 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all,
I have a few quick/simple questions about a waterproof jacket that I am thinking of buying. Hope you can help.
1) I am looking into the North Face Summit Series. What is the difference between the Alpine Project Jacket vs the Point Five Gore-Tex Pro Jacket? Are they a matter of previous/current season? Is one better than the other? (I note the Point Five is more expensive than the Alpine Project). I'm just wondering if I can get away with buying the cheaper Alpine Project?
2) Also playing with idea of Arc'teryx Beta AR GTX Pro Jacket. Higher price point. How does it compare to the North Face Summit Series?
Thanks!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Shiunn, welcome to snowheads.
I have the Beta AR and it's hard to fault for skiing. It's a little short for Scotland without water proof trousers.
Get one with goretex pro fabric if you can, they might have a different name for it this year.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Alpine Project uses Goretex Active Shell, which is lightweight and super breathable (and probably packs down quite small, too). The Point Five uses Goretex Pro, which has a much more substantial face fabric and will be a fair bit more resistant to damage, but it will be slightly heavier, bulkier and slightly less breathable as a result.
Neither is "better" as such.
As I'm not an alpine climber, I use lightweight waterproof gear for most things... I like the fact that I can work much harder wearing it before I end up a sweaty mess, and I like the way it tends to disappear into my backpack unobtrusively (which my one goretex pro shell jacket does not). I'm relatively careful with my kit though and unless it is actually raining heavily I generally wear softshell fabrics. If you're going to be wearing this more often than not, or you tend to be hard on your gear, you might be better off going for the heavier fabric.
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I can`t comment on the fabrics that you mention, but I have a down summit series ski jacket from about 3 years ago, and also have 2 Arcteryx goretex jackets.(Sabre and Stingray) The NF jacket, whilst having good pockets and style, was completely useless as a ski jacket, as it was freezing to wear, and led me to the conclusion that the summit series, and NF in general, are not technical products, but more fashion statements. The NF jacket allowed the wind straight through it, despite being down filled, so my conclusion has been to stay away from NF products. Arcteryx, on the other hand, whilst pricey, fit beautifully and do exactly what they claim to; I can also use the goretex year round, and they have a life time guarantee. I also had a NF nuptse jacket, which was fine around town, but when it really mattered, at -30C in Canada, the lining would get caught in the zip, jamming it.... just bad design.
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