“I Have a Bone to Pick” — Woman Says She Got Soaked in “Waterproof” Jacket

A TikToker named Jenn (@fannypack310) wanted to get herself a waterproof jacket. So she decided to opt for an offering sold by The North Face, a company that describes itself as an "Outdoor clothing & gear" brand.

However, she demonstrates in viral TikTok where she airs her grievances with the outdoor clothing business, how drenched with water she became while wearing the supposedly "waterproof" jacket during a walk through New Zealand during a rainfall.

"I've got a bone to pick with North Face. I bought this 'rain jacket' a couple of days ago and the tag for the advertising said that it's waterproof. As a rain jacket would be," she laughs before panning down to show the jacket in its entirety and then delves into the problem with the jacket she just purchased.

"Well listen I'm 100% sure that it's raining outside and I'm soaking wet. Look this is really pretty," she says, stopping her rant for a second to show off a piece of scenery she found appealing. "Listen, I don't want a refund, I want you to redesign this raincoat to make it waterproof and express deliver it up to the top of Hooker Valley Lake in New Zealand."

She concludes her video with, "Where I will be waiting. I'll be the only one up here looking like a drowned rat. Waterproof my a--," she says into the camera, continuing on with her hike.

It seems that there are several people who've also had issues with North Face's products as well, like this one TikTok user who said that while the brand used to represent the pinnacle of weatherproof outdoor garment making that it ultimately lost that distinction to other companies.

One person wrote: "Northface used 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"

While another said that they also prefer another brand to North Face and have enjoyed using it in their travels: "My Arcteryx rain jacket has kept me dry in horrendous wind and rain from Alaska to Scotland. I won't ever go back to North Face."

And there was also someone else who seemed to have had an identical issue with what they said was one of North Face's supposedly waterproof jacket that did a terrible job of keep its wearer dry.

One commenter wrote that it was a case of the brand shifting its focus from a manufacturer of garments directed at serious outdoors-under-any-conditions enthusiast, that the brand then started catering its collections to folks who wore their clothing more for style than function.

"North face used to be a serious outdoors / mountaineering gear brand. But at some point they became an urban style clothing brand instead," they penned.

While someone else simply said that the brand sold itself out: "I’m a geoscience nerd who’s often in inclement weather in the field. North Face sold out. Get a GoreTex ArcTeryx jacket if you can."

There are numerous North Face customers who've asked this same question before: has the brand dipped in quality over the years? One YouTuber compared a jacket they purchased in 2019 vs another a friend of theirs bought back in 2011.

Others have also supported the idea that the brand has fallen off in recent years as well, while a detailed Reddit post about the perceived dip in quality when it comes to North Face, which points to "inventory gluts" that have managed to gum up the works for the brand and leaving retailers with many instances of not-up-to-snuff stock.