Posts Tagged North Face
Outdoor Retailer Show Takeaways
On the first weekend in August, the Salt Lake City convention center is over run with gear heads. The new stuff for spring of the following year (in this case, 2012) is on display. New shoes, clothes, tents, camping gear, paddle boards, luggage, backpacks, gadgets… it’s all out for preview. The big brands are there, folks like North Face and Columbia, and new little guys, too. If you can make your way out of the main pavilion, you’ll find scrappy new manufacturers trying to get their gear to market. It’s a crazy, fun, scene and the amount of gear on display is staggering, overwhelming to even a gear head like me. I did notice a few repeated themes and/or styles… here’s what stuck. A caveat: I’m a rookie to the OR Show, so what I observed may be old news to you.
Vintage styling on day packs. Kelty’s remake of a classic khaki pack with red metal zippers might have been the most popular discounted item at the show — lots of folks were carrying this thing around. Others bringing it back old school? North Face, Fjallraven, Kakadu (I liked their army surplus versions best), too many to remember. They’re cute, I liked them.
Color. Bergen of Norway had fleece in beautiful melon-y colors, that’s where I spotted it first. But oh, the mutli-sport shoes from Vasque, oh, I totally wanted a pair of those. And color isn’t just for socks anymore, though I did find myself pawing through the Darn Tough Vermont stripey samples thinking “I want that one and that one and that one…”It’s nice to see that we’re moving away from the military palette again. I like color, I like wearing it, and it’s fun to see. In Spring 2011, we’ll have color that isn’t just for kids.
Daypack/roller bag/backpack combinations. Down in the basement I’ve got an ancient duffel pack with a zip off day pack from REI. I saw several different versions of this re-imagined as a roller bag. I like the idea in theory, I can’t speak to the validity in practice, yet. Pack straps on a roller bag make sense to me, I’m not so keen on wearing a pack and if I can wheel it behind me, I’d prefer to do so. But sometimes, you’ve got to heft the thing and walk. The zip off day pack is another great idea in theory, but is the day pack the right one for you? I need it to hold my gadgets, so if the zip off day pack has a camera bucket and laptop sleeve, oh, that’s when I’m paying full attention. Eagle Creek has a new line of these and yes, they’re in nice colors. I’ll be interested to find out if they’re all that.
Gadgets: There were a few solar chargers — I spent some time checking out Goal Zero‘s line, but it remains to be seen if they can truly charge my phone in cloud flocked Seattle. I brought home a light, super bright clip on LED flashlight from Icon. There were lots of performance based watches with heart rate monitors for athletes, but I liked the less feature packed step counter watch with GPS from Timex. It amuses me to think of documenting just how far I walked at the Outdoor Retailer show; I can see the appeal of using this on a trip. I also saw several cool camping lanterns, though I liked Kelty‘s best. Wenger had some crazy functional jewelry – “Swiss army knife meets minimalism you can sneak past the TSA” style constructions. That was really interesting but doesn’t compensate for the fact that I have to check my bag to carry a classic multi-tool with knife on a plane.
Greenwashing everything. I lost count of the number of times I heard the term “post-consumer.” We’ll make new polar fleece out of your old polar fleece that was made from plastic water bottles. Our production chain is carbon neutral. We give a percentage of our profits to programs that get kids outside, protect wilderness, etc. etc. etc. I’m happy to see this, don’t get me wrong, but it requires genuine research to validate the veracity of these claims. Those cool camping lanterns I mention are still powered by standard batteries, after all.
The wrap. I’m still noodling on my weekend of gear spotting for items that were truly groundbreaking. I saw plenty of cute, clever, or remixed, but the only thing I recall that made me think “Wow, that’s new; does that REALLY work?” was the fly-less tent from North Face. All that aside, the show was full of travelers, people like you and me who love to be out in the world. It was fun to talk with people who lived in outdoor meccas like Aspen and Boulder, and to talk with New York PR reps who’d recently returned from Kenya or Costa Rica.
Watch for color, and a few new gadgets, vintage styling. If you’re looking to upgrade your kit, you’ll see some nice tweaks — better zippers and pulls, lighter materials — but I’m not convinced there’s a lot life-changing new stuff for spring.
Posted by Pam in General Gear on August 12th, 2011
Women’s Hoodie Fleece from The North Face
My mother-in-law bought this North Face jacket, discovered it was a small for her, and gave it to me.
I have the best mother-in-law ever.
I truly love this fleece/hoodie, and I anticipate wearing it for travel all fall and winter long. From those chilly airplanes to late-autumn hikes to layering it underneath a shell this winter, I know this North Face jacket is going to get a ton of use.
What I adore about The North Face Women’s TKA 100 Texture Masonic Hoodie is that it’s so feminine. It cinches in just a little bit in the waist, creating a lovely silhouette, and the ruching on the “kangaroo-style” pockets also help to define the waist. Anything that makes me look slimmer is a big hit in my book. I’ve owned way too many shapeless fleece jackets in my time, so I welcome one that helps me feel pretty! The length is flattering, too, coming down to just below my hips (I’m tall).
Another highlight is the material: Polartec micro fleece that is incredibly soft and cozy. The lightweight fleece combined with the jacket’s sleek fit means it’s not bulky, and can definitely be layered with outer garments. The jacket has a UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) of 30, and it dries quickly
This fleece is built for performance with extra-long sleeves and thumbholes to keep you warm and dry while playing outside; I’ll wear it snowshoeing, snowmobiling and sledding in my backyard this winter, for sure. I also adore the hood, which makes it not only a bit playful, but functional for keeping warm in cold weather.
The fleece retails for $65, which I think is reasonable given its versatility. Purchase it online at from RockCreek.com or at Backcountry.com,
Posted by Kara in General Gear on September 17th, 2010
North Face Mountain Light Jacket with Gore-tex
If you walked into a store and could choose whatever jacket you wanted, which one would you grab? That actually happened to me a few months back and I picked this Mountain Light shell with Gore-tex from North Face. Others were flashier or trendier, but this one lets me stomp out into the rain without an umbrella, so I went for the practical choice.
I don’t have a whole lot of North Face clothing in my wardrobe. I know this branch of the giant VF Corporation makes great products, but their jackets are kind of like iPods and Crocs—something everyone and their brother seems to have on them already. I do have one North Face windbreaker fleece though that I got years ago and I like it a lot. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and join the crowd.
This Mountain Light jacket is one finely tuned piece of technology. It is really and truly waterproof—a claim I’ve tried out a dozen times now—yet it is truly breathable too thanks to the Gore-tex liner. That alone doesn’t justify the $300 price tag, I’ll admit, so there’s a whole host of features that take this beyond your average shell. It’s got Velcro cuffs, a hood with cinch straps, covered pockets in and out, a place to put your music player, and armpit zips to let the sweaty heat out and regulate your temperature.
Then you’ve got a cinch strap adjustment at the waist, sealed zippers with a double flap, a zipper that will accommodate a zip-in liner, and an “internal stretch water bottle pocket.” (You say water bottle, I say flask…)
The jacket itself has a lifetime guarantee from North Face and then Gore-tex has a lifetime guarantee on top of that. So you can trust this thing will do what it’s supposed to do: keep you warm, dry, and comfortable. It’s listed as weighing 28 ounces, which is about half the weight of another shell I own from Marker. It would be a great choice for winter sports or just days of walking around in iffy weather. Proof I believe in this shell for travel: it’s the only coat I’m carrying to snowy Salt Lake City for the next few days.
Back to that nagging question you may have: How did I get to walk into a store and pick out any jacket? I could make up a story about winning a contest or my rich aunt coming to town, but really it’s because the Gore-tex people were feeling generous when I visited their offices and they made me feel like the Snoop Dogg of the travel gear world, just handing me clothes so I would try them out and talk about them. OK, I’m easy. Hey…nice jacket!
Click the picture to the left to check prices at Backcountry.com, where I saw the black version on sale for $209 as this post was going up.
Search for men’s and women’s versions of the Mountain Light at REI.com or at Rock/Creek!
Related post: 8 Things You Should Know About Gore-tex
Posted by Tim L. in Adventure Gear, Travel Light on January 20th, 2010
