I bought The North Face Ligero 50 Backpack (Black) for a winter camping trip which consisted of a 3-mile hike both in and out on snowshoes.

I liked the pack itself; it is made well, it is comfortable and it held up well. Best part about it was it came with the rain cover which proved to be handy when it started raining/sleeting/snowing on the hike in. Fully packed, (if not over packed) the rain cover fit almost over the entire pack very nicely. It just left my sleeping pad exposed at the bottom of the pack which was fine.

One grip with the pack itself was that what I received differed from the picture on here. For the black backpack, the picture on here shows the zippers to be GREY, but they are actually WHITE. This probably wouldn’t bother most people but I would rather have the grey because the white shows the dirt and grime more and faster.

My other problem (NOT A PROBLEM WITH THE PACK, JUST NOT WHAT I NEED IT FOR) was it was way over packed for a backpack of this size. I was probably pushing around 60lbs. I am returning it for the Crestone60 which should be large enough for what I need it for. For an overnight hike, or maybe even a weekend hike in the summer months it should prove to be very competent. Winter hiking just requires more space for all of the large and heavy apparel and what not.

The pack seemed to be made well. When overstuffed, I've never seen any seams looking as though they were being stressed too much or anything like that. The zippers are a little tough but that’s to be expected with something like this.

I agree the pocket structure is nice on this pack, however I would have liked a sleeping bag compartment and front access to the main pack better, which are not available on this pack. Also, when fully packed I had a hard time inserting and removing the water bottles from the holders on the sides. They are made to be somewhat tight to the pack so if packing light they should be fine, but again for what I did it seemed to be a hassle. I had to pack the bottles first in order to get them into the holders because the pack was so stuffed, and then getting them back in while on the trail proved to be a challenge.

If you’re into your pack looking cool as well as it performs, I’d say this pack stands out in that area.
I would recommend this pack to anyone who is looking for a pack of this size.
I would keep this and buy another larger pack if I had the money to do so.

I bought The North Face Plasma Thermal Jacket for my winter camping trip. The trip involved a 3-mile hike both in and out and 2 nights in a lean-to & tent. The jacket was obviously too warm to wear for the hike in, but while I was there it kept me nice and warm. I also use this as my winter jacket for cold (Central New York) days and it keeps me perfectly warm day to day. The only thing cold about it is on the really cold days the material on the inside is chilly against your skin, but that’s the case with any jacket without fur. As long as your skin is covered with a shirt or anything at all you’re fine. And again, this is only on the really cold days. I was not a fan of the hood at first but it really does its part in keeping you warm up or down! Even down, it really keeps your neck nice and warm. The hood tensioners work fine except for when one of mine came undone internally. I called Backcountry and they are replacing the jacket with a new one. I would presume this is a fluke, or The North Face needs to get their stuff together! Other than that, my only complaint would be that the main zipper does catch a bit but if you take your time when you zip it up it shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t let these things sway you from buying it though. This jacket does employ PrimaLoft which in my opinion is the warmest stuff around for its weight. The jacket is extremely thin for its performance capability. This was the cheapest winter jacket I could find that had PrimaLoft and was waterproofing. For somebody on a budget who is looking for a serious winter jacket, I would definitely recommend this.