Norrøna Narvik Soft Shell Jacket - Men's - 2010 BCS

Just received the jacket, and am initially VERY impressed. The quality of construction seems to be on par with or better than anything I have ever used or seen before. The fabric feels very durable inside and out. Although the fleece lining is not very soft, it feels fine against skin, and looks like it will hold up better than traditional fleece linings. The wrist gaiters fit better and feel more durable than others I have had in the past.

The weather resistance looks to be very good, I ran the sleeve under the sink for quite some time, even allowing the water to pool, and it did not soak through at all, the DWR repelled every bead of water. I would say the rain resistance will be above average for DWR, I feel I could easily weather a short downpour in this jacket.

I am 5'8", 140 lbs, slim build and I wear a small. The cut seams to be in-between regular and athletic, with a good amount of stretch. Good fit both with t-shirt and a mid-weight fleece. The Caviar fabric is a little more gray than it appears in pictures.

However the info for this jacket should be updated. The seams are double-stitched, and don't appear to be welded. There are 2 hand pockets, 2 sleeve pockets, 2 pit vents, 1 inner chest pocket, and a removable powder skirt. The hood fits good and has a wired brim, (feels like plastic).

Great value, highly recommended!

None(1), you have misunderstood the purpose with this jacket. In the the specs, it says that the recommended use is warm weather skiing. You're correct, it is not a Windstopper, and it is not supposed to be either. For its purpose, warm weather skiing, it's a very good jacket.

I have to add to this thread: The user giving this jacket one star has clearly gone mental. It doesn't even kind of indicate anywhere in the specs that this jacket is supposed to be wind resistant, let alone windproof with Gore Windstopper. My friend has this jacket and I've worn it around, and it's amazing. Great material, great fit, great company. Read the tech specs before you buy next time bruto.

I just got back from using this jacket on a beautiful blue bird day in Colorado. It's a great weight and material for spring skiing. The water resistance is SERIOUSLY water resistant and the wrist gaiters are comfortable and functional. My only gripe concerns the pit vents. They are placed in a really awkward position and are hard to open with one hand. Also they don't really dump as much as heat as other vents. Overall, however, an awesome jacket, especially at 50% off!

If it isn't Gore Windstopper, it would be surprising, as I found it by linking from the Gore Windstopper.com site.

Unless this is yet another example of the worldwide Gorespiracy..................;)

So, in that sense, he may not have read the description (which reads like dufus hippie BS hype, btw), but the guy complaining about the jacket's materials and performance isn't completely in the wrong.

So, a question, is it Gore Windstopper, or isn't it?

Here is the description from the Gore Windstopper site:

Norrona's Narvik WINDSTOPPER® Soft Shell Jacket is built for warmer weather riding.

It is made of completely windproof, highly breathable, and water resistant WINDSTOPPER® Soft Shell fabric, to be lightweight and versatile.

Laminated front pockets with laminated zips keep all of your valuables protected from the elements.

Sounds like a Gorespiracy to me

This is not Gore Windstopper. It is Norrona's proprietary "windstopper." Gore is pretty tough and always has a "Gore Windstopper" BIG Red Stop Sign tag on the jacket, or has "Windstopper" embroidered on the jacket somewhere, but this one does not. That should've been my first clue. Unfortunately, it was not. The jacket leaks air, plain and simple. There are no seam sealing, taping, or anything besides a very very thin piece of mesh around the pit zips to keep air out. Needless to say, it doesn't. Air leaks in and through the zipper as well. I wore it on a high 20-degree day at Copper in mid April with a 10-15mph breeze and I was frigid and could feel wind coming in around my pits and on my chest. . My cheap $60 Billabong jacket kept me warm all winter with just a nylon shell so I knew something wasn't right.

Only plus's are that the Blue Color is absolutely amazing, it has a really "clean" design, and...the powder skirt sorta works. And BC's customer service and return service rules!

Bottom line, the jacket is flat out terrible in functionality, but good on looks. But who cares when you're on a ridge and its 30mph winds if you look good?