Has anyone tried the new North offshore gear?

[Reference]

From the front page - looks neat but pricey. Has anyone seen or used it?

https://sailinganarchy.com/2021/07/13/north-is-here-too/

 

[Somebody Else]

The news of North Sails’ first-ever range of foul weather gear

That's a lie. They had some foul weather gear in the late '70s or early '80s.

 

[Swimsailor]

That's a lie. They had some foul weather gear in the late '70s or early '80s.

They also licensed the NS name and logo to an Italian clothing manufacturer not too long ago.  They had some Nautica styled foulies if I recall.  I heard rumors the clothing line made more money than the sails.  

But this new line?  1200 bones for foulies?  Yikes.  

 

[ROADKILL666]

WTF are they smoking! That’s high as giraffe pussy.

 

[Schnappi]

That's a lie. They had some foul weather gear in the late '70s or early '80s.

They had some nice stuff in the mid-80s.

 

[See Level]

Atlantis built North's gear in the early/mid 80's. Same product but in North's sailbag blue instead of yellow or red.

 

[trimfast]

So essentially Musto sells to HH, and he then goes and designed the gear for NS and jacked the prices. $600+ for bibs and not even Salopettes is getting out of hand. My guess is the cut will be worse than the NS Italian clothes that would only fit a child.

 

[Reference]

Idk - they seem be about the same price as Musto MPX.  Except that everyone has been complaining that the Musto quality has declined in recent years.

I tried the inexpensive Gill bibs, and was pretty wet offshore. So you get what you pay for.

 

[Goatish]

I have a set of HH foulies, bought new less than 8 years ago and worn fairly lightly. They are wet, don't breath and suck for any real weather exposure. I also have a older, second hand store find Musto MPX foulies, and they are awesome. Dry and breathable in all conditions. Truly night and day differences between the two brands.

So, as Musto sold to HH a few years ago, I would have assumed and predicted that their gear would go downhill like the HH stuff, which reports seem to indicate has happened.

As for the NS gear, if Musto is designing and actually holding them to his standards, I would expect it to be very good gear. You do really get what you pay for it seems with this stuff, so if you want comfort, protection from the elements and durability, you are going to have to shell out some $$$.

 

[yoyo]

NS foul weather jacket I got in the 80's was almost worthless.  Glad it was a gift and I didn't shell out cash for it. 

I like my old Musto stuff.  Not sure I am ready to roll the dice and blow a giant wad of cash on these.  

 

[bgytr]

Hey if it is good stuff, it's worth paying a premium.  I bought Henri Lloyd ocean gear in 1995 before doing Transatlantic.  I replaced it last year.  Far and away the best foulies I ever had- cool, dry, breathable, fit right, and tough.  Having good gear 1500 miles from land when it's pitch black, 48 degrees in driving rain, 30 knots and 20 ft seas- makes all the difference.

If it's of that quality, then it's worth it.  If not...  shame.