took them on a long hike up around Mount Cook (New Zealand) and they worked as advertised.

shock absorber isn't huge and one of them started to stick a little, but did the job. locks worked a little loose a couple times, but easy enough to fix.

carbide tip is AWESOME. much better than others i have used. would hold on some pretty sketchy locations...

great socks. super comfortable and soft... and look good too.

took them in the snow on a long hike. performed very well. long days (10-12 hours) and the socks were great!! merino is one of the best fabrics for the outdoors.

very light and pack up in a small stuff sack (included!!)

worked well on a snow hike. work well in the wind too. layered with a pair of CVW tights and stayed comfortable as long as i was moving.

no issues getting them on or off over boots

got a small scratch on them from an ice axe, but didn't go all the way through. but was close. one of the problems with very lightweight fabric i guess.

nice and lightweight, shorts are good length as well. nice and light for backpacking.

went for a walk in the rain, and they were basically dry the whole time as they dry so quickly.

cons: 1) zippers for the zip off legs have the tags backwards. the L and R stay on the shorts as opposed to on the zip off portion. kinda funny. 2) built in belt doesn't hold length, buckle slides a bit (only a little annoying)

great pants for lounging around home, the hut on a hike, or the campfire. they fit true to size, although they are quite long (i am 6' 1" with long legs).
typical northface quality.

Got the gaiters for a basic mountaineering trip around Mount Cook in New Zealand. I put them through their paces with everything from aggressive plants to rock scree faces to knee deep snow to crampons.
Construction isn't as thick and bomb-proof as other designs out there (crocodiles) but that also keeps the weight down. They didn't show any signs of wear and tear, and kept all of the snow and rocks out of my boots. Upper did get wet after extended snow exposure, but socks and boots stayed dry. They were not soaked uppers, but just some patches where snow got stuck in wrinkles (not a big deal).

just got this, and it is still made in Canada, definitely nice to see when I got it out of the box... took the jacket on a lightweight speed climb up around Mount Cook in New Zealand. It worked as advertised with no issues. Was totally waterproof, and very good in pretty high winds. I only had to layer very lightly (long sleeve mid-weight shirt and an icebreaker 260) to stay warm.Only negative was the pit zips were not easy to operate one handed.