The waist cord detached on my first outing. Contacted customer service, but they never even replied. This jacket might be great, but my experience with it and the company hasn''t.

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northface mountain light

From the moment i put this jacket on, i knew that this shell was the one for me. The jacket is constructed very well. The weight of the coat makes it very versitale, and a must for every pack, during every season of the year. Arc Teryx has done an excelent job on designing this product with the consumer in mind. People get scared due to its price, the old saying goes, you get what u pay for. In this case it is true. Well worth the money

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The North Face Mountain Guide

The jacket is amazing. It''s so light you can hardly feel it. The cut is perfect for an athlete, not a fat guy like most other jackets seem to be. It moves effortlessly as well. The best part is it seems to be indestructable. This was my first season learning to snowboard. I go several times a week, and crash and fall alot, on snow and ice. At each days end I inspect my Theta AR for damage and there is never the slightest evidence of abrassion. Not the slightest sign of rips, tears or anything. Some of these falls are hard, and on the east coast the snow conditions can be rough. Very icy, without much base. In other words, hard ground! No water gets in ever, and with the nice sized pit-zips I never overheat. May be the best money I''ve ever spent on a jacket. Worth every penny.

Customer Service

Friendly. I called to find a dealer and ask some technical questions and they were very nice.

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TNF Mountain Guide- not even close.

None

I bought the jacket because of the nice things said about it in outdoorreview.com and it''''s looks. I must admit it is really expensive, but the 50 $ more you pay for arc''''teryx is definately worth it. The tech is smiply better in this jackets than other products. Ive skied, climbed, trekked, showered, everything in this jacket. LOVE it. It breathes, snug fit, waterproof (also in shower), looks nice etc. The only downside is the price, but I would buy the same jacket again.. Check out the new Arc''''teryx Sidewinder SV. It is soo sweet.

Customer Service

All good. Great warranty. Free repairs.

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Helly Hansen, Norrona, Marmot

This is the best shell jacket I have ever used. I spent a month in Nepal this year doing the Kala Pattar trek, and this jacket was fantastic. Worth every penny (and probably a lot more), plus it just looks cool. I think someone else mentioned it, but if you figure the jacket will last many many years, then divide the price by that, you're not paying too much for a great shell.

Customer Service

I've never had any reason to contact customer service.

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Solstice

Don’t want to repeat what everybody else wrote, but just wanted to add that this jacket replaced TNF mountain light jacket and there is absolutely no comparison between them. Arc’teryx is definitely the way to go !

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TNF Mountain Light

MOST HIKERS AND MOUNTAINEERS KNOW THAT ARC'TERYX MAKES THE BEST LINE OF JACKETS,PERIOD.I OWN A THETA AR AND A BETA LT.BOTH JACKETS ARE AWESOME.I HAVE TAKEN THE THETA AR INTO THE ROCKIES ON SEVERAL HIKES AND CLIMBS AND HAVE BEEN IMPRESSED WITH THIS JACKET REPEATEDLY.ON SOME CLIMBS WHILE STILL IN THE TREE LINE THIS JACKET SHOWED IT COULD TAKE A BEATING.BRUSHING UP AGAINST SHARP SPEAR LIKE TREE BRANCHES THIS JACKET SHOWED NO SIGNS OF DAMAGE.LIKEWISE ABOVE TREE LINE CRAWLING AND SCRAPING AROUND ON ROCKS.
IF YOU HAVE EVER BEEN TO THE ROCKIES AND CLIMBED ANY OF THE 14ERS YOU UNDERSTAND HOW THE WEATHER CAN CHANGE IN A MATTER OF SECONDS.WHILE HIKING DOWN PIKES PEAK I ENCOUNTERED ALL TYPES OF WEATHER.AT THE TOP IT WAS SNOWING,HALF WAY DOWN SLEET.TOWARDS THE BOTTOM RAIN AND BEFORE I GOT ALL THE WAY DOWN THE BARR TRAIL THE SUN WAS SHINNING.I STAYED COMFORTABLE THE ENTIRE TIME.I DID NOT GET WET OR TOO HOT.DID NOT HAVE TO REMOVE MY JACKET,JUST OPENED THE PIT ZIPS AND OR THE FRONT ZIP AND I WAS COMPLETELY FINE.ARC'TERYX PIT ZIPS SEEM TO WORK BETTER THAN ANY OTHER PIT ZIPS ON THE MARKET.WITH THE LACK OF STORM FLAPS THE PIT ZIPS STAY FULLY OPEN.THE CUFFS ON THIS JACKET ARE ALSO AMAZING.THEY SEEM TO SEAL LIKE THEY HAVE O-RINGS IN THEM.THE HOOD IS ALSO NICE,THE WAY IT ZIPS INTO THE COLLAR AND OUT OF THE WAY,BUT CAN BE ON YOUR HEAD IN A FEW SECONDS WITH OUT HAVING TO TAKE THE JACKET OFF.THE POCKETS ARE PLACED PERFECTLY.THEY DID NOT INTERFERE WITH MY PACK STRAPS ONCE AND ARE LARGE ENOUGH TO KEEP A PAIR OF BD ICE GLOVES AND TWO EXTRA LINERS.I OWN SEVERAL GORETEX JACKETS,THIS ONE JUST SEEMS MORE WATER AND WIND PROOF AND SEEM TO BREATH BETTER.I STAY MORE COMFORTABLE IN IT.SOME JACKETS I OWN HAVE THE CORE VENTS,WHICH I LOVE.BUT THE ARC'TERYX PIT ZIPS RIVAL THE CORE VENTS.
TO SUM IT UP,THIS JACKET IS BOMBPROOF.THE FIT IS GREAT.THE DURABILITY IS FANTASTIC AND THE BELLS AND WHISTLES ARE JUST ENOUGH AND WORK FLAWLESSLY.I PAID WELL BELOW RETAIL BUT IF I KNEW WHAT I KNOW NOW I WOULD NOT HESITATE TO PAY RETAIL FOR THIS JACKET.IF YOUR SERIOUS ABOUT YOU PROTECTION,THIS IS THE JACKET.LOVE IT.

Customer Service

I OWN SEVERAL OF ARC'TEYX PRODUCTS(FROM PACKS TO SHELLS) AND HAVE NOT HAD A PROBLEM WITH ANYTHING.

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THE NORTH FACE MOUNTAIN LIGHT(MORE LIKE A CASUAL JACKET),TNF MIDDLE TRIPLE(NICE JACKET),ARC'TERYX BETA LT(GREAT FOR MOUNTAIN BIKING WITH ITS SHORTER LENGTH)
MOONSTONE,MARMOT AND SOME EDDIE BAUER GORETEX.

Beautiful jacket: it is chocked full of fuctionality and durablility, but was makes it great is its finness. Everything is where it should be, no detail was forgotten; I'm still realizing little features that make me think "wow, that's a great idea" after a year of use. From the rubberized zippers (with their great "garages) to the extreme durability of the fabric and DWR, this is the jacket to end all. AMAZING!

Customer Service

I talked to them on the phone. Nice people, but I haven't had a problem since I got the jacket, so I don't know about the service. The company seems very customer-oriented. You aren't likely to need ANY service, though, so it's a moot point. You'll never need service (which makes this a great deal)

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Sierra Designs QUantum from 1992 - nice jacket, but the seam tape bubbled. Nowhere near the amazing quality of the arcteryx, though.

This is truly a great jacket. After wearing a Mountain Hardwear Vertigo jacket for a year, The Theta AR was a huge improvement.

1. Adjustibility: arguably the best thing about this jacket is its ability to adjust to the wearer. I've been able to tailor the fit of the jacket to suit the activity and/or the weather to an incredible degree.

2. The Cut/Fit: The jacket seems to be cut to fit (me, anyway) better than any other Ive worn or tried on. It feels like I'm wearing a personal tent.

3. Utility: Ample pockets, all sealed with waterproof seam tape (instead of flaps) which makes them easy to access. In fact, because of the use of seam tape, all the zips are easy to use...no flaps to get the zippers annoyingly stuck in. The hood has umpteen useful adjustments and configures easily to any head type. The hood bill is longer than most jackets.

4. Materials and Construction: generous use of reinforcements in all the right areas (elbows, cuffs, sholders, collars and hemline). The Theta AR seems to be constucted well with tidy stitching and tough materials. The jacket will probably seem pretty stiff to begin with, but will soften with washing. The particular type of nylon used also tends to hold the waterproof finish the best compared with other nylon types.

5. Value: With an MSRP of $450, its still no more (or not much more) expensive than most other high end full feature jackets (compare to the MSRP of similliar jackets by The North Face, Moonstone, Mountain Hardwear, Marmot, etc). What you get, however, is a jacket that should outlast and outperform any other jacket on the market, and keep you drier and happier in the process

6. Downsides: Because of the generous use of tough materials and reinforcements, this is not the lightest or most packable jacket, even compared to other jackets of the same general type and purpose. Tracking one down might also prove fairly difficult...theyre made in fairly small quantities, and maybe because of this, Arcteryx seems to have problems getting product through to stores. I found mine at an REI in Washington and it was the last one. it was also a year old (so no Gore-Tex XCR...wah.)
7. Bottom Line: If you need a light, packable waterproof/breathable jacket or just something to wear in the drizzle while walking from your SUV to Starbucks, you might want to look elsewhere. If, however, you think youre going to spend alot of time outdoors, in inclement weather, doing a bunch of silly, wild, outdoorsy type things, then this jacket is worth its weight in platinum.

Customer Service

none. But its a Canadian company, so expect to have to deal with alot of "eh" this and "eh" that.

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Mountain Hardwear Vertigo Jacket '99

First, I have to admit I would never have considered this jacket at the retail (455.00) price, and passed it by at a 100.00 markdown. When I saw it market at 249.00, the deal was done.
It is an absolutely excellent design, supberbly crafted, and you can see the care that goes in to it in every detail.
Beyond that it actually works very very well. The gore tex 3 has to get some credit of course, but the devil is in the details and everything is well thought out. It mates nicely with my Arc'terix gamma jacket, the vent zips actually line up from one layer to the next! The hood adjusts very nicely, and the shapeable visor is great as it easily molds around my glasses.
The only complaints are the pit zips are a bit hard to adjust, and the "zipper Garage" found on the front pocket and vents was not added on the small arm sleeve pocket.

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Comparison shopped among Marmot, The North Face, Moonstone, Mountain Hardwear and Helly Hansen.