The North Face Verto Jacket

Great-looking jacket, worthy of The North Face name, fits in your pocket

by Gareth Rowson RSS 20 April 2011

Product

The North Face Verto Jacket

Promise

Designed for climbing expeditions when all you have is what you carry, this wind and water-resistant jacket is an alpinist’s best friend in emergency situations.

Performance

Here’s where we’re going to disagree with The North Face on what they’ve actually achieved with the Verto jacket. While it may have been designed for ‘emergency’ situations, here at WideWorld, we think this jacket can – and should – be used for far more. It’s incredible: a stylish, lightweight (although this term is overused, you’ll be hard-pushed to find one lighter) water-and-windproof jacket that can literally scrunch up and fit in your pocket.

The Verto is made of ‘seven dernier’ fabric – at just 3.2 oz, apparently the lightest ever used in The North Face Summit Series. To the touch, it feels like an incredibly soft carrier bag – but it’s strong. Really strong. A lot of so-called ‘pacamacs’ are really ugly, and let’s face it, although they pack down into a small bag, they’re far too big to fit in a pocket. With the Verto, The North Face has employed a fabric (Pertex Quantum – 100% nylon micro-ripstop) which allows it to scrunch down and fit inside its own pocket. You then simply zip it up and pop it in your own pocket, or attach it to your belt or backpack using the elastic loop. And once you unfurl it, you can see the attention to detail: it’s got the stylish trademark The North Face hood; elastic cuffs and elastic-bound hem; and a small loop of cord on all the zippers to make sure you can find them if it’s blowing a hoolie.

Once you’ve scrunched it down and stuffed it into its chest pocket, it weighs the equivalent of two climbing carabiners. But once you get hold of the Verto, you won’t just want to use it for climbing or emergencies. You’ll want to take it with you everywhere you go – hiking; weekend breaks; kayaking; in fact, anywhere you just might need a wind breaker.

We really love this jacket and can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s incredible value, too. Amazing that you can get the quality you expect from The North Face in a jacket so thin and light.