Previously, I would have chosen Macpac. But I have recently found out that Kathmandu actually bought Macpac a couple of years ago. Kathmandu used to be alright, but in recent years have become very commercial and have lowered the standards of their gear for less extreme conditions, i.e so people in the city can feel cool wearing outdoorsy looking stuff. Now what they’ve done is made crappy quality gear under the Macpac label as well, and have kept the prices up as it has a very good reputation and not many people know that they bought it.
I was looking for a quality down jacket to take with me to India, and had been looking at Macpac until I found this out. Instead, I got a Mountain Hardware one, as blastfamy said above, and I absolutely love it. I’ll let you know when I come back whether it was warm enough in the Himalayas.
I haven’t had much experience with The North Face, but I still have a bit of gear left to get for my trip so I’ll look into it.
I took my time deciding on what brand pants to get, and decided on Gondwana zip offs. They were the best price for what I was looking for and had an added bonus of being mosquito repellent, to save my skin from the harsh deet.
edit :: Columbia is also a brand that I am partial to, and I have bought a couple of wick away shirts from them.
Also, I got my shorts from Mont though I don’t know much about them, it was just because they were on sale :P
And I don’t know too much about Berghaus but their packs seem awesome, and my day backpack is Berghaus and I love it :D