[pct-l] Nuplse North Face Jacket

[verber at gmail.com (Mark Verber)]

Back on point for one sec... the Nuptse North Face Jacket.  The retail
price of this jacket is just about the same as the Western
Mountaineering Flight Jacket (~$199).  The Flight Jacket is less than
1/2 the weight and more loft.  Unless you have a really great deal on
the Nuptse, I would skip it and get the Flight Jacket.

As to TNF in general

> Ok Ok, North face stuff may work ok, but so does a bunch of other stuff...
> 
> Stuff that isn't made by a corporate mega-giant...  In fact north face used
> to be like all the sweet, sweet stuff small guys but I think now they are
> owned by something like Kraft or some big company.

They are owned by VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) which I believe is one of
the world's largest apparel company. Its principal brands now include
Lee, Wrangler, Riders, Rustler, Vanity Fair, Vassarette, Bestform,
Lily of France, Lee Sport, Healthtex, JanSport, Eastpak, Red Kap and
The North Face.

> When I backpack i go to get away from it all and when I sport NF stuff I'm
> not getting away from it.

Personally, I have never understood how a logo on gear means you
aren't "getting away from it".  I am not looking at my gear, I am
looking at the views.

> The little guys have much tighter control of their construction process, I'm sure.

It varies.  TNF and a number of other brands (including some smaller
companies) are assembled by the same sub-contractors.

> here are some other guys that are smaller companies than NF and make much
> better stuff, in my opinion
> www.granitegear.com
> www.ula-equipment.com
> www.westernmountaineering.com
> even marmot is still owned by marmot i think. www.marmot.com
> www.patagonia.com

Given the size of VFC... pretty much every company is smaller.  I
would agree that these companies generally make gear that is better
than TNF.   I would add Nunatak, Integral Designs, Outdoor Research,
Montane, and Arc'Teryx to this list.  Most of these companies don't
make as wide a range of products at TNF.  Hmm... maybe there is a
reason for this :-)

--mark