I’ll just come out and say it, I have a bit of a gear addiction. Fly fishing in particular is a problem because fly fishing is more gear-heavy than any other passion I’ve been sucked into. I’m picky with my gear, get bored of things quickly, and love to try new things and compare to other similar products. Talweg in large part exists because of this gear obsession, and the fact that there were some things that I knew I wanted and they either didn’t exist or weren’t good enough to satisfy me.
So with that, I thought I’d share a few opinions here on some gear that I have nothing to do with other than I bought them, tried them, and formed opinions.
First up, the Patagonia Swiftcurrent Traverse Wader.
Let’s get one thing about waders out of the way right now: they’re a racket. Breathable waders are simultaneously amazing, in that they allow us to travel in and around the water so comfortably, but so frustrating in that they are insanely expensive and no matter how much you spend, they are going to leak sooner than later. I’ve used waders in the past from Redington, Adamsbuilt, Simms, and Patagonia. Redington was the cheapest and the lowest quality. They worked when they worked, and then stopped working. Redington doesn’t sell or service waders anymore, so I would avoid those no matter how cheap they are. My Adamsbuilt waders leaked through the seams within weeks, and fit worse on my long skinny self than any other waders I tried. Since these two failures, I’ve stuck with Simms and Patagonia. They are some of the only brands that offer a proper spread of sizes, so if you have a unique size like me (extra long, extra skinny, big feet) you can get a pair of waders that actually fit. Which isn’t just a style preference, it’s actually a safety feature since a fall may have you filing up those waders with water.
Let me be clear. All breathable waders, no matter how much you spend, will leak eventually. What you really need to be looking at is the warranty service and cost, because that’s what you’re paying for—the brand’s warranty system. How long will the waders hold up in general? Once they leak, how effectively can they be repaired? How much will that cost? How many times can it be done? My Simms Guide Choice Gore-Tex were great for a year, then they leaked too. They fit well, felt very well built, and handled a ton of wear and tear. Then leaked at a bootie seam which they say you cannot fix yourself. (I tried, and a failed.) It cost me 60 bucks to have them repaired, but worse than the money was the six week turnaround. Simms customer service was cool and I didn’t have any complaints. But I do think a ~$600 wader should last more than a season of moderate use, and if they don’t, it should cost less than $60 and six weeks to get them fixed.
So Simms fixed them up great but meanwhile I needed waders, and seeing the new options from Patagonia, that’s where I headed.
My past Patagonias were solid but like all others eventually leaked. At the time, Patagonia gave me a full refund. Their policy has changed a little bit, they offer repairs but I don’t think as a rule give you money back for leaky waders. The Traverse waders are the “cheaper” of Patagonia’s two new waders, they are well designed and well built but again in the end in large part you’re paying for the eventual repairs that will need to happen.
Will get to those repairs in a minute. First, the features. The Traverse are my first front zip waders. I probably won’t go without a from zip in the future. A zipper is nice for multiple reasons. It never leaked on me, but I did see my dad, in the same waders, get wet when he bent down to deal with a snag, forgetting that he had his zipper down to let out some heat. So, be careful of that. Otherwise, the front zip is nice. The only downside is it eliminates a nice kangaroo pocket for hand warming. In fact, that’s probably the biggest miss with these waders, there’s absolutely nowhere to put your hands to warm them up.
Otherwise, the features are awesome. They have tons of size options. The waders have a couple nice pockets on the front and on the inside. I use all of them regularly for different reasons. I love that the gravel guards aren’t neoprene. Where I fish here in Northern Utah, we get a lot of burrs. Every time I fish, no matter how careful I try to be, I find myself pulling burrs out of neoprene gravel guards. It really tears up the material.
The coolest single feature of the Traverse waders is the way the upper torso section can quickly be dropped so the waders are suddenly like pants and the straps are like suspenders. I won’t try to explain how it works, but it’s just a quick flip of a clamp on each strap and the whole torso can drop down around your waist. In the shop, I thought this was cool but doubted I would use it much. I wear waders for most of my fishing, even in the summer, and I ended up using this feature all the time. Love it.
Now let’s talk about repairs. Because of course they leaked, as all breathable waders eventually will.
I hate to report it, but my waders began to leak less than one week after buying. Granted, I was on an Alaska trip and I was working them pretty hard. But still! I couldn’t believe it. When I got back to Utah, I called Patagonia and was told I would need to send them back to Reno for a repair. It would all be free and only take a week or two. I was still annoyed, but that was a lot better deal than Simms. So, Patagonia feels like better value, in terms of cost and time of repairs. But it gets a little better. Before I got off the phone, they said I should check with the local Patagonia shop in Salt Lake and see if they could make the repair happen sooner. So I went to Patagonia in Salt Lake City, and when I told the clerk there the story, they exchanged me a brand new pair of waders to “get me back on the water ASAP."
Given that the official policy was repair only, I was delighted by this. Now I’d prefer that the waders had never leaked, but as far as I can tell, Patagonia is the best brand to deal with when problems eventually arise. I’m happy to report that my new Traverse waders have worked without issue for six months of hard fishing since. I should also note that I go my Dad the same waders around the same time, and his have had zero issues for seven months.
For now, Patagonia has my business and assuming these hold up with only a reasonable amount of repairs required, they’ll be worth it. I guess ideally I’d like to see them last 5-6 years. I don’t want to pay more than about $100 per year for my waders.
One last thing on the topic: If you’re serious about fishing and going out a lot, you really ought to have two pairs. That way when one inevitably gets wet or at worst fails, you have a backup while the others are being repaired. Right now, my Simms Guide Choice waders are those backups, and they’ve come in handy a couple times.