North Face, Patagonia Win 'Gear of the Year' Awards

Every year National Geographic Adventure publishes a 'Gear of the Year' list which some might say is the outdoor apparel equivalent to the Vogue September issue. This year both North Face and Patagonia made the list with North Face bringing home one award for their Kisthwar jacket and Patagonia scoring two awards for a jacket and a sweater. Let's take a look at those products and why they stood out to the editors at National Geographic.

North Face Kishtwar Jacket
North Face calls this jacket, rather boastfully, the 'holy grail of soft shells.' It's supposed to be have all the benefits of a hard shell while not sacrificing comfort and movability. I personally don't own this jacket so I can't comment on the holiness of the it but it seems to be quite popular. Unfortunately, it seems that North Face no longer carries the nice black and green design that is featured in NatGeo, they do, however, still have the all black and blue model. Get it at North Face. $279. Photo courtesy of North Face


Patagonia M10 Jacket
Patagonia took home an award for their M10 hard shell jacket. NatGeo praises it's light weight and describes it as an 'impenetrable fortress.' Impressive. Get it at Patagonia for $399. The model for women is currently on sale for $239.40. Photo courtesy of Patagonia





Patagonia Special Edition Down Sweater
This special edition down sweater from Patagonia took home the award for most awesome down sweater. Not surprising really, considering that it comes in this cool circa 1960s Apollo 5 astronaut look. If you love shiny things and need a sturdy, light weight down sweater you can't go wrong with this sweater! Available at Patagonia.com. $275. Photo courtesy of Patagonia





Check out the rest of the National Geographic list "Gear of the Year!"