What do people think of 'The North Face' outdoor gear?

In My Humble Opinion
21

North Face used to be a fantastic manufacturer of high quality moutain gear. Then they got popular (about 10-15 years ago) and had to move production offshore to meet demand- as a result, quality started to slip. About 5 years ago they ran into some serious financial diffuculties due to over agressive expansion(pretty sure they were in Chap 11), and the were bought out by VF Corp (same company that makes Jordache jeans) - as a result customer service started to slip. As it stands right now, they are overpriced and generally not as good as some other brands - you’re paying for the name.

If you’re willing to shell out the extra money, for around town use they’re fine. But heading out into the mountains, where your life could depend on your gear, I’d choose Mountain Hardwear or Marmot over TNF any day.

22

Thanks for the info. I had been thinking of finally replacing the old 14 year old parka with another Mountain Light, but if the quality is that bad now, I think I’ll just stick with the old one. It will probably last another decade anyway.
I have a few pieces of Mountain Hardware equipment that I love - tent, sleeping bag, windstopper fleece - but the Ethereal parka I got from them, apart from the design flaw that I mentioned above, just doesn’t fit as well as my North Face. I’m a petite sized woman, so it’s hard to find high-performance jackets that fit me anyway.