[bcrdukes]

In my experience, the quality of North Face has taken a nose dive over the years. They're great for a season or two (if you're lucky) then you start noticing seams coming apart and all sorts of build quality problems. Having said that, not all North Face jackets suffer from this problem so unfortunately, it's more of a "luck of the draw" type of problem.

Having said that, if you have a specific budget in mind and you have a specific set of criteria to meet, there are other alternatives. Start asking yourself some basic questions:

- Does it have to be light?
- Can I use it for layering?
- Does it have to be breathable?
- Does it need to be waterproof or water resistant?
- Do I want to look like a thug mall rat in a poofy jacket?

Start by looking at websites like backcountry.com (as DragonChi posted above) and do your homework from there. Good luck.