A-OK

By Chad Poindexter Ranked #12 - Women's 3-in-1 Jackets December 26, 2010

I just bought this jacket for my wife for Christmas. It is what she wanted and I happen to like the NF Triclimate jackets since I own one as well. (That is probably what made her decide she wanted one...) Anyway, she is about 5'2" and 90 pounds soaking wet. We ordered her the small and it fits her pretty good. Maybe a little loose, but she says it is comfortable on her.
As far as initial impression, the jacket seems to be well made. I have not seem any bad stitching or any areas that would warrant any type of worries. In my opinion, I am not too fond of the inner "silken fleece" liner simply because it looks thin and worn out, but maybe that is because it is white, regardless, it just doesn't look top notch. But hey, she likes it and she says it feels smooth and soft and comfy while wearing it, so what do I know... :)
The only thing I am not too happy about is the strap for the hook and loop fastener on the sleeves at the wrist. In the past they simply used a piece of the HyVent material as the backing, but now they are using pieces of rubber. (As seen in the attached picture.) They are using these with a few jackets because the Apex jacket I just got is the same way. These are harder to use and makes the sleeve at the wrist feel bulky and awkward if cinched any. Due to this, I do not cinch them down and while this is a little awkward, it is not as bad as if I were using them. But maybe that's just me. The piece of HyVent was flexible and did not bunch up.
Now that that is over, one other thing I do like about the jacket is that it does have pitzips, however, this is overkill for her. She will not be using this jacket to backpack with since it is way too heavy and she simply has better coats for those situations. So, take that for what it is worth...
So, I gave this 4 stars because of the the fleece (at least in my opinion) and because I hate the wrist straps. She says she doesn't mind the fleece, so...I didn't give it a 3.

View Details: The North Face Boundary Triclimate Jacket - Women's

Helpful Votes: 2 Yes