Women's Untracked Jacket vs Men's Gore-Tex Mountain Jacket: which is safer?
Patagonia Women's Untracked Jacket is our pick: better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.
Our pick
Patagonia
Women's Untracked Jacket
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
PossiblePFAS in water-repellent coating finish
ReportedMicroplastics shedding from polyester
PossibleCoating degradation and leaching
The North Face
Men's Gore-Tex Mountain Jacket
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
LikelyPFAS in Gore-Tex membrane
PossibleFormaldehyde in finishing resins
ReportedMicrofiber shedding during laundering
Where these two actually differ
- We flag PFAS in DWR finish, Microplastics shedding from polyester and Coating degradation and leaching on the Patagonia and not on the The North Face.
- We flag PFAS in Gore-Tex membrane, Formaldehyde in finishing resins and Microfiber shedding during laundering on the The North Face and not on the Patagonia.
- The Patagonia is recycled polyester with DWR treatment where the The North Face is Gore-Tex membrane with polyester/nylon shell, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
Both products run through the same public rubric: materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →
More ski & snowboard jackets: see the full ranking