TNF's Spring 2009 Clothing - Part One

After out preview of The North Face's spring 2009 equipment highlights, here's part one of a skim through their latest clothing which includes some really interesting stuff including hybrid materials and an innovative reversible insulated jacket.

Summit Series Serac Jacket - £290

The new Serac is a lightweight alpine jacket made from Gore-Tex Paclite and with a modified cut after input from the brand's top sponsored climbers. The hood peak is still laminated rather than wired, but definitely stiffer than previous TNF peaks, the hood itself is bigger and better and sleeves have been lengthened to prevent them pulling up when climbing.


Fit is TNF's neater 'Performance' cut with stretch Paclite side panels and zippers are water resistant items. Weight is just 283 grammes, so it's super light for an alpine shell jacket. We like the red and black retro-look version, but it's also available in Milk Tray man plain black as well.

Summit Series Triumph Anorak - £140

We've seen the ridiculously light - 152 grammes - Triumph Anorak before, but it's updated for this year and added to the Summit Series line-up. The construction is a cunning two-panel only affair to minimise seams and weight / bulk, while Hyvent DT fabric provides decent, breathable waterproof performance in our experience.


Changes include a new green colour - if in doubt wear shades - and the pocket has been moved slightly. It also gets Summit Series zip pulls. One of the lighest and now most green coloured waterproof tops out there.

Apex Elixir Jacket - £90

The Apex Elixir soft shell is a bit of a low profile fave here at OUTDOORSmagic. Apex Aerobic softshell fabric is woven rather than membrane based and gives a great combination of wind and water resistance combined with stretch for a good fit.


One of those jackets you find yourself using all the time, particularly if you run hot. Other features include a brushed collar lining, and adjustable hem. Weight is around 470 grammes.

Reversible Mercurial Jacket - £250

Arguably the most interesting item in the range, the Reversible Mercurial is a Primaloft filled insulation jacket that, as you probably guess, is reversible. One side, the dark one, is just standard Pertex Nylong rip-stop with a DWR, the other, silvery side though is a special Schoeller fabric which is coated with aluminium and reflects some 39-47 per-cent of the sun's rays than the black side of the jacket.


The idea is that in cold conditions, you wear the Mercurial dark side out and the aluminiumised side inwards so it reflects heat back towards the body. But when things get hot and sunny, in the high mountain particularly, you reverse the jacket to reflect the sunlight and reduce temperatures.


The silvery side is also designed with secondary vented baffling system that's automatically open in that configuration helping to increase cooling. Interesting stuff, particularly we think, in glacial terrain where large amounts of daytime sunlight can make things deceptively hot. The jacket was inspired by TNF's team of elite mountain athletes.

Women's Stretch DIAD Jacket - £150

The new Stretch DIAD - there's a men's version too - is a development of the original Done In A Day lightweight waterproof jacket. It weighs in at just 281 grammes and uses 2.5 layer stretch Hi-Vent DT throughout.


Features include core vents for rapid cooling, performance fit, a fully adjustable hood with laminated brim.

Women's Apex Elixir Jacket - £90

No prizes for guessing that this is the women's version of the rather nice Apex Elixir soft shell, same fabric, same features but with a women's specific cut and a nice red colour :-)



Part two to follow covering some of the non-Summit range.

More information at www.thenorthface.com