Review: Klattermusen Lopt Down vs The North Face Bettaforca Hooded Down

Klattermusen Lopt Down Jacket

Price - Vest £289 - Jacket £379 - £399 with hood
Weight - Jacket without hood 397g
Main Body Construction - Levitend
Filled with 800 fill-power white goose down
Men’s and Women’s

The North Face Bettaforca Hooded down Jacket

Price - £230
Weight - 410g
Main Body Construction - 100% recycled polyester with a durable water-repellent (DWR) finish
Filled with Goose down
Men’s and Women’s

Short Read

Both the Klattermusen Lopt and The North Face Bettaforca are ideal for backcountry skiing and snowboarding. Both fit snuggly.

The Lopt comes in both mens and womens, and is available as a vest/gilet and a jacket (either with or without a hood), the womens is far more fitted with a wider hem. It has has a few nice touches, such as the zip which opens from both the bottom and top, and the signature off-centre zip top.

The North Face Bettaforca, also mens and womens, is around £150 cheaper and will do the same job - that would make some choose it without a second thought, but the construction is simply not as good. £150 and not as good? Do read on...

Klattermusen Lopt

The outer fabric of the jacket is a castor bean-based ripstop (yes beans), providing superior tear resistance without added weight and I’ve been using the jacket a lot for around a couple of months and the ripstop is bomber, the seams have held together and I’ve not noticed a single feather poke its way out.

The 800 fill-power white goose down has kept me warm, and on occasion, when I’ve been too hot while early morning skinning, I’ve unzipped from the bottom to let some air in whilst keeping my upper core toasty and warm.

The two hand pockets are of a good size and have small rubber tags which are easy to find if wearing thin-ish gloves. On the inside of the jacket you can slip your hand between the main body of the jacket and the pocket itself, it would’ve been good if they’d stitched the bottom closed so you could stuff gloves or even your skins in there. There’s no chest pocket, which would be nice, as I do like to keep my phone in chest pockets.

The North face Bettaforca

The Bettaforca’s outer is 100% Recycled Polyester with Durable Water-Repellent (DWR) Fabric / Woven / Ripstop, and that is a lot of words for something that spews feathers at quite a rate. I’ve been using the jacket for the same length of time as the Lopt and while I dig the way the Meadow Grass-Oak Green version looks (see above), I just can’t get past the build quality. One of the seems under the arm has opened up and I needed to stick a patch over it - needless to say the patch isn’t exact;y colour-matched.

The RDS-CERTIFIED DOWN is very light and warm, I just wish I didn’t have to pick it off my car seat and jumper all the time.

The two hand pockets are great, with a good sized tag, and there is an internal chest pocket which will easily fit a phone and keeps it nice and snug to your body.

The Bettaforca is a slimmer fit than the Lopt - great if you like to use your down under a outer wind/waterproof jacket.

Hoods - Both jackets almost have identical snug-fitting hoods, that is if you buy the hooded Lopt jacket, which is £20 more than the hoodless one.

And, both have a high neck section to keep those pesky cold winds out when the hood is down, as does the hoodless Lopt version too.

Montane Alpine 850 Nano Hoodie review

For a third option check out our Montane Alpine 850 Nano Hoodie review.

‘The Montane Alpine 850 Nano Hoodie is an ultra light-weight puffer jacket that you won’t notice in your backpack, which uses a combination of down and synthetic insulations, in a relatively slim fit that’s designed to keep you warm on the move…’

Summary

If you baulk at spending over £200 on a down jacket then The North Face Bettaforca in a summer sale is the way to go here, but expense aside there is one jacket which is clearly better than the other, and, if you’ve read any of the above, you already know which one that is, it’s just you may have to sell the dog to own it.