Outerwear garment

Abstract

An outerwear garment includes a torso body having an inner surface and an outer surface. The torso body defines a pass-through opening extending through the inner surface and outer surface and a pocket opening extending at least through the outer surface. A pocket extends inwardly from the outer surface at the pocket opening. A waist gaiter is coupled to the inner surface. The pass through opening provides access to a space defined between the pocket and the waist gaiter.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An outerwear garment, comprising:
 a torso body having an inner surface and an outer surface, the torso body defining a pass-through opening extending through the inner surface and the outer surface and a pocket opening extending at least through the outer surface;   a pocket extending inwardly from the outer surface at the pocket opening;   a waist gaiter coupled to the inner surface;   wherein the pass through opening provides access to a space defined between the pocket and the waist gaiter.   
     
     
         2 . The outerwear garment of  claim 1 , wherein the pass-through opening is positioned to receive a waist belt of a backpack worn over the torso body. 
     
     
         3 . The outerwear garment of  claim 1 , further comprising a closure assembly for selectively closing the pass-through opening. 
     
     
         4 . The outerwear garment of  claim 3 , wherein the closure assembly comprises a bi-directional zipper assembly. 
     
     
         5 . The outerwear garment of  claim 1 , wherein the torso body comprises a first front torso portion and a second front torso portion, the first front torso portion and second front torso portion being selectively coupled along a longitudinal axis. 
     
     
         6 . The outerwear garment of  claim 1 , wherein the pocket opening and pass-through opening are disposed along an axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. 
     
     
         7 . An outerwear garment comprising:
 a torso body having an inner surface and an outer surface, the outer surface defining a first front torso portion, a second front torso portion, a rear torso portion, a first lateral portion extending between the first front torso portion and the rear torso portion on a first side, and a second lateral portion extending between the second front torso portion and the rear torso portion on a second side;   a garment closure assembly disposed along a longitudinal axis of the fabric body selectively coupling the first front torso portion and the second torso portion;   a waist gaiter coupled to the inner surface and having a skirt extending around at least a portion of the inner surface;   wherein the outer surface further defines:
 a first pass-through opening extending through the fabric body, thereby providing access to a space defined between the fabric body and the skirt; and 
 a first pocket opening, the first pocket opening providing access to a first pocket disposed within the fabric body, the first pocket disposed between the first pass-through opening and the garment closure assembly. 
   
     
     
         8 . The outerwear garment of  claim 7 , wherein the first pocket opening and first pass-through opening are disposed along an axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. 
     
     
         9 . The outerwear garment of  claim 7 , wherein the first pocket opening is disposed between the first pass-through opening and the garment closure assembly 
     
     
         10 . The outerwear garment of  claim 7 , wherein the fabric body extends from a collar end to a hem end. 
     
     
         11 . The outerwear garment of  claim 10 , wherein the garment closure assembly extends from the collar end to the hem end. 
     
     
         12 . The outwear garment of  claim 7 , further comprising a pass-through closure assembly for selectively closing at least a portion of the first pass-through opening. 
     
     
         13 . The outerwear garment of  claim 12 , wherein the first pass-through closure assembly comprises a zipper. 
     
     
         14 . The outerwear garment of  claim 13 , wherein the zipper comprises a two-way zipper. 
     
     
         15 . The outerwear garment of  claim 10 , wherein the outwear garment comprises a jacket. 
     
     
         16 . The outerwear garment of  claim 10 , wherein the first pass through opening is disposed on the first lateral portion of the body. 
     
     
         17 . The outerwear garment of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a second pass-through opening extending through the fabric body; and   a second pocket opening, the first pocket opening providing access to a second pocket disposed within the fabric body, the second pocket disposed between the second pass-through opening and the garment closure assembly.   
     
     
         18 . The outerwear garment of  claim 11 , wherein the first pass-through opening extends through the first lateral portion and the second pass-through opening extends through the second lateral portion. 
     
     
         19 . A method of attaching a backpack to an outerwear garment, comprising:
 providing an outwear garment with a torso body having an inner surface and an outer surface, the torso body defining a first pass-through opening extending through the inner surface and outer surface and a pocket opening extending at least through the outer surface, a pocket extending inwardly from the outer surface at the pocket opening, and a waist gaiter coupled to the inner surface;   passing a waist belt of the backpack through the first pass-through opening into an interior region of the outerwear garment; and   extending the waist belt through a space defined between the inner surface and the waist gaiter.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 disposing the pocket at a location between the space and the outer surface, such that the waist belt extends between the pocket and the waist gaiter.