Update: We are no longer stocking the Women’s Resolve Jacket and instead recommend the Stormcloud Jacket from Berghaus.
The North Face are famous for quality and style, whether it’s a duffle bag or a waterproof jacket, the North Face can always be counted upon to be awesome. Today we are taking a look at one of the best sellers in our range, The North Face Womens Resolve Waterproof Jacket .
This review is written by my partner Sarah, who did a field test for this review.
The North Face Womens Resolve Waterproof Jacket is what you would call a “classic”, it does everything you would expect a waterproof jacket too do. It’s waterproof, breathable and all the seams are sealed, this means it is durable and is a “go everywhere, do everything” kind of jacket. Unlike many of the waterproof jackets available across the market, this is ideal for people like me who are novices at the outdoors through to the more competent outdoors person – plus as a great bonus it doesn’t break the bank. With an RRP of £85 and a price on CheapTents of just £67, it would also make a rather nice gift.
The technology in use on the North Face Womens Resolve Waterproof is HyVent, this is a fabric which whilst amazingly waterproof is also breathable, even when it buckets it down (as it inevitably will do in the UK). The design of the jacket and use of HyVent material means that the Resolve Waterproof Jacket is simply superb at keeping the water away and ensuring you are comfortable.
One of the ways I tested the jacket was to take a walk up the hill near our house when it was pouring down. The walk was around 20 minutes, I wore my Resolve Jacket and my Sprayway Rainpants. The jacket performed well, although only really a light test at 20 minutes it is likely to be the common use that someone gets caught by a passing rain cloud and gets a soaking. In one pocket I had my mobile, in another my notepad (a notepad being made of paper means any moisture can be seen if it gets through), both after the test like myself were completely dry. I have to say I was pretty amazed at this as its usually the pockets which perform poorly on this type of jacket, but the north face resolve did fantastically. One little issue was the hood, which due to its very square shape did act like a sail and blew off a few times, I guess its not designed for gale force winds though.
The next part of the review was for me to take the jacket out on a bike ride. I’m an avid cyclist and love a challenge, so I went out in what turned into a deluge of rain (eventually) that started as just a few showers. The jacket performed well again, the only small issue I found was that although quite flexible the jacket did seem to constrain my movements a little – this could just be that I like to sit up a little more than most though. The jacket still performed well despite driving rain (hitting you harder than if just walking) everything stayed dry, except my legs because I forgot my rainpants oops!
The final part of the review came in the cleaning. Having cycled for a while and due to the rain I had some nice mud splats on the back of the jacket. One thing that has annoyed me about previous jackets I’ve owned is that they are annoying to clean a few times in the washer if it is machine safe, this jacket (mainly thanks to HyVent fabric I think) was a real easy clean. Simply stick it in the machine and a wash later it was like new. So I was pondering really how good it was to clean, I (erm) covered it in jam and left it over a radiator for a day and stuck it in the machine… It came out like new again. I was mighty impressed.
All in all the North Face Womens Resolve Waterproof is a jacket worth more than the £67 being charged by CheapTents. Indeed its probably worth more than it’s RRP, but don’t tell the north face that. It performs fantastically in fairly drastic conditions, fits almost perfectly and is easy to clean. This isn’t a coat designed to keep you really warm (that’s for the insulated jackets) but it really is fantastic and is fast becoming my everyday coat. It’s perfect for everything from walking to cycling to no doubt festivals too. If you are buying a waterproof jacket this winter, this is ideal.
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[please note: prices correct at time of publication, please check the website for current pricing]
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