User Review: The North Face Mountain Light Parka

The North Face Mountain Light Parka
Above: The current Mountain Light Parka, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed October 17, 1999 by Tyler

Rating:
Fabric: 2 Layer Gore-tex
Price Paid: $345

Owning this jacket taught me a lesson. I learned never to buy any garmet with the word "Light" in the name. Bragging about a jacket's light weight is no different from bragging about a jacket's durability.

The North Face has a pretty clever marketing scheme. They talk about how their pit zips having 6 features in themselves, but in reality they made them worse. On a freezing Pacific Northwest day in ski gloves, it was impossible to just reach under your arm to zip or unzip them. It required removing your gloves, using all your might to rip the well bonded velcro apart, then figure out which of the two zippers to pull. Then the wimpy little zipper would snag, and you'd have to take the jacket off to fix it.

The hood worked pretty once it was on, but taking it on and off was a task that sometimes required help from a buddy. It didn't roll away into a collar either, but just hung loose, or could be tucked down behind your neck.

The chest pocket zippers would sometimes snag, and weren't as quick and easy to use as they could have been.

The 2 ply Gore-tex didn't bother me at the time, although it didn't breath as well as it could have. Its "lightweight" made it feel kinda flimsy, and it lacked ruggedness. I'd say that this is a great "around town" or rain jacket, but is not serious and heavy enough for "extreme conditions."

Do not buy any North Face jackets on the basis of what the company writes about them. These guys are becoming like Nike in the sense that you pay $345 for a jacket worth $200 because of the big label.

The Mountain Light did the job for a couple seasons of skiing, but until now, I never knew what I was missing. I now own a Mountain Hardwear Ethereal FTX which is an incredible jacket, especially after what I owned previously. The pitzips can be opened or closed quickly with welder's gloves on. The 3 layer gore-tex is more waterproof and gives the jacket a heavier feel. It has three times the features, yet Mountain Hardwear doesn't feel the need to brag about them.

I've owned equipment from all the name brands out there, and so far my favorites are Mountain Hardwear, Marmot, and Arc'Teryx because of the quality of their stuff. You feel like you are getting what you pay for instead of just a huge label.