I was in the market for a vest, and I went and looked at the SeV travel vest. In the store, I had trouble with the zippers binding and getting stuck. I figured that was a bad omen if the zippers didn't even work that well in the store. I loved the flexibility of the pocket system, but you need to make sure all the pockets are accessible!
I have one additional alternative to throw in: the ExOfficio FlyQ vest. I checked it out on a recent trip through the Seattle airport (seriously, how cool is it to have a travel clothing store in the airport?), but they didn't have my size in stock.
By looking at something that was one size too small, I was able to get a pretty good feel for it. First off, it uses a chain zipper instead of a coil zipper down the front, which should be much more durable. The coil zippers on pockets are by YKK, and thus should be vastly superior in quality to the non-branded SeV zippers. (YKK is basically The Zipper Company, and has built their reputation on making zippers that just work. Interesting bit of trivia I picked up on a trip to Japan once.)
Anyway, back to the ExOff vest. I liked that it had a fleece-lined pocket for my sunglasses. The phone pocket would hold my iPod touch but not my Samsung Galaxy S4. Pockets are not as numerous as the SeV, but they have decent zippers. The headphone channel is exclusive to SeV, but I've started using an LG Bluetooth headset and don't need the help routing it.
I've owned several ExOff products over the years, and have always been impressed with their quality and durability. What I liked about the FlyQ is that it seemed like it was like the SeV, but designed by people who knew what it would take to make the product stand up to repeated wear.
Product page here:
http://www.exofficio.com/products/de...mens-flyq-vest
My experience at the Seattle airport store is that they seem to be phasing out the last season's clothing. They had only a limited size selection. I found the size I needed on-line, but it looks like the vest is going out of stock. When I asked store staff, he said that it was one of the most popular items in the store and hard to keep in stock. I think it's relatively lightweight and therefore not sold during the winter, but I'm not sure.