Are North Face jackets worth the high prices over other brands?

Like Apple, you are paying for the logo.

How important is the logo?

One of the ways to tell if a jacket is good is to bring it up to your month and blow hard into the fabric while your hand is on the other side of the fabric. If you can feel your breath through the fabric, the jacket won’t protect you from the cold as much. That’s significant in Minnesota where the wind chill last week was -47. One of my daughter’s jackets is warmer for her than her coat for that reason.

Many of the North Face jackets pass the ‘blow test,’ but other lower priced brands do too and not all from one brand will pass the test. If wind chill is an issue for your area, then it’s worth the price. If you don’t live in that kind of climate, it’s overpriced.

Look at the label inside. Chances are, it’s made in China or some other foreign country.

Labels tell it all.

Personally, I have never had an issue with wind in jackets that cost far less.

I like The North Face a lot, and own multiple jackets by them, but in general, no, not in every area. If you’re looking for a hooded sweatshirt, probably don’t buy North Face. If you’re looking for a ski jacket or soft shell, though, yeah, I’ve found their quality is pretty good, and much better than your average jacket.

To put it very simply, North Face™ and any other brand, label, style or make of any product is worth whatever people are willing to pay for it, regardless of what I think or Consumer Reports or any other critic or sales person. It’s worth what people think it’s worth.

To me, no, most “brand name” items aren’t worth the high prices they command (from others), but that’s just me. I do like a lot of L.L. Bean outerwear and boots, even though they are substantially more expensive than “similar” goods, but that’s because I know the quality of that product and I know that the guarantee is as good as any that I could find in any industry.

If you like the performance and styling of North Face jackets – and especially if you don’t want to take the trouble to research, shop and negotiate for competing products that might be “as good”, then maybe it’s worth its price to you. It hardly matters what I think, does it? I do like the styling of a lot of the North Face jackets and coats I see, but I’ve never actually shopped for them. I have some no-name coats and jackets that have served me well for a dozen years or more, and I have no reason to replace them. I’m also not a slave to fashion.

I had a North Face wool sweater that I loved and was worth the price I paid.

Arcteryx Kappa SV Hoody. Check it out. Way better quality than North Face. Fo real!

My boyfriend bought me one for Christmas a couple of years ago (mainly because I kept stealing his!!!) and, during the winter months, I wear it all the time. It’s like walking around in a duvet! For that reason I think it was worth the price because, if there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s being cold.