[pct-l] Nuplse North Face Jacket

[dude at fastmail.ca (dude)]

> Does anyone else have different reactions to the brand name?

I used to like TNF quite a bit.  I still have several pieces of gear 
made by them and I like them well enough, but I pretty much quit 
looking to them as a gear provider when they went public.  IMO, 
something happens to all companies when they go public:  they stop 
focussing on making a great product and/or providing the best service 
and they start to put more focus on maximizing profits, cutting costs, 
and streamlining operations. These things *can*, and often do, lead to 
lower quality, which is what I think happened with TNF. They used to 
focus on a fairly narrow line of goods that they made really well for a 
relatively small sector of the population (people who like high-end 
gear and are willing to pay extra to get high quality).  Now they try 
to market their stuff to the masses, which requires them to hit a lower 
price-point, which requires them to use cheaper materials, cheaper 
labor, and less innovative designs.  

Personally, I have percieved a reduction in quality of TNF's products 
since they went public.  I think that they have gotten better in recent 
years, but for a while there, the lower quality was really noticeable.  
In addition, since they lowered quality there have been dozens of new 
gear companies that produce really good gear.  Some of them are:
- Feathered Friends
- Nunatak
- Golite
- Mountain Hardware
- Cloudveil

Another thing about the larger gear manufacturers that is often 
mentioned on this list is that they make their gear extra heavy in 
order to ensure that their products do not fail the lifetime warranty.  
Many times, these gear manufacturers make their gear so unbeliveably 
bomb-proof that its entirely overkill and ends up just being extra 
weight, especially for *hiking* as opposed to *mountaineering*.  If you 
are buying gear for hiking only, most of the stuff made by the big gear 
makers is way more gear than you will need.  If you are buying it for 
mountaineering, then you might want to carry the extra weight so that 
your stuff will be more bomb-proof.

my 2 cents.  HTH.

peace,
dude

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