It's amazing how the best fleece jacket ever comes from France. This is proper thick, generously sized and works as a top layer too. Real deal used French army kit.

These are cut very big! Pick one size smaller than your normal size would be!

The jacket is actually very simple: zipper closure with two zippered hem pockets, reinforced shoulders and elbows, velcro for name tag & national insignia on the front, elastic cuffs, hem and collar. Naturally the quality is great, these being made for the military. The cut is generous to fit everything you could imagine underneath, so it's safe to say you can easily pick a size smaller than the recommended size would suggest.

The French didn't mess around with this, they made the fleece fabric nice and thick. We've seen too many paper thin abominations that this is a welcome change indeed. Thumbs up from the Finns, this is a proper cold weather garment!

Fleece is great and all, just don't take it too close to an open fire. Wash in about 40 degrees Celsius. Hang dry.

Size info, important - read before buying

Sizes in the simplified French army system: user's chest circumference in centimetres / length as a letter (C = Short/Regular, L = Long). Comparable US style size shown in the brackets. If you need explanations for these,take a look at the instructions for US jacket sizes we wrote.

These run very large, so don't upsize - more like downsize one or two notches; our tests showed a size 88L (Small Long) fleece was perfectly OK for a 187/105 cm (Large Long) guy, even with a light jacket worn underneath. We suggest not scrutinizing with the sizes too much, just pick one. The model in the picture is size 175 / 98 cm (5' 9" / 39": Medium Regular) and is wearing a 88C Small Regular) fleece. It still has loads of room for extra stuff.

TL;DR

Pick at least one size smaller than your recommended size (by chest size, of course) if you don't want an oversized jacket.

Used French army gear

In used but serviceable condition. However, these have clearly been used as jackets on their own, so the general look is a bit scruffy. We recommend washing before use.