Is North Face Really Worth The Price?

[Anonymous]

Ah, I remember the days when only die hard mountaineers wore them. And city bike messengers.

[Anonymous]

we are in Boston now and EVERY SINGLE mom here has the long black NF jacket

[Anonymous]

I found this thread on another website. Clearly, I have nothing better to do, so I am sharing it with you.

"You have to watch with North Face because they have two different quality levels. The products they sell in outdoor and sporting goods stores tend to be higher quality than Columbia BUT the pile jackets North Face sells at their discount mall "outlets" are garbage. The other answers have some good advice -- instead of worrying about the brand, you should look for the weight and type of fleece and the cut and style. Polartec comes in different weights -- type 300 is the thickest and the windproof versions are going to be warmest in windy conditions. Look for a high collar, cuffs that block wind and draft flaps over the zipper. A longer coat that covers your lower back and hips will keep you warmer than a short jacket. Also, the heaviest coat will do you no good if you don't cover your head with a good hat -- most of your heat loss is through your head and neck. Also, wearing a windshell over the fleece jacket you have will help keep you warmer and be more versatile than one heavy jacket. Fleece (except the windproof) tends to work better as an insulating layer than alone, especially if you are not doing active sports.

Other very good brands are Marmot and Mountain Hardware."

[Anonymous]

I have a North Face ski jacket that is 17 years old and is in great shape and keeps me warm and dry. I have a second light weight gore-tex jacket by North Face that is 14 years old of similar quality also in great shape. And I have worn these things to death and continue to wear them all the time during appropriate weather. My experience is that at least the line of North Face that I have is much higher quality then the many other jackets I have had come and go over that same period from LLBean and Lands End. I find them to be well worth the money for the quality and durability. I don't worry about whether they are trendy or a fad or not I've had them for so long that is completely irrelevant to me.

[Anonymous]

My teen has worn her fleece NF for 3 years, practically living in it in cool months. Compare that to shirts she buys that she dislikes after wearing 3 times. Despite the ridiculous price tag, it's been a good investment for her.

Thanks for the guarantee tip. One of the pocket zippers was stuck for weeks, until a friend fixed it yesterday.

[Anonymous]

NF products that were made 10, 15, 20 years ago were well made compare to the products today. However, their technical gears are different hence the higher price.

[Anonymous]

The only thing that is worst than a fake north face jacket is a real north face jacket. Read this once. The problem with north face is that it is no better than any other product of it's type, just more expensive. OutdoorGearlab rates a cheaper columbia whilibird to be superior to the north face triclimate parka.

[Anonymous]

I have several fleece and non-fleece NF jackets for my kids and on every single one the zipper broke. You can send them back for repair, but that takes the jacket out of circulation for 3 weeks. Now I buy LLBean and if something goes wrong, k now I can go to the mall and get a new one, no questions asked. Never buying NF again. BTW, Columbia became the new NF, and seems like Mountain Hardwear is the new Columbia (but pricey!)

[Anonymous]

I wear it because the arms are sooo long, which perfect for my 5'11" frame. The same is not true is ll bean or Columbia. I've tried them both

[Anonymous]

Northface isn't. But Helly Henson is. It's so good it's to DIE for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the feedback. I was just curious. I am fine with paying extra (to a certain point) for quality and durability. For example, I love the Lands End fleece jackets for my kids and feel they are much more durable and long-lasting than something I'd pick up from Target. So I just wondered if you really got your $$ worth if you purchased North Face.

It seems that real winter sports folks probably get their money's worth from a durable and functional product. But since I'm not a winter sports person....I'll probably never buy it.

And part of this is my 10 year old daughter starting to make some noises about wanting a NF fleece jacket. It's out of my price range for kid clothing anyway, but it piqued my curiosity.[/quote]

Or you can do what I did - buy a medium black and she will wear it forever (though it will start out a little big). DD is 16 now and I think she'll have it through college. One winter jacket for all of late childhood isn't bad.

[Anonymous]

There are two different types of north face there is the everyday wear and tear and the high end stuff performance gear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northface isn't. But Helly Henson is. It's so good it's to DIE for.

You can also get killed for HH jacket.

[Anonymous]

Yes, especially from their outlet.

[Anonymous]

everybody tells of how long they have had their north face products. But no one seems to understand that is when the brand was good. Today it is just a fashion statement, with a few good products in between. It is impossible to make a better polartec 300 jacket better than other 300 wt fleece jacket, when many of them is made in the same mill with the same standard. There are no secrets between these comanies. They are all capable of doing the same thing.