Zach Matthews
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KBilcher –
Believe me, this is not a value judgment – I am simply repeating what I was told at the Show.
Yeah, it’s within the guidelines I set a while back and I am not going to bend them, so the post can stay. I do think it’s a bit outside the spirit here, though. Not to mention the fact that this shop and Cabela’s are the only outfits authorized to sell XPs out of the new run, which has to chafe a bit for all those fly shops that were forced to sell out their stock and now can’t get back in. Also not to mention the fact that this will cannibalize Z-Axis sales out of those same shops. Pretty hard to swallow for those shops, I’m sure, but like I said, I’m leaving it up.
Zach
Personally, I am kind of glad when PETA launches campaigns like their “sea kittens” number they are running now.
Hey guys –
Just as an additional note, in the near future I am going to begin doing just a little light editing to profiles, strictly to improve the way the board lays out. Some of you have chosen to put your handle in your display name along with your real name. While I appreciate the gesture, handles should really be placed in the “personal text” block (which displays right below your name) or else in your signature line. The reason here is to keep the board from double-stacking extra-long names in the main layout, which causes the site to break on some browsers (particularly mobile ones). Please understand if your name is suddenly capitalized or justified or something, I’m just doing it to improve the look and feel for all the other site users.
Thanks,
ZachPS It’s come to my attention that some of you CAN’T capitalize or change your name because there is a duplicate user registration.
From my 2006 article, “Breathing Underwater”:
“DWR Treatments
One of the areas of greatest innovation in the past ten years has been DWR treatments applied to breathable fabrics. This is the stuff that makes water bead up on your waders or jacket. The first DWR treatment to hit the market was called Scotch Guard, and you may recall having applied it to your sofa. According to Ned Hutchinson, the fly-fishing product designer at Cloudveil, you can imagine DWR like “a forest of trees.” On a molecular level, the DWR coating has a series of tiny, round, water-repellent spheres, which make up a “canopy.” The canopy stands above the exterior layer of the breathable fabric on a set of tiny “trunks,” just like a forest. When a droplet of liquid water hits the DWR treatment, it gets caught in the “leaves” of the canopy and cannot penetrate to the actual fabric, making water bead up.
Unfortunately this tiny protective forest is not indestructible. Over time, through use and wear, the trunks of these trees can break, removing the protection and resulting in “wet out.” Dirt is also a major culprit in causing wet out, since it crushes those “trunks” and crusts over the canopy. Remember the last time you got in the water with a set of breathable waders on and saw that your fabric had turned dark? It probably felt like you were getting soaked, right? That’s wet out. In reality, you are still dry inside your waders, but because the exterior fabric is saturated and the microporous membrane sandwiched inside the wader cloth doesn’t provide any insulation, you can get condensation on the inside and feel much colder. Wet out is bad. Manufacturers like to prevent it if they can. Hence, DWR treatments. “The biggest change in the past ten years in terms of avoiding wet out,” Cloudveil’s Hutchinson explains, “is that now the forest has many more trunks. Instead of just one trunk holding up your ‘tree,’ now that trunk has support trunks going every which way.” After a given number of wash cycles, a DWR treatment will fail, so manufacturers have begun measuring this increased wet-out resistance by the number of wash cycles the treatment can endure. (Manufacturers recommend that fishermen wash their waders to maximize DWR performance and avoid wet out.) Products are beginning to hit the market that advertise a “30 DWR” treatment, which means the DWR coating should last through thirty trips to the Laundromat. A “100 DWR” coating is functionally a life-of-the-product application, and some products are beginning to reach this level (though not without cost).
Well, you say, how many wash cycles can the DWR treatment on my waders withstand? The likely answer is around twelve (a historical average), and since few of us wash our waders as often as we ought to, that number seems sufficient for the current lifespan of a set of breathable waders. If you are getting wet out, follow the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions on the inside of your waders and get rid of as much dirt as possible. Also, consider a DWR-replenishing treatment from a product like ReviveX (also made by Gore), which will return your waders to their water-droplet-beading natural state—though, unfortunately, never for as long as when they were new.”
HTH,
ZachCloudveil’s original Crystal Creeks ($365) got closed out this year due to the switch to Gore Tex XCR, which was simply a different weave on the interior face fabric.
My waders last a very long time but only because I overhaul them regularly and because I always buy the thickest legs I can afford. I killed several pairs of thin waders in less than 18 months when I first started fishing; once I switched to Simms Guides (and learned to take care of them), I was able to get a lot more time out of them. I don’t really like to walk in to one particular spot and sit on it (though in some areas that’s all you can do, to be sure). I also don’t do much boat fishing. So my waders see a lot of miles. My original Simms Guides were bought in about 2001-02. They have had their feet replaced by Simms ($50), have been scrubbed clean and Revivexed five or so times with an iron and a dryer, etc., and have approximately thirty Aquaseal patches on the insides. I eventually retired them when the Revivex no longer kept away wet out for a day. My newer Guides were bought the last season Simms made them and have the front-facing seams. I think that was 2005. They have the original feet still, probably a half dozen patches, and have been fully Revivexed twice. Their gravel guards are starting to shred.
I’ve seen what Alaskan guides like Ian Crabtree and Matt Jones can do to a pair of waders in a season and I am certainly not putting that much hurt on them. Since 2003 (when I got out of college), I have averaged approximately 45-50 days a year on the water, much of that in mountain fisheries like the Smokies. I probably hike an average of four miles in a day’s fishing. I’ve run through four pairs of boots since college, walking the felt off. My current pair has had almost all its grommets replaced with zip ties (credit Carter Simcoe; a great fix), and the rubber is showing through the felt at the toe. Those will need to go soon, too.
If you really think about the level of wear I’ve put on these waders, it’s greatly in excess of what I would have done to a pair of jeans, etc. Thus I think you have to credit Simms with making a really solid product. I have never had a seam failure (size them properly and you won’t). I’ve only ever had the neoprene tape come off the boots, and that was after 3 seasons in the first Guides and it didn’t make them leak. I scoot over logs, kick through blackberry bushes and rhododendrons, and slither and worm my way around log jams all the time. In my opinion, most (high quality) wader failure, like most rod breakage, is due to user error (ripping them on obstacles instead of carefully unhooking them, hooking oneself, etc.) Of course, none of that applies if the waders aren’t well made.
Zach
Mark –
I am not seeing any breathable camo waders on the market which would compare, in my opinion, to Simms’ construction, and I am extremely hard on waders.