Legit Check: Arcteryx Theta AR

It has the right pockets, looks right but cant tell without touching it. all the fakes I've seen are REALLY bad.

^OK thanks I'm just gonna meet up with him and see what its like. Aside from the way it feel is there anything I should be on the lookout for that's common in fakes? and it should say made in China since its last years model right?

Hard to tell. I know on their higher end hardshells, Arc is still producing them in Canada (e.g. the Alpha series etc). I would call up their customer service and confirm with them where their Theta is made.

It looks pretty legit to me based on what I can see in the pics. Check the seam taping…Arc does such a clean job with their micro-tape that it's hard for other's to fake. The taping should be very narrow. Also, check what the inner pocket material is made of (the one with the Greek Alphabet). On my alpha sl, my pocket is made of a stretchy lycra type material.

Hope you get a sweet deal, other wise come back here and we'll be happy to give you advice on other shells. I personally have ditched goretex for eVent fabric, and therefore ditched Arc for Rab

I agree with all the above on how to gauge whether real vs fake.

But, the real Theta AR is produced in China, not Canada like the Alpha series (had to go check the tag on mine).

Depends on what year. My 2008 Theta AR was made in Canada.

only the newest LT fabric is currently produced completely (as of spring 2010)in Canada. everything else is random. a total of about 30% of the GTX product is made in the Burnaby BC Factory(all the other stuff is made in Adidas Factories from when they owned arc'teryx). At my store our rack of theta's are made in both China and Canada. That's what makes it a bit harder to tell.

here's some key things

-seam tape. narrower than almost all other jackets you've seen.
-only says GTX embrodiered once on the sleeve. knock offs put it everywhere.(i saw one that said GTX and Hyvent on the same sleeve)
-softshell fabric pockets are "welded" or laminated on the inside.(they don't stitch these on)
-the "feeling" of the cuff velcro. kinda hard to explain i've got years of knowing the difference…

usually fakes have seam tape on the face fabric, they have other brands fabric names or logos on it, use a very similar fabric to a very well know jacket.

cheers hope it helps