The North Face Men’s Quince Jacket – Gear Review

With the end of winter approaching, the crew at Busted Wallet has been making our best effort to get out and enjoy the last few days of cold weather. Whether it is hitting the slopes or getting out to snowshoe, we’ve been busy testing out new winter gear and sharing our experiences. I was excited to test out the North Face Quince Down jacket while snowshoeing and mountaineering in the Adirondacks on what was, most likely, my last major trip of the 2015 winter season.

Key Features:

• Body: 15D 32 g/m² 100% nylon ripstop with DWR finish
• Insulation: 800-fill goose down
• Weight: 360g (13oz)
• Compressible, and packs into its own pocket.
• bluesign® approved fabric
• Internal elastic-bound cuffs
• Designed for ski mountaineering, backcountry skiing and alpine climbing

Comfort:

The North Face Quince has an athletic fit that fit me perfectly. I am 5’11’’ and roughly 150 lbs, and wore a size small. As someone with a pretty slim frame, I really appreciate jackets that are not bulky. The jacket fit close to my body, and the sleeves fit close against my arms, but they were not overly snug and in no way did they limit movement. As I explain in the performance section below, I wore this jacket over plain clothes, over thin base layers, as well as an outer layer over several other layers on the summit. In all configurations, the jacket felt great and kept me warm.

Design:

At 13oz, this jacket is extremely light. The down is very compressible, and was easy to stuff into my pack. Unlike some down jackets, the Quince does not provide an easy way to pack the jacket inside one of its own pockets. The zippered hand pockets only have zipper pulls on the exterior. These pockets provide storage and can help keep your hands warm. They also contain a hidden cinch cord, which you can pull to tighten the material on the bottom of the jacket so that it fits more snug..

The 800 fill goose down is very warm. Depending on the weather, and what you are wearing as your base layers, it might provide too much insulation if you are doing strenuous activity, but when we were standing around and it started getting colder, putting this jacket on kept me warm.

The jacket is coated in a DWR finish, which provides some degree of protection against precipitation. We would not wear this jacket in very wet conditions, seeing as that is not what it is really designed for, but the addition of a DWR finish is great when you are dealing with light precipitation or snow.

Geared up and ready to go wearing the North Face Men’s Quince.

Performance:

I wore the Quince in a few configurations to test its limits:

First, I wore it over some light base layers while snowshoeing up a mountain to test out its warmth and breathability. It was right around 30 degrees at base elevation when we started our hike, and I lasted quite awhile before I had to unzipper. It is important to note that the hike was strenuous, and we were working hard. I was pleasantly surprised with how breathable the jacket was. When we started hiking, I knew that I was going to get warm quickly with the weather conditions and with the effort involved in our hike, but I lasted much longer than I thought I would last.

Next, as we approached the summit, I had put my shell on to provide some better wind resistance. When we reached the summit, I put the Quince on over my shell to keep me warm. It was noticeably colder at the summit than when we started our hike. We hung out at the summit for an extended period of time to enjoy the view and ate a small snack. While standing around, this jacket kept me very warm. Despite the jacket having a slimmer, athletic fit, it fit fine over my other layers, including my shell.

I also wore the jacket as a mid layer under my shell. Although this jacket provides some minor wind resistance, it is designed primarily to be breathable and to keep you insulated. A good outer shell will do a better job at blocking cold winds. With this jacket under my shell, I felt very warm and comfortable. This jacket is a great mid layer that will keep you warm. I can’t stress that enough.

Last but not least, I also wore this jacket in more casual situations, such as walking around town, usually with a tshirt and a flannel shirt underneath. It performed great and kept me warm.

Style:

When it comes to being out in the mountains or surviving in the outdoors, style seems like the last thing to consider. However, if you want to buy this jacket as an everyday jacket, this might be a higher priority. We received the concrete grey version of this jacket, which features a grey exterior and a bright orange interior. As someone who doesn’t particularly care for very vibrant colors when it comes to clothing, and who owns several pieces of grey or black gear (and unfortunately, one very bright blue jacket), I really liked the colors on this jacket. Even the bright orange seemed like a great accent color against the grey exterior, and because it is mainly on the interior, you don’t see a whole lot of it.

Value:

With an MSRP of $249.00, there are definitely cheaper options available for a good insulation layer. With that said, the North Face Quince offers very warm, 800-fill goose down, is compressible and easy to pack, and most importantly, keeps you warm. If warmth is one of those things that you don’t want to put a price tag on, this might be an easy purchase. If you are looking to save pennies or don’t really need this level of warmth or insulation, there are cheaper options available, some directly from North Face.

Buy Now: $249 or, to learn more go to: TheNorthFace.com