MO Tested: REV’IT! Stratum GTX Review

REV’IT! USA invited Motorcycle.com out to Mojave, CA to get our first taste of its premium ADV product, the Stratum GTX. If somehow you haven’t noticed, the Dutch company has been making significant strides into the US market in the past years. The company, in total, employs 150 people with 125 of those working from the global headquarters in Oss, Netherlands, and 25 dedicated staffers here, sprinkled throughout the US, though a Denver-based North American HQ was recently established. As a gesture of the company’s dedication to this new product and its US introduction of it, a few folks took the trip across the pond to explain REV’IT!’s vision behind the Stratum GTX. Netherlands-based Senior Apparel Product Designer, Roderick Macintyre led the presentations with an inspired vision for this product and the brand’s direction.

“Adventure travel is today’s rider type. It’s driven by exploring and it’s driven by a promise of adventure. It’s searching for places that energize and intrigue. It’s stepping out of your comfort zone – some risks, uncertainty, the unexpected,” waxes Macintyre. “If you compare it to adventure touring, adventure touring is about a known destination. The first thing you see these folks do is put their destination in the sat nav. I’m going to go up the Stelvio pass in Italy, I’m going to get a coffee at that viewpoint and I’m going to stand there and look at the Alps. That’s the goal. You’ve got no uncertainty on that journey, apart from something that could happen along the way, be it weather or a spill.”

Concerning “adventure travel” Rod continues, “Whereas adventure travel, you strap your map to the tank, put your SOS beacon in your pocket, and you go off. You don’t know where you’ll end up. You’ve got a rough idea that there’s this place that you want to stop in a certain amount of time and you’re going to maybe set up camp or meet someone there. So, if you think about the gear that’s needed to do that, it’s quite different. They may be similar bikes, but one’s got soft luggage and knobby tires while the other has hard luggage and maybe 50/50 or 80/20 tires.”

Macintyre gives a fairly clear idea of how REV’IT! sees the Stratum slotting into its product line.

At first glance

Given REV’IT!’s reputation for creative use of colors, patterns, and textures in recent years, I must say, when I first saw the studio images from an online retailer who broke the company’s embargo on the product, the various shades of gray scale seemed underwhelming. I hoped for other color options and sped off to the desert for the US introduction event. No, it turns out this is the only color option, and the subdued nature of its styling was intentional. Macintyre explained that when traveling, especially around Europe’s outer edges and beyond, you’re likely to come to plenty of border crossings and coming to secure borders where there might be tension, the last thing one wants is to look too tactical. While I wouldn’t say REV’IT! is a company that has ever felt terribly tacticool to me, I understand the sentiment.

Thankfully, the entire kit looks much better in person, and in action, in my opinion. Still, given the mustardy Ocher Yellow Component jacket and red and black splattered, snakeskin textured one-piece Quantum race suit in my closet, the Stratum looks a bit drab by comparison. But enough subjectivity, let dive into the different layers of the REV’IT! Stratum GTX.

Digging through the strata

As mentioned before, we essentially have a Gore-tex shell that is designed to be fit over a tighter, mesh layer with armor built in. Starting with the outer stratum, the three-layer Gore-Tex shell consists of three different deniers thoughtfully placed to provide maximum abrasion resistance and pliability where it’s needed most. Armacor is used on the shoulders and inner legs which encompasses a blend of 700D Cordura and Kevlar fibers for maximum abrasion resistance while still allowing the Gore-Tex membrane to do its job. The main chassis of the jacket and pants is 400D Gore-Tex with the hood, neck, and upper thigh areas consisting of 200D Gore-Tex fabric. The seat gets a couple kisses of Suregrip, which surely must add rear end grip.

As you would expect, these outer layers are roomy enough to fit as a shell and have been developed to be used on their own if you find yourself caught in the rain while setting up camp, walking around after hours, or walking your dog in the odd southern California monsoon. The detachable hood is another example of the shell being able to pull double duty, and it can easily be stored while riding in the large zippered bum pocket. The jacket also has two hand warmer pockets, a pocket on the left sleeve, an awkward shaped interior pocket (I suppose it would fit keys and/or earplugs), two bicep vents, and two posterior exhaust vents.

The pants are fairly straightforward, but include thoughtful features like a gusseted fly, belt, and side zippers that open up all the way to the top of the leg. At the bottom of the legs there are Velcro strips which allow you to get a snug fit whether you’re wearing touring footwear or big ol’ moto boots. Two generous forward-facing thigh vents scoop airflow and there are two zippered pockets in the usual spots as well as two zippered rear pockets, again, in the case you need them whilst off the bike.

Moving in deeper, the mesh jacket and pants have a more snug fit to ensure the CE level 2 shoulder, elbow, back (not included), chest (CE level 1 and not included), knee, and hip armor stay put. Thankfully, they’re both quite stretchy, so the snugness doesn’t hamper range of motion. The jacket features two types of mesh, one more pliable and open while the other is more abrasion resistant. A stretchy lightweight ripstop makes up the shoulders and sides while thicker, more abrasion resistant stretch panels cover the outer forearms.

As with the outer layer, thoughtful features are found throughout. The back has an ambidextrous pocket with locking YKK zippers for a hydration bladder with loops for routing the hose on both sides of the shoulder and upper chest. A small pocket on the left pec houses a cloth for cleaning goggles attached to a stretchy lanyard. There are two inner pockets and two handwarmer pockets with large pull tabs. Also, a bumpouch capable of handling a pair of gloves or anything else about that size is located on the back, and like the shell, a large heavy duty hang strap is located at the base of the neck.

It’s the same story with the pants which are designed as an in-the-boot style, though they’d easily stretch over boots/shoes with a low profile upper. Leather panels are used on the inner knee for grip and heat resistance. Adjustments can be made at the hips, and a zipper for attaching the jacket is also up there. Two zippered pockets are on either side of the zip-n-snap fly. REV’IT!’s SEEFLEX CE level 2 knee and shin protectors provide massive coverage to the front of the leg and are helped to keep in place by your boot once you’re all strapped in.

Welcome to the real world

In terms of fit, I’m 5-foot 8-inch tall with a 30-inch inseam. I typically wear medium T-shirts and 32x30 jeans. The medium jacket fits me spot on, however the medium pants, while being a perfect fit in length, were uncomfortably tight at the waist. Opting for a large, they fit nicely at the waist but had a little extra length. Thankfully, the adjustability with knee armor in addition to the in-the-boot design, kept the knee pads in the right spot. The outer pants tend to bunch up a bit, but it hasn’t been an issue on the bike. At the time, the "short" versions were not available. With a medium top and large pant, I was set fit-wise, but there’s no getting around the fact that wearing two layers can feel bulky and cumbersome. As someone of my height, flexibility is key when climbing onto tall adventure bikes, and I did experience some difficulty getting my leg over some of the tallest ones. That said, once the shell is tucked away, the amount of stretch in the base layer allows for completely unrestricted movement making the inner strata very comfortable despite its snug fit. That said, after peeling off the shell, I kind of felt like I was standing there in my base layers… though I appreciated that when the mercury would rise.

While shooting our South Dakota Adventure tour, I was able to use both parts of the Stratum back and forth the entire time. This led to the realization that the Stratum is kind of at one end of the spectrum or the opposite. The shell is usually enough to keep me warm in cooler temps when worn over the inner layer. That said, if you build up some sweat in there and pull off the waterproof shell, it better be warm out, because the mesh layer flows more air than anything like it that I’ve used before, which is excellent, there just isn’t much in between.

I learned that I most like using the jacket with base layers versus a normal t-shirt or other casual tops. Because the mesh layer is designed to fit snugly, the tightness of most base layers (and the functionality of them) seems to work best rather than bunching up like something looser might.

The hang straps were also handy when the riding had ended for the day and I needed to let the mesh layer air/dry out from sweat and the shell dry from rain. The vents in the Gore-Tex layer do an admirable job of circulating airflow, but if you’re someone like me who runs warm, it’s hard not to end up a bit moist.

In the end, the Stratum isn’t terribly complicated, but the execution gets top marks for landing exactly as intended. Oh yeah, let’s not forget that four pieces of quality motorcycle gear aren’t going to be cheap. As its “halo product” you can assume the price will be at the top of the company’s range, and it is. You’re looking at $1,400 for the jacket(s) and $1,100 for the pant(s). If you’ve got the scratch, the Stratum GTX does the job it set out to do, and quite well mind you, while feeling like a premium piece of kit. If $2,500 seems a bit excessive to you, I’m a pretty big fan of REV’IT!’s Sand 4 gear (and unlike the Stratum, there is a Sand 4 kit for the ladies). The Stratum jacket is offered in sizes small through 3XL while the pants can be had in small through 4XL with short and long options available for sizes medium to XXL.

Related Reading

• REV'IT! Sand 4 Collection Review - His and Hers
• MO Tested: REV'IT! Offtrack Jacket & Pants
• MO Tested: REV'IT! Territory Jacket and Continent Pants Review

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