Review Date
November 24, 2003

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 4 votes

Reviewed by: Jocephus1(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker

Price Paid:  $199.00 at dont remember

Summary:
Ok, I have had this Nuptse for about 8 years now. Recently my wife made a purchase for a Mountain Hardwear Sub-Zero Jacket. A direct comparison is in order.

The Nuptse has a 700 weight fill, which is a little bit more than the 650 fill MHW jacket.
Double reinforced shoulders allow the use of a pack without causing too much damage and reduces the possiblity of rips and losing down through the high abrasion regions in the shoulders.

The nuptse is a very comfortable jacket that works wonders be it trekking or huddled up in a sleeping bag. Very warm!

Overall, the Nuptse is my first choice for layering.

My MHW is my first choice for wearing only by itself.

I much like the North face nuptse for packing because it packs down into it's pocket whereas the mountain hardware has a separate stuff sack.

Both are lightweight and I would have no problems taking either on any trek.

Durability? I think i'll lean toward the MHW.

Overall though, I have been happy with this purchase and would recommend it to anyone. Check the features of both and see which comes out on top. Too many people rely on brand names.

Customer Service:
TNF, while their quality of their products has suffered in recent years, their customer service has not. I've been very happy with their service on the rare occasion when needed.

Similar Products Used:
MHW Sub-Zero

Review Date
September 25, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Reviewed by: Matt(Unregistered User) ,  Skier

Price Paid:  $99.00 at Helsinki, Finland

Summary:
Yo this is an excellent jacket! Here in Finland the temperature gets sometimes below the human tolerance. I use my jacket in the "mountains", use it when walkin' to school, I'm using it everywhere (I wouldn't be suprised if some morning I woke up wearing my Nuptse, it's so cozy, warm and well-fitting). The only disadvantage in it is that it generates jealousy everywhere I go to. Everybody else is shivering of hypothermia and I keep on smiling and telling everybody what a nice weather it is today and I ought to open my zipper a bit to get rid of the extra heat...

Customer Service:
No problems (at least so far)

Similar Products Used:
Mountain Hardwear SL hooded jacket
Fjällraven

Review Date
June 17, 2003

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Reviewed by: Nicholas (Unregistered User) ,  Mountaineer

Price Paid:  $99.00 at Cabelas

Summary:
I purchased this jacket back in 1999 and soon afterwards the down started to come out. The hood is useless, and the shell material is not very sturdy. It failed to keep me warm when temps dived to -20F, but did nicely at 10F.
My brother has an older Nuptse jacket with 550-600 fill down, dating back from the early 90's. I must say that the quality of that jacket far surpasses mine. The shell seems sturdier, no down has poked through, I take good care of my gear yet despite that this jacket fell to pieces. This is something I've noticed in that older North Face clothing that I own seems of better and sturdier quality than the stuff they put out now. I've relagated this jacket to casual wear around town, as I no longer trust this jacket to do its job. I paid 99 bucks for this, but in no way is this jacket worth 299.00 or anything more than $100.00.

Customer Service:
I used to love North Face but this past year I've sort of decided to stay away from North Face gear--reasons being quality, and their sizing is messed up. Despite what I believe is a decline in manufacturing quality the one constant and saving grace for North Face is their customer service.

Similar Products Used:
standard down vest from Bradlees
Mountain Hardwear Sub Zero SL (current)

Review Date
April 2, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Reviewed by: estifallen(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker , from Telluride, CO USA

Price Paid:  $0.00 at Free Box in Tellurid

Summary:
Great jacket, a little small for me since I got it for free, but good for emergencies (I slept on my porch for 2 and a half hours with it when it was 5 degrees to test it out and the only problem was that my toes were a little cold. This is a very warm jacket.)

Customer Service:
North Face is already really popular, but I thought they deserved another good review here because of their awesome service. I sent the jacket back because of a broken zipper and it was sent back clean, with a hole (not mentioned when I sent it back) sewn up, and a brand new zipper all for free. Another time I had a seizure while I was wearing a North Face backpack, and the straps were cut to get it off. I sent it to North Face and they replaced the pack even though I had explained the reason for the straps being cut. Its expensive, but they will make sure that your stuff lasts forever!

Similar Products Used:
Big wool sweater. A lot heavier but a lot cheaper and works when wet.

Review Date
April 2, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Reviewed by: Stephen Allen(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker , from Telluride, CO USA

Price Paid:  $0.00 at Free Box in Tellurid

Summary:
Great jacket, a little small for me since I got it for free, but good for emergencies (I slept on my porch for 2 and a half hours with it when it was 5 degrees to test it out and the only problem was that my toes were a little cold. This is a very warm jacket.)

Customer Service:
North Face is already really popular, but I thought they deserved another good review here because of their awesome service. I sent the jacket back because of a broken zipper and it was sent back clean, with a hole (not mentioned when I sent it back) sewn up, and a brand new zipper all for free. Another time I had a seizure while I was wearing a North Face backpack, and the straps were cut to get it off. I sent it to North Face and they replaced the pack even though I had explained the reason for the straps being cut. Its expensive, but they will make sure that your stuff lasts forever!

Similar Products Used:
Big wool sweater. A lot heavier but a lot cheaper and works when wet.