PMJ Aviator cargo pants in green

Brand new for the 2024 season is the Aviator single-layer, cargo pant from the Italian jeans brand, PMJ.

 

Not to put too fine a point on it, they're a pretty direct copy of Rokker's Cargo Slim pant. Same concept. Similar fit. Almost identical colour. And so on. We have no problem with this. This is what happens in what economists would call a 'perfect' market. Someone produces something a bit different. It sells well, so others copy it. The increase in supply, in theory, brings prices down overall. That's the theory, but these things don't happen overnight!

 

The Aviator is a nice pant. It is, in essence, a single-layer chino with a small cargo pocket on the thigh. It will wear similarly to the kind of chino you might buy on the high street. 

 

Under the industry abrasion test, EN17092, the Aviator is rated AA. Now that's the same as the Rokker cargo pant, but the Rokkers are actually much stronger. The issue is that EN17092 works on the basis of a pass mark. If you exceed the minimum standard by a large margin, this doesn't get acknowledged. Now we know, because we had Rokker test the material some years ago, that the fabric in the Rokker pants recorded a six-second 'slide time' on the Cambridge test apparatus that was used on the previous, more rigorous EN13595 standard. Interestingly, PMJ tell us that they have also tested their pant on that equipment, and it delivers a 'slide time' of 3.9 seconds. Now that is not unimpressive, but what this tells us definitively is that the Rokkers are more abrasion resistant.

 

Now this does not surprise us. The PMJ pants are woven with Ultracor Cordura and cotton. Nothing wrong with that, but this doesn't equate to state-of-the-art technology. By contrast, the Rokkkers are woven with UHMWPE fibres; that's an Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene. These fibres are way stronger than Cordura, or even aramid fibres, so it should not surprise anybody that the Rokkers are stronger, lighter and probably easier to wear.

 

There's also a difference between the two pants in terms of armour. The Rokkers come with D3O Ghost in the knees and hips. The PMJ pants come with much smaller, more traditionally-shaped, knee armour. The armour is not bad; it is better than the armour that PMJ used to fit into its trousers, but it's not as nice and, because of its size is not as protective, as the D3O used by Rokker. 

 

The PMJ system for carrying the armour is also not as clever as Rokker's system. It requires the placement of a mesh lining all the way down the front of the leg. That's not ideal, and it's not as neat as the less intrusive, 'taped' armour pockets used by Rokker.

 

This may all sound as though we've set out merely to denigrate the PMJ cargo pant. That's not the case, but there is one final way in which the PMJ pant does not match up to the Rokker one. The Rokker cargo pant comes in four leg lengths. And that's important when you're trying to get the knee armour to sit in the right place. Almost unbelievably, the PMJ pant comes in just one leg length. And that's just lazy. Buy them here in the shop, and we'll hem them to the right length for free, although if your very short in the leg, there may be some challenges involved in getting the knee armour correctly positioned.

 

And so, in conclusion, it would not be unfair to conclude that, here at Motolegends, we feel that the Rokker pant is superior. It is more abrasion resistant, has better armour, and will fit more people, because the leg lengths run from 30' right up to 36".

 

But, and it's a big but, the PMJs are cheaper; a lot cheaper. They cost £190, as opposed to the Rokkers' £299. So, as ever, it's horses for courses. Some people will like the extra protection offered by the Swiss brand's pants. They may also have their heads turned by the cooler brand image of the Swiss company, but even we would have to admit that, if value for money has anything to do with your thinking, the PMJs would win out. Hands down!