In South Korea owning a North Face jacket is the difference between fitting in at school and being the outsider. North Face jackets have somehow become the trendy ‘uniform worn over a school uniform.’ The brand has become a byword for quality and the type of jacket a student wears is a statement of social standing. Failure of a parent to buy their child a North Face jacket is a recipe for a major teenage tantrum.

Never having lived in Korea or scaled any mountains, I missed out on the North Face phenomenon. I’ve never owned any North Face products in my life. However, as I hit my thirties I had a pre-mid life fashion crisis that is probably the result of watching too many Korean movies. It had got so bad that in the last few weeks of 2013, I was seriously considering disowning my parents over the obvious lack of love they had shown me as a teenager. Luckily for my parents, the kind people at Blacks.co.uk offered me the chance to review a North Face jacket.

Although it was going to be cold over Christmas in the UK, I chose to review the rather long winded name ‘Summit Series Alpine Project GORE-TEX Jacket.’ Lightweight and waterproof, it is a summer raincoat that is better suited to tropical Indonesia where I spend most of the year than a European winter. The jacket arrived just after Christmas, which was perfect timing, because the winter rains were lashing England and large portions of the South West lay under water.

So where to start… It’s not only in Korea that North Face have created a name for the quality products that they produce. In England and Indonesia my friends have knowledgeably told me that North Face is a great brand. With a touch of envy they have said how lucky I am to get the Summit Series Alpine Project GORE-TEX Jacket to review and I can understand why.

The jacket has a trendy design. There’s enough space under it to fit a couple of fleeces when it’s cold and it’s loose enough that I don’t feel hot when I’m wearing it in a tropical storm. I wouldn’t advise climbing a mountain with the Summit Series Alpine Project GORE-TEX Jacket as the hood isn’t going to keep you warm in freezing temperatures. However, this is a summer jacket and the hood does keep the rain off your head.

Though the jacket is great, with a retail price of £200, it is expensive, but like Apple, North Face don’t do cheap. Thankfully, Blacks.co.uk offer steep discounts (my jacket cost £140) and have a wide range of products. So, if you’re thinking about buying North Face products and you’re looking for a discount, I would recommend visiting the site.

Final Thoughts

I’m a big fan of my Summit Series Alpine Project GORE-TEX Jacket and having returned to Indonesia while Jakarta is flooding, it’s already coming in useful. I do think that the jacket is expensive, but I prefer to spend more money on a product that will last longer than go for the cheaper option with a shorter shelf life. If this sounds like you then you’ll like North Face.