minimalist's dream

By johndiggity Ranked #1680 - Men's Technical Shells January 8, 2010

i've been using this jacket for about 2 seasons now. so far i am very impressed as this is the first piece of gear i've owned from norrøna. this is a very deceptively lightweight and seemingly basic shell, yet it handles anything with ease. i love this jacket because it is just about light enough to use year round, though using it as a rain coat in the summer and doing much more than just trying to stay dry might be asking too much-especially wearing the caviar color might be asking for heatstroke..

when i say basic i mean this jacket doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles. it uses the gore-tex pro shell line of fabric and it is as waterproof and weatherproof as it gets. the construction of this jacket is top notch. molded pulls and zipper hoods on all the zippers, pull cords in the right places and usable with heavy gloves, laser cut hook-and-loop closures on the gauntlets—the attention to detail is really befitting a jacket of this price. which is the way it should be, as i said, there is not a lot going on with this jacket feature-wise so everything else should be flawless.

the fit is slimmer than most us brands, but not so much that you need to change sizing. if you have freakishly long arms, this is the jacket for you. one odd complaint is that for some reason, when this jacket is zipped, there is a slight bulge happening around the abdomen. this was seemingly innocuous enough, but having worn this in two complete downpours i've noticed that bulge seems to channel rain water directly into your groin. if your pants are not already completely soaked from the rain, it really does look like you've pissed yourself. just a heads up.

also, the zippers are stiff at first, but they seemed to have loosened up after a month or two's use.

my major gripe is the price. i was lucky enough to get one on sale for under $300 and i think that is more than fair for this jacket. i rated it 4 stars because i think for the money, this jacket is way overpriced compared to what else is out there. i wouldn't pay full price for this, but if you can get a good deal, jump on it.

View Details: Norrøna Falketind Gore-Tex Pro Shell Jacket - Men's

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