The North Face Diez Down Jacket
3rd Apr 2012
I managed for a few years without a down jacket, but the last few winters have encouraged me to see the error of my ways. This little baby from The North Face is a a far cry from my previous one. It’s about half the weight, but definitely more than half the warmth. It looks smart and not out of place walking into a posh restaurant, with its shiny surface (which is also medium water repellent). I love the fact that it packs into its own pocket. A neat trick that took me back to my childhood and the old Pac-a-Macs ?. I agree with other reviewers out there who have complained that the stitching inside the jacket is a little rough on bare skin, but to be fair it’s rare that I wear it on bear skin so this is something that I can live with easily enough. It has a two way zip which means that if you need to belay, sit down, or be crunched up you can simply unzip from the bottom up. Not too keen on the hem-line elasticated drawcord. I like the fact that there is a cord, but am not so keen that you access them inside the pocket. Granted this means that they are out of site and help the jacket look smart and clean, but it means that there is always a piece of elastic kicking around in each of your pockets. Moreover, it’s natural to fiddle with this elastic, and other jackets have shown that this fiddling causes the elastic to become misshapen due to repeated twirling around the fingers. Perhaps this is just me! There’s no hood which helps keep the jacket to a tiny 243g, but does mean that you need to make sure you carry a hat with you. It retails at £200 which is not cheap, but given its warmth, weight, and style I’d say this was a good buy.
Here's a little video from The North Face all about the jacket:
