Patagonia’s New Waders, 2016—designed and endorsed by the Wader Task Force

I had a chance to test Patagonia’s new waders in August while fishing several streams in East Idaho. Patagonia has placed a lot of effort into these waders with the goal of creating the best wader on the planet. They had to: in past years inconsistent manufacturing practices caused too much variation in the performance of PG waders so the company formed the Wader Task Force to make their waders the best they could be.

I only got a couple days on the water and the waders performed nicely, but I’m going to give them a more arduous test when I pack them with me on several trips during 2016, to see how they stand up to some heavy duty, DIY adventures, Canadian steelhead chief among them. Here’s a product description straight from the source, plus a video on how the Wader Task Force approached the problem and found a solution. I’ll give you more info on these in a few weeks. Now available at fly shops and online at Patagonia.com

PATAGONIA LAUNCHES ALL NEW LINE OF FISHING WADERS FOR SPRING 2016

Heading home after lightning storm, new PG waders keeping us dry. On a secret creek, east Idaho.

VENTURA, Calif. (February 2, 2016) – With an eye toward making the best fishing wader in the world, Patagonia brought together an incredible array of in-house quality experts, advanced R&D engineers, fabric developers, designers – and, of course, seasoned field testers – to create an all-new line of waders for men and women in Spring 2016.

The men and women of the Patagonia Wader Task Force are dedicated to one ongoing task: controlling and eliminating variation in the production process. Six new styles ranging from a lightweight wading pant to a highly versatile front zip silhouette are offered. Each style has been crafted to suit the wide ranging needs of modern anglers. You can watch a video featuring the Wader Task Force (WTF) here.

“Quite simply, waders are the most complicated and technical pieces of gear Patagonia builds,” said Bart Bonime, Patagonia’s Fly Fishing Director. “We brought the best people in the business to get as close as possible to perfect with our Spring 2016 waders, and the result this team has pulled off is just tremendous.”

Checkin’ out the new gear, learning all the specs about fabric and water dispersal, etc. Lots of technology wrapped into these.

Across all wader styles, booties now have a more sock-like fit and are constructed from a dense and resilient neoprene that resists compaction for longer life.

All men’s waders now have a trimmer up­per-body fit that still allows for easy layering, two inches of fabric was removed from the chest, waist and hip. The new flat panel on gravel guards helps drain water quickly and resist abrasion and wear.

All waders are built with Patagonia’s proprietary 4-layer H2No Performance Standard fabric. This four-layer fabric package continues to set the standard for performance and durability. To maximize this high performing fabric package Patagonia overhauled its entire production process for this new collection of waders.

The many stresses placed on waders in the field are matched in number by critical points during manufacture where weaknesses can occur. Each step in the production and quality process has been examined and vetted to insure that these waders are earning consistent quality control scores coming out of the factory and into the river.

Global Quality Manager for Patagonia, Russ Lyzack puts it this way: “Commitment to the Wader Task Force is the glue. It’s not about just passing a test. It’s not about just one season-there is no finish line.”

In the end, the question to ask is this: can your waders handle all conditions. We got sun, heavy rain, hail and cold streams when fishing in Idaho and we stayed comfortable throughout. And that let us keep our minds on the business at hand. How to catch picky trout. We did that in spades, including this beautiful rainbow, taken from a small east Idaho stream.

By improving the fit in the men’s waders, bringing Single Seam Construction to each style in the line and adding the flat panel gravel guards Patagonia has created a high performing and versatile line of waders for a wide range of angling pursuits.

Check out Patagonia’s new waders at your favorite local fly shop; you can also find them at Patagonia.com

 

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