Hiking in bad weather can be difficult, even when you are prepared for it.
But not only did hiker Jenn (@fannypack310) receive undesirable weather while ascending the Hooker Valley Lake trail in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park on South Island, New Zealand, but she also said her rain gear failed her.
Jenn said her great outdoors experience was dampened—literally—when she found out her supposedly waterproof jacket wasn’t up to the job.
Jenn has a few choice words for The North Face about its rain gear. She delivered them in a video posted to TikTok on Friday, while on the trail. The video currently has 1.6 million views and counting.
“I’ve got a bone to pick with North Face,” she says in the video. “I bought this ‘rain jacket’ a couple days ago, and the tag for the advertising said it’s waterproof.”
“Well listen,” she says, displaying the soaked jacket. “I’m 100% sure that it’s raining outside, and I’m soaking wet.”
She then says that she isn’t posting the video looking for a refund. “I want you to redesign this raincoat to make it waterproof and express delivery it up to Hooker Valley Lake in New Zealand where I will be waiting,” she says, adding that “I’ll be the only one up here looking like a drowned rat.”
@fannypack310 @thenorthface ♬ original sound – Jenn
Jenn’s video drew a lot of supportive comments, including several that agreed with the assessment of The North Face’s quality.
Alaskan MsDaunKiluminati (@msdaunkiluminati) wrote that the company once offered useful products but that the quality has diminished over the years.
“Northface use to be necessary outdoor wear. EVERYONE wore them in Alaska. At some point their quality just wasn’t there so we all switched to Patagonia,” @msdaunkiluminati said.
Another viewer wrote, “Same thing happened to me. North face jacket soaked thru. I switched to Columbia which was ACTUALLY waterproof.”
Columbia Sportswear’s TikTok account actually commented as well, telling Jenn, “We got you bestie!”
North Face responded in kind, telling Jenn, “On rainy days, we wear GORE-TEX (and you will too – check your dms).”
It isn’t known if the company offered Jenn a refund or a replacement item. The Daily Dot has reached out via email to The North Face’s parent company, the VF Corporation, for a statement.
According to The North Face website, “If the weather is particularly humid and warm, and you’re sweating pretty hard, the relative humidity between your base- or mid-layer and the inner layer of your waterproof jacket or trousers will build to such an extent that evaporation of perspiration will be inhibited.”
“This means you may end up feeling wet on the inside of your jacket even though the waterproof outer layer is fully functioning,” the website continued.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Jenn via TikTok for further comment.
The quality of items from notable brands has really come into question as of late amid the high cost of living. TikToker Kathleen Pan (@kathleenlinpan) recently took aim at Sephora for its “overpriced” items as well as Oak + Fort for offering a $108 sweater that’s made up of 35% recycled polyester, 35% polyester, 20% acrylic, and 10% nylon. “For $108, you are literally buying plastic,” Pan, a once enthusiastic retail shopper, said.
Another shopper, Lauren (@laurr_renn), revealed in a viral video how her $200 jacket from Aritzia held up only 18 months after purchasing it. In her video, she showed how the jacket now has two holes in it.
TikTok user Ally Rooker (@allyrooker) said how bike shorts she purchased from Old Navy nearly a decade ago are superior to anything the retail store offers today, attempting to prove clothing quality has gone downhill. “They don’t make them like this anymore,” Rooker said in her video. “Please tell me someone else has noticed how every clothing brand right now is making their clothes thinner and worse quality.”
