The North Face L5 Futurelight Hoody Shell – Review

The North Face L5 LT Futurelight hooded shell jacket. It checked my boxes. Click images to enlarge.

Ever found something you immediately fell in love with? I don’t fall into those kind of relationships often. Am I jaded, or just particular? In any case, something good did come along, and I wanted to brag on her it. We’re talking clothing, specifically shell layers. Specifically the L5 LT Futurelight hoody by The North Face.

At least in my pervue, they got this thing so right for ski touring I’m having trouble publishing a balanced review with a modicum of crit. Yeah, I want dual napolean pockets, instead of one, and a pair (instead of one) drop-in pockets big enough for any size climbing skins. The groovy beacon pouch inside the chest pocket is excellent, but could close with a bit of something so there’s no chance seeing your electronics go spinning and jouncing down the mountain in a joyous imitation of rockfall. Trivial stuff for me. On to the goodness:

What it is: Minimalist shell jacket the much hyped but probably excellent Futurelight waterproof/breathable super-light super-breathable fabric.

Fit: My size medium fits my skinny, 5 foot 10 inch (177.8 cm) perfectly trim in the torso. No provision here for a beer gut. Clearly, large guts are not this garment’s demographic. The sleeves have reasonable circumference. I can wear a medium-thick puffy underneath without my biceps feeling like they’re in a sausage skin. (Be advised my arms are skinny, but the amount of room seemed fine for all but someone spending six hours a week building a set of barceps.) Sleeve length errs on the long side, they come down to my second knuckle. Fine, I’ll take anything but high-water sleevage. Hood would probably fit over a NASCAR approved helmet.

If I had the money or time, and add drop-in pockets to every jacket I use. They’re addictive. The L5 has one on the right that easily fits low-volume climbing skins. But it’s only one pocket, and wadding a pair of higher volume skins in there is not going to work.

Pockets: One drop-in on the inside, one napolean on the chest. No waist pockets that add weight and assume you don’t wear a backpack waistbelt. Chest pocket easily doubles as an inverse storage pouch for the jacket– always one of my wants.

Innovative. A small inconspicuous pleat works in concert with the chest pockets, making them larger than one would assume.

Internal stowage inside chest pocket.

Other: Velcro cuffs; waist drawstring; heavy duty zipper. Weight 314 grams, size medium. Built with Futurlight fabric, which in my testing is proving to be nearly as breathable as soft-shell, super comfy. Available fall 2019.

Remember this? Skiing was good, you’re enjoying the apre’ bar. After a few brews you rise for the call of nature. You’re actually in a bit of a hurry, ahem. WHAM, the chair behind you falls over and nails your left calf muscle like you’ve been kicked by a mule. It’s not a bar fight, the guy with the barceps you’ve been joking about is still peacefully sipping his brew — though he did begin frowning five minutes ago. No, nothing so scary. All that’s happened is your jacket waist drawstring got caught on the chair, with the elastic providing a nicely engineered rebound effect — almost as if the drawstring was designed to hurl chairs around a lounge. The LT L5 hoody provides a tiny clip that helps stow the string. You still end up with a loop hanging down, but not so much. Hurling chair prevention system, also prevents embarrassing incidents on ski chairlifts. (The adjustment clamp is hidden inside the hem, it worked fine in my tests.)