1

In June this year, there was definitely still a real North Face Shop at one end of Thamel.

Prices are slightly cheaper than in Western Europe (like 10% less). They had all kinds of things to buy, with off course all the trekking related equipment.

Dont know about the price difference between Western Europe, America and Thailand. I guess Europe and America are similar.

2

Official North Face store in Ktm on Tridev Marg has been around for many years. I wouldn´t expect any any bargains.

3

$120 US doesn’t sound bad for the genuine article – As long as you are sure that it is “the genuine article”
Have you compared prices from their website to what is being asked in Bangkok - As that might give you a better idea of what you might expect to pay elsewhere – But if the rucksack you have discovered in Bangkok is Perfect, then if it were me I would snap it up
Good Luck
Rob

4

I can't comment on the comparative prices for real North Face goods in Nepal and Thailand, but would advise you to check very carefully if you buy "NF" stuff from a non official NF outlet.

There is an awful lot of fake gear, especially in Asia, and whilst much of it looks well made and very convincing, the problem is in the details, especially things like zips, stitching, and for thermal goods things like the type of down filling. From talking to a guy in the Everest region who has run a specialist shop in Namche Bazaar for about 20 years, and only imports top brand, authentic gear, it is often very difficult for non specialists to tell fake goods from real, and good fakes from bad fakes. He said some of the fake down jackets, like the one I bought my guide, have good down filling (his jacket worked very well even doing the 3 high passes trek in mid winter), others just have a cheap foam, which feels bulky, but is thermally very poor/useless. These sorts of problems will only really show when the goods are being used, so choose carefully.

5

Hi

Be aware that the store in KTM does not have anywhere near the full range of packs soif you are set on the Recon maybe get it in Bangkok.

scoodly

6

Hello there,
the north face store in thamel has been there for many many moons
and offers a range of stuff but its not that good for variation.
It was originally a show store and let mad folk like me
look around and try and get some ideas compared to the fakes that are all over Thamel.
My advice is to goto bkk and buy it there.
the thai stores are pricey but you will get the quality.
i found that even the fakes in thailand are better than
nepal.

let me know what u get!

enjoy

bo

7

doglovermol, is this north face recon the pack that you are looking at? I will be in Kathmandu next week and I can see if the real North Face store has it in stock, and I can find out the price if they do. My recollection of the prices at the genuine North Face store was that you could purchase the items cheaper in the States. However, if that's not an option for you and you really want the pack, I guess you'll have to choose between Kathmandu and Bangkok. I would look at the pack very closely in Bangkok to make sure it's not fake. Look closely at the stitching. You can tell a lot of fakes in Kathmandu by the stitching and fabric.

8

Thanks everyone for the helpful and timely replies. I actually worked at REI for several years, and have traveled quite a bit through Asia, so I'm very familiar with the knockoffs/fakes vs. the real vendor merchandise, although I appreciate everyone's insights and reminders. We still chuckle at our porter's 2007 sweatshirt, which read "the HORTN face" :-)

Yes, the pack in Bangkok is at SuperSports, which appears to sell authorized merch from Western outlets...their stuff looks very legit and well made, so it appears to be the real deal.

TomTraveller, very kind of you to offer to check out the TNF store in Thamel next week - sure, we'd love to hear from you - and in particular, if you see a Men's Recon pack there and can confirm the price and how much inventory they have (ballpark is fine, of course). We'll arrive in Kathmandu Oct. 26 for 3 days before heading out to Mustang. The Recon pack is actually for my husband, and it's this one (hopefully I did the link correctly): Men's recon pack

Since we're on the subject a bit, just wanted to say special hi to several Nepal posters who replied to this post and who've helped us in past months with deciding which trek to do. Scoodly and Rdccoments and Into-Thin-Air in particular - we've decided to do a 12-13 day Mustang trek with side visit to Muktinath, then Pokhara/KTM break then head out to Langtang/Gosaikund for 11 days or so. We just realized after long soul searching that 26+ days to attempt Gokyo hike in and out via Lukla by foot is too much to bite off for us both. More in the sense we didn't really want to be out trekking for 26 days solid.

We did an overnight up to Mt. Rinjani on Lombok in July and it almost killed us, although the Indonesian hiking made Nepal look like a cakewalk, if you can believe that...at least the route we took. Also didn't help that our guide was useless and there was no real trail to speak of.

Take care everyone, and if any of you are in Kathmandu Oct. 26-29 would be fun to meet up for a drink. We'll be in Nepal for roughly 2 months so could catch you on the return side as well.

Cheers! Molly

Edited by: doglovermol

Edited by: doglovermol

Edited by: doglovermol

Edited by: doglovermol

9

doglovermol TNF Recon pack is 9000 rupees, around $110 USD at the north face store in KTM. Current exchange rate is 81.85 rupees per US dollar. They only have the regular size. They do not have men or woman's sizes. They have 7 packs on the racks, in all different colors. These Recon packs were made in Vietnam. Hope this helps.

I will be on a trek Oct. 26-29 so I won't be able to get together for a drink. It would have been fun to meet you!

10

@TomTraveler, thanks so much for the "recon" on the Recon. :-) We appreciate it - very helpful and you did a very thorough job. We're back in Bangkok around 10/24 so we'll review the pack there and make a decision. My least fond memory from 2007 in Nepal is wandering around Thamel looking for a suitable daypack for myself to trek with that wasn't going to be overpriced but that also wasn't too cheap of a knockoff. This pack is for my husband's carry-on essentials, not trekking, so he's going to pony up for the real thing as a replacement.

We'll be in Nepal most of November and December, so if you're around any of those times, let us know, although we plan to be out trekking Oct. 29-Nov. 12 or so, and again in late November.

Travel safely and enjoy!!! Let me know which trek you're doing - curious to hear about it. Cheers!

11

Meant to add that the prices are about the same - the Bangkok pack is 3500 THB, plus 5% discount with foreign ID, so it's equivalent to Nepal's prices.