New From The North Face - Autumn 2008

We recently told you all about what was new from The North Face this spring, but while we were there, we also had a sneak peak at what's coming out in autumn 2008 and while it's still a way off - in the shops around September time - we thought you might like a quick look at a few of the nicer bits and bobs.

Waterproof Shell Jackets

The North Face's top-end Summit series shells get some range-wide changes which will suit British buyers and testers. Notably the pockets, while no dedicated map pockets are now 'more map friendly'. Next, all Summit series shells will have fully helmet-compatible hoods and finally all pockets will be pack belt and climbing harness friendly, so there.

The very top jacket is made from a taped Gore-Tex Soft Shell fabric with a thin. brushed fleecy liner, but for technical use, we reckon the Mammatus Jacket made from Gore-Tex Pro shell and with all mod cons including pit-zips, big alpine pockets and a stiffened peak - what??? - will be the pick of the range. Weighs around 500g and will be priced at £325 and haven't we seen that colour scheme before eh...

Also due out this autumn is the Heathen, which was designed to be one of the lightest Pro Shell jackets out there. At around 390 grammes, it's already been pipped by the Haglofs LIM Ozone, but that's still pretty damn light for an alpine climbing jacket with fully adjustable helmet-hood, pit-zips, alpine pockets and so on. Comes in a rather nice dark blue denim colour too. Price will be £280.

Insulated Jackets

We reckon the star of the show is the new On Sight jacket. Basically it's a version of TNF's super-lightweight DIAD Hyvent DT shell jacket, but lined with 60 grammes of Primaloft One.

The result should be a lightweight - 700 grammes or so - fully waterproof, insulated jacket with a helmet-compatible hood. Should be spot on for cold, wet days or the sort of winter routes where meltwater drips onto you. Or just as a lightweigth belay jacket with a bit more weather protection thrown in. Price will be £210.

Also new is the Prism Optimus - below - an interesting looking jacket that combines 700 fill power down with Primaloft inside a fabric with a weather resistant coating and welded seam box-wall baffles. Mostly the jacket is, in fact, down filled, but the collar and hood are filled with more damp-friendly Primaloft synthetic insulation.

The coating on the nylon face fabric is something called Hyvent Kiss, which TNF says is a very effective weaher resistant barrier. Price is £230 and it's billed as being 'exceptionally durable'.

Last But Not Least...

Wassat? It's an NSE Ten Mule - NSE stands for Never Stop Exploring - and it's based on the original TNF Nuptsie Bootie, though unlike big brother, it uses 450 fill down insulation instead of 700 and is cut a lot lower. Should be ideal hut and tent wear and it looks great in cammo. There's also going to be a higher cut Tent Bootie, but we can see a lot of the Mules being bought as cool slippers.

Anyway, there's more besides, but it won't be in the shops until September 2008. More details of the current North Face range at www.thenorthface.com.