the-metal that went on!