Durability
I have to say I wasn’t totally sure about how the jacket and pants would stand up to the elements, as I was unfamiliar with the “100% distressed waxed polyester fabric” that Moment uses. It’s something that neither I nor our outerwear expert, Sam Shaheen, had ever heard of.
Waxed and oil-treated fabrics have been around forever and do offer good water resistance, but they’re far less sophisticated than a laminate material with a waterproof, breathable membrane or a DWR treatment. Given the plain list of product features, I’ll admit that initially I was a little confused about whether the “waxed” fabric treatment was really meant to contribute to the waterproofing qualities of the jacket/pants.
After doing some testing, it doesn’t seem at all like Moment is using a 1920s era, traditional waxed process for weatherproofing purposes.
The polyester fabric does seem to have a modern DWR treatment that is primarily responsible for its legitimate and earned 20k rating—again, the wax treatment is mainly for aesthetics.
Breathability
The jacket’s big 18” pit zips and pants’ 11” inner thigh vents did their job very well while I was hiking on warmer days. For 90% of people, I think the jacket will perform just fine, but if you’re looking for a super breathable, technical shell that will pack down very small and has tons of venting (something for a multi-day tour), the Bantam probably isn’t for you. The fabric material is a bit heavy, and 15k isn’t the best breathability rating out there, but for ordinary resort riding and the occasional sidecountry boot pack, I think it’s totally satisfactory.
Notable Features / Design
I’ll try not to spend much time awarding or revoking style points to Moment for the Bantam kit—that’s obviously up to you—but here are a couple of design features I’ve come to appreciate.
As I’ve said, the fit of both the Bantam jacket and pants is super comfortable, and their material has an interesting textured look to it. The jacket’s zipper runs on a slight diagonal, which might be seen as lame to some, but I think it gives it a pretty cool, unique look without being too weird. (For reference as to what I think is weird, I recently saw a guy wearing a jacket with a color pattern mimicking that of a rainbow trout. He certainly stood out, but not in a good way. Just say No to fish jackets.)
The pants don’t have full cuff guards but do have some black, suede leather cuff trim to prevent fraying. I was a little suspicious of these at first, but they seem very durable and haven’t shown any signs of tearing. I think they’re kind of cool, and help to add to the fashionable yet functional (and surprisingly technical) Bantam pants. This design touch is really consistent with the quality of the two pieces as a whole: they’re tasteful and well made.
The Bantam jacket’s hood is huge and is separate from the full collar of the jacket. In nasty conditions you can zip up the jacket fully, so that your face is mostly covered by the collar, but moving your head side to side with the hood up won’t cause the collar to rub. Combined with nice wrist gaiters and a secure pow skirt, the Bantam’s hood makes it a great jacket to have on the lift during storm days.
The one thing I don’t quite get about the Bantam jacket is an odd, secret outer chest pocket on the left hand side. While it is fun to dramatically rip open the flap, exposing the hidden pocket, I never use it. With the Velcro, snap buttons, and zipper to use, it just takes too much fidgeting to access.
Everything else about the Bantam jacket and pants is pretty standard and works well. The front hand pockets on both are fleece-lined and soft. Both the side and back pockets of the pants have small, secure zippers that have never come undone. The jacket has two inner pockets, each big enough for a pair of goggles.
The retail price for the Bantam kit isn’t dirt cheap, but it isn’t all that high either. The pants ring in at $220 retail. Something like the similarly styled North Face Fargo Cargo pant is $170, though it may not have the same waterproof rating, while the comparable FlyLow Stash pant is $220, and the Trew Eagle pant is $395. So as far performance-for-price, considering the competition, I think the Bantam pant is reasonably priced.
The same goes for the jacket: it’s basically in the middle of the pack in terms of pricing. At $300 it’s on the lower end of prices for more technical shells (with 20k+ waterproof/breathability ratings) that can run $400-500, but is more expensive than most price-point items with 10 or 15k ratings. There may be one jacket that out performs the Bantam but is closely priced: the Lethal Descent 3L Eagle jacket, which at $330 is only $30 more than the Bantam jacket and brings some serious value to the table. However, while it is a more dedicated, more technical shell with a better breathability rating, the Eagle has a much more subdued and plain style compared to the Bantam.
Bottom Line
The weight and bulk of the fabric might not make the Bantam jacket and pants ideal for touring, but they’re seriously comfortable, have a unique look, and perform well for the price. Hopefully they’re the first in more quality-built, interesting, stylish, and high-performance outerwear pieces from Moment that we’ll get to see in the coming seasons.