The North Face Men's Resolve Jacket Review

4 out of 5 stars.

You could argue that the Resolve Jacket by The North Face is their most popular jacket. It's a great all round jacket, with a stylish cut. This jacket is at home in the city, or out in the hills, and with it retailing at around the £70 mark - is a good quality jacket that won't break the bank.

 I bought this jacket admittedly for casual wear, it goes great with a pair of jeans. And I have to admit I'm a big The North Face fan, I would put my trust into any of their gear.

 The Resolve is a good jacket to pop on for a bit of shopping, perhaps a day trip somewhere, and with suitable clothing can be worn effectively all year round. The jacket however is also at home in a rucksack ready to be put on when you're on a hike somewhere, it will pack down very small too for ease of carry. I have used it quite a few times on a summer's hike, when rain has set in, or perhaps on a high hill or mountain where it has provided cover against cold winds.      

 The North Face have used their popular HyVent ripstop nylon fabric for the construction of the jacket, and trust me it can take a few knocks and scrapes against rocky cliff sides, and so can take abuse from your rucksack too! The material is also very breathable, strong yet lightweight, and extremely waterproof!  

The overall look of the jacket is functional, but stylish. And carrying The North Face logo, has a perception of quality to it. In store, I tried on a medium fit first, I normally buy a medium jacket size, but in this case I was surprised to find the medium quite so large and baggy on me. So I bought mine in a small size, and this gives me more than enough room... 

The hood has a nice look to it, great shape to keep rain away from your face, and it can be rolled away if you wished. It is however quite a basic hood, with no wired peak or anything like that. I'm not keen also on the fact that there is no drawcord (or cinch cord as it seems to be known on this jacket) at the back, just the usual two on either side of the hood. So this mean't that in strong wind, is near impossible to stop it from blowing down. To me the hood is the most important part of an outdoor jacket, so I found this particularly disappointing...

It's a shame because if it had a rear draw chord, this would make a near perfect hiking jacket. You can see here the nice cut of the hood, and the traditional rear logo too...

The cuffs are pretty basic, just normal jacket standards here - being simply elasticated...

Here a close up of the collar, with its very nice and comfy feeling fleece lining...

The jacket has a mesh lining keeping you warm and dry, and two zipped hand pockets that are at a nice height to pop your hands into quickly when they get cold. The central front zip is nice and easy to use, doesn't have a tendency to get caught in its own lining like a lot of jackets, and to add a bit more security against the elements, the zip is protected by a Velcro attaching storm baffle!...

Overall a great all round jacket for hiking, climbing or just for a quick walk around town. I like this jacket very much, a great performer on all fronts, providing your not going to extreme. I think this will remain a favourite of mine for a long time to come as it has over the past year.