The North Face Summit Series L3 50/50 Down Ski Jacket | Review
Why we chose The North Face Summit Series L3 50/50: Lightweight, breathable, warm
Weight: 500g
Price: £470 / 520€
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We first caught a glimpse of 50/50 technology, The North Face’s new and rather unconventional way of designing down jackets, when we spotted the Summit Series L3 50/50 Down Jacket at ISPO 2020. It sat at the heart of TNF’s Advanced Mountain Kit; a capsule series that represents the highest level of athlete-driven textile development.
The North Face Summit Series L3 50/50 combines lofty 800 fill power down with an air-permeable face fabric and a unique baffle construction to make for a highly technical ski mountaineering mid layer for alpine climates, or a belay / summit overlayer for the warmer spring season.
The North Face Summit Series L3 50/50 Construction
The unique baffle construction is the most interesting talking point of this jacket. It features a series of baffles that, when combined with the air permeable face fabric, help to dump heat. Rather than a conventional baffle construction, where the baffles are stitched together in series, 50/50 down features a gap between each baffle. This gap allows air, and moisture, to flow through freely when you’re working up a sweat in the mountains.
When it’s time for a rest, the 800 FP stuffed baffles work to trap your body’s heat, keeping you warm when you need it. Saying that, this jacket is designed for fast-paced ski touring missions in the mountains; if you’re after something that’s going to purely keep you warm (without the class-leading breathability of the L3), then we’d recommend you reach for a traditional down jacket.
Looking at the exterior, the air-permeable face fabric is soft to the touch which provides a smooth surface to slide a layer over the top. With that in mind, we’d recommend that you pair this insulator with a hard shell in stormy conditions as we found that wind could easily cut through the lightweight face fabric.
The North Face Summit Series L3 50/50 Features
The North Face Summit Series L3 50/50 comes with little features – but this is expected given TNF has looked to keep weight at a minimum. What it does have, however, is a fully adjustable helmet-compatible hood, two large internal pockets, two external handwarmer pockets and a lightweight stuff sack.
Who Is The North Face Summit Series L3 50/50 For?
The L3 50/50 Down Jacket combines the warmth of a regular down jacket, with the air permeability of a fleece for a highly technical and versatile midlayer that can be thrown on, and left on, throughout a day of high-intensity ski touring in the mountains.
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