Speed and Strength Hard Knock Life Vest

We tried the size Medium in this vest on Huey and we put an XL vest on Dewey. These are the sizes they normally wear and both fit well. The vests are roomy. My primary advice would be to wear the size you normally wear in men’s clothing. If you are between sizes I’d advise you to go down. There isn’t a lot of taper from the chest to the waist, so there shouldn’t be concerns with fit if you have a bit of a belly. The large side leather adjustment straps can take up a lot of the slack, so those with a trim waist will look good too.

The chart provided by Speed and Strength shows chest sizes for each alpha size that are a bit larger than what you’d normally see for “standard” conversion from chest size to alpha size. Based on my observations (above), the chart seems just about right.

Need help measuring? Get it here.

Speed and Strength introduced two similar styles this season which are functionally the same. The Hard Knock Life Vest has some subtle Speed and Strength logos and the Tough as Nails vest is “stripped” (without the logos). These leather vests are made primarily for those who want to add club colors. The back of each vest is a blank palette so to speak, and cleverly, Speed and Strength has added a really neat feature to make the addition of your colors really easy. There is a large zipper that runs around the back protector, and when you unzip, you’ll have full access to the back side of the leather. Your tailor will LOVE YOU! (and probably charge you less too). The overall quality of the vest is great. The leather is high quality and the side Velcro adjusters are well engineered, so not only do they look good, but they work well to fit the vest to your body. Please take the “View Larger Images” link above to see all the closeup pictures so you can choose which version of the vest is best for you (view the other version with the link below). Just as a convenience, the vest has a couple hidden external pockets and an inside wallet pocket (sorry no gun pocket). You might also be interested in the Rage with the Machine jacket because of the similar style and the fact that it converts to a vest also. Arms would be a plus in case you fall (see the link below). :: Paul, 11-12-12