Flylow Quantum Pro Jacket and Baker Bib Pants Outerwear Review
In the past few years, I’ve worn a lot of Flylow. If you watched our content throughout that period, you could easily be under the impression I’ve always worn a lot of Flylow, but that’s really not the case. Back when I was a more dedicated park skier, it never really felt like the brand was for me. It seemed to technical, more geared towards tele skiers and backcountry skiers, and dare I say, through my park skier lenses, just didn’t look that cool.
I’ve had three different Flylow kits at this point, and I often find myself thinking back to that old version of Jeff and how wrong I was. Not completely wrong, as it is great gear for tele skiers and backcountry enthusiasts, but I was definitely wrong about the cool part. It’s not expensive, it performs really well, it fits great, it looks great, they often have fun colors… and what’s cooler than affordability and good-looking, well-performing gear? Maybe that’s maturity talking, but I’ve really enjoyed wearing the gear.
This review is honestly going to be pretty similar to the last time I talked about Flylow gear and that’s because the gear itself is quite similar. I’ve been wearing the latest version of the Flylow Quantum Pro Jacket and Baker Bibs for about a full year now and I’ve skied in it A LOT. I’ll start with that: the durability. Flylow gear is solid. It has utilitarian vibes in the sense that it just does its job. There are no frills, nothing excessive, it just works, works well, and works well for a long time. We like to split out Outerwear Reviews into three sections: Fit, Fabric, and Features.
At 5’10” and 160 lbs, I find the size large jacket and pants fit me perfectly. Perfectly, however, for how I like things to fit. I do think a lot of skiers my size would opt for the medium, and I could certainly wear a medium, but I prefer the large. There are a couple reasons why, but the biggest is coming from a park skiing background, it really bothers me if my outerwear (or any gear) is at all restricting. I like to feel completely free and unencumbered when I’m skiing, and the size medium gear would be a little restricting, mostly in the waist and legs area. I also like to wear mid-layers on both top and bottom. Insulated mid-layers might not fit well under the size medium pants, or would definitely add to the restricting feel I like to avoid. I also just like the way it looks. Whether you think it's superficial or not, most skiers at least care a little bit about how they look. I probably care more than most, which also probably stems from my park skiing background. The large size in the Quantum Jacket and Baker Bibs is loose and baggy, but it also doesn’t look ridiculous.
Moving on to fabric, Flylow is starting to do more with Gore-Tex, and I’m excited to try some of their Gore-Tex gear in the future, but the Quantum Pro and Baker Bibs use Flylow’s own fabric. They call it Tough Surface 3-Layer and it comes in with 20k/20k waterproofing/breathability. Flylow has plenty of insulated gear, and there are even insulated versions of these pants, but the gear I have is non-insulated, hard shell fabric. I feel like this is a good time to bring up price. The jacket is $440 and the pants are also $440. Sure, that’s not cheap, but it’s a refreshing price compared to some fancier, more-technical brands. Even with Flylow, the Gore-Tex enabled Baker Bib rises to $620, which is a completely different world for price.
The Tough Surface 3-Layer fabric is aptly named. It’s extremely tough. What’s most impressive to me is that it’s also relatively soft. In a lot of highly technical outerwear, you get that rigid, crinkly feel and sound. The Tough Surface fabric is actually quite soft to the tough and it’s very quiet. It gives it a more comfortable feel from the moment you put it on, and while it might not be as technical as outerwear that uses more rigid fabric, it’s certainly enough for most skiers. I’ve worn this gear in some pretty nasty, wet weather, and it definitely keeps you dry. One thing I have noticed is the outside of the fabric, the part that’s soft to touch, can get somewhat saturated and it will look wet from the outside, but you stay dry on the inside. It also can get a little bit heavy when it gets wet, rather than gear where the water just beads right off you, but it’s never bothered me. For how much it costs, I think the combination of performance, comfort, and touch is quite impressive.
Going back to the utilitarian vibes this gear gives me, that’s pretty much exactly how I’d describe the features they pack into this gear. It has a really nice combination of technical features like a powder skirt and the famous Flylow vents without mesh with more “normal” clothing features like side pockets on the pants. There’s even a back pocket on the pants. Bob thinks I’m crazy, but I like putting my wallet in the back pocket of my ski pants just like I would with my normal pants. Most of the gear I wear doesn’t allow me to do that, so award some bonus points to Flylow for the back pocket. I mentioned the vents, I think that’s a standout feature of Flylow. It comes from their roots in telemark to allow skiers to access knee pads, knee braces, or whatever else you need to get to. I really like it. I don’t often open vents, or it’s not like I ski with them open very often, so I don’t worry about getting snow in there or anything like that. I just appreciate the fact you can really open things up and get full air flow across your legs as there are vents on both sides.
There are also an absurd amount of pockets, in a good way. Flylow says the jacket has 8 pockets, and honestly if you asked me how many it has without actually referencing Flylow’s description or actually counting, I would told you it has more than that because it feels like it has more than that. Simply put, there’s a lot of places to put stuff. From phones to keys to beacons to skins, there’s plenty of spots to store your valuables or your gear. The same is true on the pants. Somehow, they fit 3 different pockets on the front of the bib. A lot of brands wouldn’t put any pockets there, but Flylow gives you three!
When I think about this gear from a high level perspective, its value and its usefulness really shines through. Outerwear is starting to get pretty darn expensive these days. The last outerwear review I did was on the Norrona Lofoten gear, which hits a very different price point. Is Flylow the same quality as Norrona? No, not necessarily, at least not comparing what I’ve been wearing directly, but also… I can’t really think of a specific thing the Flylow gear can’t do. While I fully appreciate the more technical capabilities of the Lofoten gear, or anything else that hits that price point for that matter, I can’t ignore the capabilities of Flylow in general and the fact that it hits a nice, palatable price. Whether you’re a backcountry enthusiast or spend all of your time lapping your favorite resort, this gear can cross over nicely between the two and feels genuinely appropriate for a wide range of skiers.
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