The North Face Surgent Full Zip Hoodie

Thin insulation at its finest.

When I spend my own money on clothes I am pretty particular about what I get in trade for my ducats. In an effort to lighten my pack and keep myself warmer I picked up the Surgent Hoodie for my spring hikes this year.

This is my "far away" look. The farther away, the better I look ;)

The design isn’t groundbreaking, it’s a hooded light jacket meant to be worn under a shell or alone as long as it’s not windy. What I do like about this particular item is its cut, I am 5’ 10” and 195# and it fits my long arms, covers my hips without climbing up and is snug in the chest, but not so tight that I can’t wear it in public.

I also like the fit of the hood, again snug, but not Apollo 13 tight. The hood has no elastic or draw closure and I never felt like I needed it because it fitted to my melon so well.

The sleeves are longish and the thumb hole/hand warmer feature works but makes the jacket fit rather snug across my shoulders, another inch of material might have been nice.

The pockets have no zip closure and there is no chest pocket so carrying stuff isn’t its forte. There is a tiny inside pocket for an mp3 player if you have a really small one. The hand warmer pockets are sewn so they create inside dump pockets large enough for a pair of light gloves.

What I absolutely loved though was that, after I washed it I could wear it straight out of the washer and it dried really quickly from my body heat. It's no windbreaker, it breathes like a fleece which can be nice when you are moving and don’t want to stop to change.

Is it durable enough to rage through the brush without a snag? No, but it's not that kind of jacket, it's insulation, stretchy warm and soft insulation. Saying that, I will say that workmanship is as you expect from TNF, top notch. 

I like wearing this on those 'tweener days when it's below freezing in the morning and above during the day. It's a good insulator under a shell or alone when it's warmer or moving. If you get snowed or rained on in it it will retain your warmth. 

So, for a really light and warm insulating layer this is yet another great option among many.

Warm and versatile for general use.

My son is really enjoying this hoodie. Hiking on a cool mountainside, it kept him warm head to waste. Repelled drizzling rain. Soft feeling. Stylish too. He likes that the outside pockets do not have zippers. No zippers could be a problem but the jacket has inside pockets on each side for storing things more safely and saving the outside pockets for hands.

As the day warmed up, it was eventually too hot, and tied nicely around the waste. Great price too! All-around great product so far.