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I gotta confess I get a little bugged when I see Muffy and Biff at Starbucks wearing NorthFace "gear" (pullovers, fleece vests, etc), too, but North Face started out by making real gear for the true great outdoors then branched into boutique wear to shore up their profit margins. That's fine with me, as long as they still continue to make great real outdoor gear, too. So far, they've never disappointed me.
I should give a shout out to Kelty's customer service. Their stuff is maybe 2/3 of the way up from bottom garbage to true top end gear, but they do take their lifetime warranty very seriously, are easy to contact, very helpful, and really do stand by their products. I hated to part w/ our Mantra 7; for ergonomics and ventilation, it was the best tent we ever had. Unfortunately, the poles were under just a tad too much tension, the seams kept spreading, and we got leaks at the aforementioned spots upon which the rainfly emptied. To Kelty's credit, they took the tent back twice over a period of 5 years, reworked the poles, fully taped the seams, but I finally gave in and moved up to the North Face. It's not ventilated as well and it doesn't have as much overall interior headroom, but it's a TANK in wind and bone dry, so it wins. I'd definitely give Kelty another chance, though.
Barry
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