North Face Five Point Gore Tex Pro Jacket - Review

I'll admit it... I've never had a Gore Tex jacket up to now. But a winter skills course found me out with my existing waterproof which had lasted me a good number of years. I needed something better, more reliable and definitely more rugged.

At the top of Fiacill Ridge

The latest incarnation of Gore Tex Pro fitted the bill, especially when webtogs had a sale and I got a drastically reduced price!

Since then I've used the jacket enough to review it effectively. Bear in mind that my jacket is not the absolutely latest 2014 jacket but the season before.

First up, the hood - it's excellent. Fits over a helmet and responds well to head movement. The small drawstrings to tighten are fiddly and the one at the back of the head is definitely too fiddly. Not sure if this has been adjusted in 2014 version but hope so!

The hood. The weather was way worse and way colder than this looks!! Hail storm assaults all day!

The cut - as befits an American company is looser than the standard 'athletic' cut of Montane and Rab. So whatever size you are normally, that's the size you need to get. Any bigger and you'll look like a spaceman. I'm medium in most things and my medium easily takes a Montane Ice Guide jacket under (or over!)

The arm length is fine. Velcro cuff tabs are OK but many don't like them because of snow sticking to them. The actual length of the jacket is slightly shorter than (for example) a Montane Venture and there's not really much of a drop tail at the back either.

The adjusters for cinching in around the waist are located inside the pockets which is slightly odd and not hugely effective I must admit. Again, a small re-think needed by North Face as these are tricky to adjust in winter conditions with gloves on. One issue with the little draw cord things is that they're not easy to un-do once tugged tight (I could be missing something but seems the only way is literally to 'pull apart' the jacket to loose the toggles...)

The jacket itself in terms of performance is brilliant, although only tested in some fairly cold winter conditions and has breathed very well. There are pit zips (again, not hugely easy to do back up once unzipped unless someone else helps). But this thing is a beast and very hard-wearing.

Spindrift and snow storm - became a whiteout but the jacket was amazing!

Additionally, this cut out so much wind that I actually noticed the difference up against an eVent jacket. I wouldn't wear my Gore Tex in Summer but the Gore Tex Pro is an amazingly huge improvement on my only other Gore Tex paclite (bin bag) jacket! 

I have to say that some days in -14C temperatures (windchill affected), all I needed was a merino/polyester baselayer, a fleece and this jacket. Yes, I attempt to move like a mountain goat but even when sitting still this really helped me keep fairly toasty with my belay jacket remaining in my bag! In the Cairngorms in Winter, I really only needed a thick baselayer and this jacket to be warm when moving.

All in all this is an almost perfect (tweaks needed) winter hardshell !