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Article and pictures by: Kenn Stamp
Vents and water do not go together. Every rider knows that. If you ride through rain with the vents of your jacket open you are going to get wet....or are you?
Journalists were offered the chance to wear some branded gear during Triumph's 2008 model event in Gatlinburg, TN. ( you can read about the bikes here). Out of all the journalists present only one other was outfitted with as much Triumph riding gear as yours truly was. Most of the journo's wore one piece of Triumph gear, but not I, no sir, I was outfitted with jacket, pants, boots, and gloves; plenty of things to make sure I stayed back-logged on articles.
Triumph hooked me up with perfect gear, as not only were the temps going to be in the 40's at some places on our route but the forecast was calling for rain too, but I was given gear that was all waterproof with the exception of the gloves.
 The first piece of gear we are going to talk about is Triumph's Sympatex Pantha Jacket. Sympatex is a 100% waterproof and windproof membrane that, due to its co-polymer design, consists of polyester for molecular strength, and polyether to transport water molecules. It is polyether that allows the water vapor molecules to be transported through the membrane from the inside to the outside by way of an absorption & evaporation process; hence Sympatex offers what is known as "breathe-ability". It doesn’t rely on tiny holes to work, so unlike some technical membranes it won’t gradually block with dirt and become less effective over time. Sympatex is a German company with 25 years’ experience of making waterproof products.
Using Sympatex as part of the jacket allowed Triumph to offer a cold weather jacket that actually keeps you warm and a warm weather jacket that will help keep you cool. Notice I said a "warm weather jacket" and not a "hot weather jacket". Warm weather, to me, is between 75 and 80 degrees; get much past 85 and you are into hot weather. This jacket works great up to about 80 and then the windproof part of the design really starts to take its toll. Granted I am in Florida where the air is always humid so for those who live in the dryer parts of the country you may be able to wear the jacket comfortably in higher temps.
All this brings us to the one big question; how did Triumph build a jacket that is waterproof and windproof, yet can be worn in warm weather with the vents open, while still being waterproof? The secret is in the design of the vents. Most vents open up a direct path from the outside to the inside of a jacket. While this works good (sometimes) at allowing air to flow through the jacket, it is a design that will have you stopping and zipping up when rain begins to fall.
What Triumph did was build a jacket that appears to have traditional "flow-through" vents, while in reality it has "pocket" vents. When you unzip the vents, air flows into the pocket, cooling down the Sympatex membrane which then cools you. This method of venting means that while your buddies are scrambling to zip-up their vents, you can continue to ride along with your vents fully open, blissfully aware that although it is raining, you, unlike your less enlightened companions, will stay dry. (You can see the waterproof vents in action in the video)
So Triumph built a jacket that is waterproof, windproof, has lots of storage, and a waterproof ventilation system; the perfect jacket right? Well, not exactly; at least not for everyone. While the vents work well in cooler temps, in hotter more humid climates there is no replacement for airflow. When the air sitting in the vent pocket is the same temp and humidity level as your body temp, not much cooling is going to happen. To be perfectly fair, even a full mesh jacket is too warm on some (most?) days here in Florida so Triumph can't be faulted for creating a jacket that works great during the Florida summers.
What Triumph did create is a jacket that, for many parts of the country, will be, if not a year round jacket, at least one that can be worn throughout most of the year.
Journalists get so much gear thrown at them to wear, try, keep, and review that they sometimes tend to get a little shoddy when it comes to actually reviewing a product. What happens every so often is that they yank it out of the box, do a cursory check on it, read the press release on it, then write a "review" of the item. Triumph was having none of that however and it was a brilliant move on their part to give us a chance to wear their gear in a real world situation.
The Triumph Sympatex Pantha Jacket retails for $315.99. While that isn't cheap, it is right in line with other jackets of this quality.
For that money you get a jacket that you can wear in warm weather, cold weather (with quilted full liner installed), dry weather, wet weather, day and night.
Oh and don't worry about wearing Triumph gear without actually owning a Triumph; nobody will judge you. If they do, who cares? You'll be dry and cool while they are looking for that overpass to sit under until the rain stops or at least till they get their vents zipped-up.
Head on over to Triumph's clothing site to check out the Pantha jacket and all of Triumph's other quality clothing and gear.
You can also go to our Pantha jacket forum to ask any questions that you may have.
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