Brit-designed Neo jacket abolishes earphone tangle

Really? An anorak?

Hey, our bread-and-butter is making folk aware of anything that might make their lives a little bit better. It doesn’t all have to be nanorockets and watchphones.

In this case, it’s a jacket that solves the perennial problem of earphone cable tangle – one of those petty frustrations that can build up over time into a Hulk-style rampage. (And not touchy-feely tamed-by-Black-Widow new-age Hulk, neither.)

Two words for you: Bluetooth.

Argh! Get thee to a nunnery. We did not spend years filling our virtual cupboards with full-fat lossless audio just to force it through the battered colander of a wireless codec. No, wires is where it’s at, and a life of wires is made simpler by the Neo that has a internal chute leading down to one of the side pockets.

Stick your headphones on, fire up the music player on your phone, then throw your phone down the chute. Boom! Instant tangle-free cable routing and you can easily get to your phone in the normal way if you need to. Ace, no?

Wow, you’re easily pleased.

Intelligent engineering pleases us, yes. Made more remarkable by the fact that the British pair that designed the jacket didn’t set out with gadget compatibility in mind.

Their goal was to make the perfect jacket for doing what they like doing, which is mountain biking. At some point during the process of designing a windproof, waterproof, breathable jacket for biking, they thought up the phone chute idea and just tossed it into the mix.

Oh, it’s only for adrenaline junkies, then?

Nope. All the aspects that make it a well thought-out biking jacket – high-tech fabric, removable hood, articulated sleeves, waterproof zips – just happen to make it super-suitable for the urban environment, whether you’re riding a city bike or just walking about.

So while the Upper Downs’ Neo Kickstarter campaign is bike-orientated, anyone looking for a decent lightweight waterproof jacket – with that super-clever phone chute – might well have a look.

Kickstarter, eh? Let’s have a look… wait, it’s £185!

Well, that’s the current Early Bird deal, yes. But remember, this is a no-compromise jacket. It’s a low-volume special, designed in Britain by enthusiasts.

Anyone gives you any grief, you can point out that it’s made using Polartec’s hot-off-the-loom NeoShell fabric, which is stretchy and technical and breathable. Or you can just Hulk smash them. Either way, you’ve only got until July 2nd to get involved.