The North Face Flight Lightriser FUTURELIGHT
The lightest shell of 2021.
If Marie Kondo is your idol, then this pared-down jacket is for you. Prioritizing breathability and minimal weight above all else, the Flight Lightriser is ideal for trail runs and other high-output excursions, thanks to feathery polyester face fabric and an elecrospun, air-permeable membrane. The membrane lets body heat escape almost instantaneously, and kept us from boiling over on a drizzly, 2,000-foot haul up Montana’s Mt. Sentinel with temps in the 50s. Features are sparse but protective. You get close-clinging cuffs and an adjustable hood with a stiff brim: “In a pouring rain in the Boundary Waters, this shell kept me dry,” one Minnesota tester says. Fit note: The men’s hem felt too short for testers 5’10” and up. Women’s samples were cropped even higher; The North Face says they’re lengthening the women’s hem for production, but not the men’s.
m’s XS-XL, w’s XS-XL