User Review: The North Face Men's McMurdo Parka

I purchased my McMurdo parka at the end of the 2004 winter season so I only wore it a few times before it was time to put it away. As well during this time our extreme weather (-25F) had passed.

The following winter when our temperatures dropped I noticed my arms and shoulders were cold when I was outside. I couldn't figure this out at first but when I took a close look at the parka I noticed in spots there was little to no down in some of the baffles around the upper arms of the sleeves.

I contacted North Face Canada and sent it back for warranty. Their service was excellent. They replaced the parka and sent me out the new version. 

Some of the features have changed on the parka some for the good and some for the bad. As another person mentioned there is a lot of velcro on the parka which really isn't required. In fact just about every North Face jacket I have contains velcro. The seat belt in my truck is trashed because of it. (Correction: This parka does not have velcro other than on the sleeves. It has snaps along the zipper flap.)

The older version had a wind skirt at the waist, the new one doesn't. The hood on the older version had an adjustment so I could tighten it so the top of the hood doesn't hang down over my face. The way it is now, I can't see to walk if I have the hood up. However, the most disappointing thing is my arms and shoulders are still cold in the replacement parka.

I think this parka is probably good for temperatures of down to 10F but nothing colder than that. There is no way this parka is worn in Antarctica because I live 2 hours north of the North Dakota, Montana border and it isn't warm enough for here.

My best friend worked up at Tuktoyaktuk on the northern tip of Canada for 2 winters and they wear nothing but Canada Goose. If you live where the temperature is colder than 10F I don't recommend this parka and would recommend spending the money on a Canada Goose parka. If you live where the weather isn't extreme this parka will probably work for you.

I own several North Face products and they are excellent, but I am extremely disappointed with this product. They do make products for extreme weather as I own North Face mitts and boots that work good but I am a bit skeptical about their parkas for extreme weather.