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I liked these pants for about a year. They work great provided you only sit in the snow and don''t move around much. Recently I was up on the crags... one Crampon bite in the thick "crampon scuff guard." Thick. Right. let''s see. also, one spill on a few rocks and there was a big hole in the hip on the bib, and also in the hip of me... ok, so i fell about 15 feet on that one, it was my bad. but seroiusly folks, I don''t think they fit all that well with a harness, and the gaiter likes to come up off of my boots upon a big glissade (thus giving me a huge, uhh wedgie, at 30 miles an hour). All that being said, I will go with something a little thicker next time. Probably not TNF too. Never tried anything else, sooo, we''ll see.

Customer Service

can you say bureaucracy?

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owner of the´97/98 model of the bibs, i have to say im a happy customer. strudy,good cut and in spring/winter/autumn use they have proven to work splendidly. serious abuse of falling,kicking(with crampons) and extendet use up to 3 weeks daily. and the only problem that came out is breathability. what can you expect? its 2-ply goretex! so in really heavy use you get ice between inner (screen) layer and goretex. it gets iced up. but it dissappears. BUT! Nowadays i wouldn touch TNF stuff even with a long stick! The quality has plummeted(due to change of ownership).I´ve tested about 8 pieces of different kind of TNF products an o´boy:they truly suck. So if you nowadays want products that remind of the Old-TNF, buy MountainHardwear . Or Arcteryx. Or...well anything else.

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Marmot, Millet, Arcteryx, Patagonia, MountainHardwear,Tierra,Haglofs...

I returned my five year old pants for warrany work and received the new mountain pants which I did not like one bit. The North Face used to make great products, but now make inferior ones. The don't fit right, have cheaply made suspenders, don't come up as high as the old ones. That is the point of having bibs isn't it.

Customer Service

The North Face's customer service is terrible. The reps I talked to were ridicoulously uninformed, and were no help. Their solution to your problem is putting you on hold and hanging up or telling you they will call you back and they don't. The North Face doesn't have a satisfaction guarantee neither. If the product that you purchase from the North Face turns out to be a P.O.S. that's your fault for purchasing it. The North Face will not help you. On the other hand, Patagonia is very helpful, I had a jacket in which the pocket zippers came undone. I called them up and the rep told me they redesigned the zippers for the 2000 year, and to send the jacket back and they'd send me a new one, and pay for shipping as well. I do not believe this is the most profitable way of running a business, but I will tell you I will purchase a patagonia product first, it is worth the price, whatever you pay. Another plus is that Patagonia gets your product back to you in three weeks as opposed to the North Face which takes like two months.

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The very first time that I used these pants they ripped on me. I wasn't even wearing crampons, so they must have ripped on a branch or stone. They just arn't worth all of the money that they cost.

Customer Service

The North Face said that they would not repair them for free, because the tear was self inflicted. I not know how they could tear by themselves though?

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I have tried the Helly Hanson pants not made of gore-tex and have been quite pleased with their preformance. And they won't tear like the crap North Face sold me.

Very well made, baggy fit on legs, bulky materials, expensive, small pocket, TNF guarantee for life, drop seat adds bulk.

This product does not qualify for serious mountaineering use. It is heavy as hell, does not compress well and the seams are not very solid. I bought mine in 1997 and they performed OK until the seam at knee level got totally shredded by a crampon bite.
I will get some 3-ply from Patagonia next time.

Customer Service

The customer service said that "self-inflicted" damage were not covered by the warranty and that they would repair it at a cost (50-100$). Alternatively, they offered to give me the second-hand value in store credit.

I received the bibs as a gift in 1993 and they were great for the first two years. Since then, all of the velcro is detaching from the side-zip flaps. Otherwise, they have performed better than my Mountain Jacket but I will get something from Mountain Hardwear, Marmot or Patagonia next time.

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I had these bibs and loved them at first. The chest belly pockets are tough to get to under my shell jacket and layers but that is to be excpected with all bibs. These bibs kept me warm and dry but really Really REALLY dissappointed me when I fell onto my knees while snowboarding and they RIPPED! Something under the snow must have caught the fabric and left a gaping hole. Perhaps this could have happened to any other gore-tex bib but since it happened to these I am not exceptionally impressed with the durability.

This bib is really good. It keep me dry at high altitude.19,000 feet +. I think it is quite heavy for being a bib but I am happy with it. I haven't had any problem yet. I usually use this Bib for ice climbing and for high altitude.i think is a really good product
Juan

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M.H

I got the mountain bib on sale, but would certainly not look at shelling out $350 for 2 ply shell pants (bib or other wise). I have not been overly impressed with these pants which I have used for a variety of things including mountaineering and snowboarding. First of all they are heavy as hell (2 1/2 lbs). When the 2 ply liner gets wet they must weigh at least double. It even seems that water gets absorbed into the outer shell to a certain degree. Having bibs is kind of nice, but I won't buy them again. They are a pain in the ass to get on and off while you are out in the field. The velcro waist closures keep coming undone when you have the side zips down. I will say they are pretty tough pants. I haven't had any rips in the five years I have used them. However, my suggestion is to save your money and buy a pair of 3 ply pants from arc teryx or marmot.

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Arcteryx Beta LT Pant which rocks