Nice jacket, with a few concerns

By Chad Poindexter Ranked #502 - Men's Softshell Jackets June 24, 2011

I bought one of these at the end of last year. I initially bought an XL but I found it to be quite baggy, especially in the chest area and it felt like it hung off of my shoulders a little too much, so I went with a large. The fit is much better, however, I find it to be a little tight under my arms if I wear much bulk at all under the jacket. Just wearing a tshirt or a light weight long sleeve is ok, but much more is pushing it. But this is fine with me. I use this jacket as a late fall jacket. Once temps drop considerably, I pull my warmer jacket out.

I have worn the jacket in times of slight rain and many times in misty weather. The shell did fine in the misting weather, however, I noticed that it began to wet out in the light rain pretty quickly. Still, I am happy with it since this is not a rain jacket. It kept me dry underneath, and the jacket dried out fairly quickly. I was able to shake a lot of the water right off.

I am a little disappointed in the wind blocking capabilities of this jacket. I know that some of the wind is sneaking in around the openings of the jacket, but on a cool, windy day and wearing only a tshirt underneath I feel plenty of air circulating through the jacket. I really expected it to block more wind. My sewn through Montbell UL Down Inner actually blocks more wind than this jacket, which really surprised me.

The pockets are nice and big, so that is a plus, although I rarely use the chest pocket. Also, I am not too fond of the velcro wrist adjusters. TNF uses a somewhat thick plasticky strap. If I try to cinch it closed around my wrist it feels very bulky and a little annoying.

I would actually give this jacket 3.5 stars if available, however I cannot, so I am going to give it 4 stars. Mostly because I do like this jacket and it is my go-to jacket until winter time, and it seems to be quite durable so I am confident that it will be around for a long time. I do wish they would change the wrist closure though...

View Details: The North Face Apex Bionic Softshell Jacket - Men's

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