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   The North Face Universal Infusion Jacket

The North Face Universal Infusion jacket is generally considered to be overpriced given its poor hood and lack of breathability. Hey, we're just trying to be honest here!

   The North Face Universal Infusion Jacket Reviews

General comments: Although the Noth Face infusion jacket is a very good looking piece of kit, it is functionally useless. Would be a good jacket for kicking round towns when you want to look good, but this comes at a fairly high price when the jacket you get is considered.

Pros: - Looks very cool and professional. However the hood does let it down in this respect as it has no means of securing it to the collar.

• Has large pockets which are good for storing maps etc in and are out of reach of your climbing harness.
• Pit zips do allow very good control of temperature and hence sweating. The material also helps with the latter.
• The 'trusted' (by other people, I used to work in an outdoor gear shop) TNF brand.
• Good length, I have a quite long body but the Universal Infusion fits perfectly.
• I guess it will wear well.

Cons: THE HOOD IS TERRIBLE. You may wonder why this is capitals? This is because it is so useless that the jacket is no good for the hill. Maybe if it were going to be used somewhere where it would never rain, then again why would you use it? The reason for this is that it is cut very very poorly, a list of why is below:

• The peak is so floppy it won't hold up to any wind etc.
• There is no face guard so a HUGE amount of skin is exposed, leading to wind burn.
• There is no supplied way of fastening it to the collar so it flaps around and collects water when it's not in use.
• The peak points downwards meaning water is channeled down into the neck leaving you cold, annoyed and wet.
• The hood is fastened to the collar below the top looking stupid and offering less protection than a real mountain hood and without the streamlined appearance of a fold away.

Other comments:

• Weight could be lower.
• Expensive for what you get.

General comments: I have to agree with steve (Review previous) about the north face Infusion jacket. I brought one , luckily not at the full price, and it has been used on the hill. I put up with it for about three trips, and then it got demoted to around town use. Firstly not only is the hood very poor, as mentioned by steve, but TNF has other problems with this XCR jacket. The gore-tex XCR (for extreme weather) does not seem to hold true to its name. Sure it does protect you, but there was very little breathability, and I was only wearing a TNF flight series thermal top as a base layer. The zips under the arms helped, but generally I expected more from this jacket, especially with a retail of £280. I didn’t find the material strong and durable either. This is an alpine jacket, and yet when it touches rock it seems to scuff really easily. I did find the fit of the jacket excellent although this is a personal thing, which is why I still wear it. The final thing that I must mention is that it was not comfortable to wear when carrying expedition rucksacks. I think this is caused by the extra length, which seems to draw up under the wasit strap of the rucksack, making it uncomfortable. Maybe im just a perfectionist!

Pros: Not many - It looks good

Cons: As mention above - if TNF are giving them away then get one. Alot of money to spend on a poor jacket

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