Wading Jacket

[NADO]

In light of the predicted rain this upcoming weekend I decided it was time to bite the bullet and ditch the dollar store poncho's for a decent wading jacket. I was excited about adding my first simms product to my gear but when I got to the store I was dissapointed with the pocket layout. I liked the G3/4's but they were out of my price range. I ended up buying two lower end jackets as I couldn't make my mind up in the store, I need to decide between the following two jackets.

1. Streamside 671 for $89.99

What I really like about this jacket is that it has way more pockets than my vest and fanny pack put together. Downside is that the hood isnt all that comfortable and the guy at the store said they arent the best for being in the rain for long periods of time. Another big plus is the low low price.



2. Reddington Stratus III for $179.99

This jacket it very comfortable and has a nice hood, the guy at the store indicated that its much better for being water proof. The downside is that aside from the two big pockets on the front and the places to put my hands there isnt any additional storage, the other downside is the extra 90 bucks that it costs.



Tips anyone?

 

[Klamp]

Not a direct answer to your question, but LL Bean also makes a wading jacket for 100 bucks and they ship direct.

 

[Klamp]

More to your question, I am not a huge fan of mega-pocket jackets. I'd rather have a simple breathable and waterproof jacket than one with all sorts of pockets or features. Stocking my gear is left to my vest and/or hip pack. The main reason why is because jackets suck at holding stuff comfortably, they load up and kind of sag on you. I much prefer a nice thin/lightweight jacket and my vest over top. Vests are specifically designed to hold things properly (at least the good vests such as the Guide/G3, Fishpond, etc).

Regardless of whether you store stuff in a vest or prefer to in your jacket, BREATHABILITY is the most important thing. Put on a sweater and throw on the jacket. Walk around your house for awhile and see how it is. Then once you're all sweated up, go for a quick walk and see if you feel the cold air sneaking in anywhere. The only other test is to go for a walk in the rain.

I don't think the Simms G3/G4 jackets are worth the money frankly. Don't get me wrong, they are GREAT jackets, just not worth it to me. I'd sooner spend the same 450 bucks on a Guide series jacket with a Simms G3 vest.

I'll add two more things that put me in favor of simple jacket/vest combo. One, if you're clipping clamps, trims, tippet spools, etc to your jacket, it's just a matter of time before you wear it out or poke a hole - whereas if you do that to a vest, you'll likely get more mileage out of it. Second, I like having a vest outside my jacket as it takes the hit from fish, dirt, brush/bush, etc. and thus the jacket doesn't get so beat up.

Again, not directly related to your question, but to me it makes the choice of jacket a little less critical.

My .02 cents.

 

[Spinninreel]

Here are my .02 cents - to me the most important thing is staying dry, so because the 2nd jacket has the better water proofing, I would go with that. As for me I prefer just to have my fishing rod and have everything in my jacket. I do not want to carry an extra pack that i might lose one way or another. I agree with klamp that simms is great quality but you pay a lot for the name.

 

[NADO]

Thanks guys. After walking around in the Streamside jacket for a bit last night it was clear that it was not the right choice, its already on its way back to the store.

 

[christotheashto]

i just bought a frogtoggs wading jacket from bass pro a couple of weeks ago for $49.99. it's the first wading jacket i ever bought.
it's made of an odd material, but what i like about it is it is light, so i can wade in it on rainy spring days and not die from sweating, or i can layer up underneath it and be toasty in the snow. it has neoprene cuffs that you can tighten up, 6 pockets located on the front side. more of an impulse buy than anything else, but for $50 i thought why not? so far i love it. as mentioned, it's light, the sizing is nice, it's comfortable, got the neo cuffs for dunking your arms in the water. i haven't taken a dip in it, but i was out in the pouring rain and guys were packing up and leaving while i continued on fishing, dry as a bone... well, as dry as possible until i can fix all those darn pinholes in my waders LOL

EDIT: i was going to say the hood was functional and comfortable, and then thought, who cares what i think of the hood? then i realized you had mentioned the hood on the one jacket was lame haha. also worth mentioning is i wear my vest on top of it, but the jacket pockets on the side are designed as handwarmers, and then i use the front pockets for things i don't clip/put in my vest like cell phone wallet car keys etc.
i wouldn't say it's an all-encompassing jacket solution, and the material it is made of might turn some people off. but like i said, for what i bought it for (keeping dry), it seems like it does the trick pretty nicely.

 

[RiverNinja]

You will be hard pressed to find a quality Gore-Tex, jacket for under -$400 The cost is pretty much standard across the spectrum...

In these types of situations I always ask myself "How much would I pay"... When I asked myself this question regarding my wading jacket.. My answer was "enough to keep me warm and dry in the worst of the worst conditions"
So I went and splurged on a G4..... Save up & spend up front, in order to save yourself the trouble of buying twice in the long run.. :smile:

 

[AKnook]

I couldn't agree more about being dry, keeping wind out and having breathability. I have a Simms guide jacket and couldn't be happier. It performs excellent. With the simms G3 waders and this guide jacket you are fishing in a impenetrable shell. This year In Alaska we have had record snowfall and now record rainfall. Fishing continues. If you try and wait out the weather in AK you will never fish. This jacket was put to the test HARD twice this year alone in torrential downpour with sideways wind, in addition to regular rain and snow in the winter. The jacket kept the rain and wind out. Looking at my gear, both the waders and jacket, they were soaked. Back at camp without the gear on one would never know we were in the elements. To me, it is extremely important to have a good wading jacket. My jacket doesn't have a million pockets but has enough for what I need. I try and be minimilist when I fish. Only bring what you need for the fishing you are doing. Or, pack the rest on a hip pack. As mentioned already, worth saving the extra dough for a good quality jacket. Doesn't have to be Simms, there are many other great jackets out there.

 

[dcrisci]

i just bought a frogtoggs wading jacket from bass pro a couple of weeks ago for $49.99. it's the first wading jacket i ever bought.
it's made of an odd material, but what i like about it is it is light, so i can wade in it on rainy spring days and not die from sweating, or i can layer up underneath it and be toasty in the snow. it has neoprene cuffs that you can tighten up, 6 pockets located on the front side. more of an impulse buy than anything else, but for $50 i thought why not? so far i love it. as mentioned, it's light, the sizing is nice, it's comfortable, got the neo cuffs for dunking your arms in the water. i haven't taken a dip in it, but i was out in the pouring rain and guys were packing up and leaving while i continued on fishing, dry as a bone... well, as dry as possible until i can fix all those darn pinholes in my waders LOL

EDIT: i was going to say the hood was functional and comfortable, and then thought, who cares what i think of the hood? then i realized you had mentioned the hood on the one jacket was lame haha. also worth mentioning is i wear my vest on top of it, but the jacket pockets on the side are designed as handwarmers, and then i use the front pockets for things i don't clip/put in my vest like cell phone wallet car keys etc.
i wouldn't say it's an all-encompassing jacket solution, and the material it is made of might turn some people off. but like i said, for what i bought it for (keeping dry), it seems like it does the trick pretty nicely.

i have this same wading jacket from bass pro and i also find that it is a very comfortable and 100% dry jacket too. even though the material seems a little weird like chris said the jacket is still amazing. I have worn my vest on top of the jacket, and also stored all my fly fishing gear in the jacket and its still comfortable because of how light it is. and for 50$ you cant get much better!

 

[FishBones]

The last 2 seasons I have ben wearing a Redhead Paclite Gortex jacket year round with the appropriate layering. It was an expensive purchase but its still in mint condition even with lots of nasty bush bashing and I never got wet! Sometimes I felt it was a bit too light for December/January fishing and I dont like having to wear too many layers....With that in mind I went searching for a new insulated Gortex jacket (not an easy find as usually Gortex coats are just shells) What I ended up getting was the Simms Buckley jacket, its gortex and has winter style insulation and is much cheaper then the G4 or Pro-Dry which is IMO not nearly worth that kind of $$. I am looking forward to finally being able to try the Buckley out, just wanted to let you know of the Buckley and its versitility and decent price.....

 

[ChaseChrome]

The last 2 seasons I have ben wearing a Redhead Paclite Gortex jacket year round with the appropriate layering. It was an expensive purchase but its still in mint condition even with lots of nasty bush bashing and I never got wet! Sometimes I felt it was a bit too light for December/January fishing and I dont like having to wear too many layers....With that in mind I went searching for a new insulated Gortex jacket (not an easy find as usually Gortex coats are just shells) What I ended up getting was the Simms Buckley jacket, its gortex and has winter style insulation and is much cheaper then the G4 or Pro-Dry which is IMO not nearly worth that kind of $. I am looking forward to finally being able to try the Buckley out, just wanted to let you know of the Buckley and its versitility and decent price.....

The Buckley is an excellent jacket and does what it needs to when I'm steelheading in Jan/Feb. Only caveat is the lack of waterproof wrist cuffs...
You don't want to be steelheading in -5 temps with Gore-Tex only. Many jackets of course use the same material "Gore-Tex" is only a trademarked name...goes by other names depending on manufacturer...

 

[chris f]

just googled it the simms buckley and from the pic looks like a nice jacket and decent price as well,it looks like it has more length compared to the guide series.sounds like it could be a good choice

 

[jlisk]

I decided to try out that LL Bean jacket and ordered one which arrived yesterday... tried it on fit was perfect to what the site claimed, free shipping, although duty and tax on checkout came to under 140 shipped to my door.

Seems like a nice jacket. I had tried on a few of the Simms jackets as I was searching around... very nice jackets priced quite high (good warrenty, multiple layer GORETEX etc.). After a test fit of the LL Bean and feeling the materials it seems from my initial inspection to be a good quality jacket for the price I paid. Well it might not be 5 layer GORETEX I think it would compete well with some of the lower end SImms stuff (See, jackets below "Guide" class) for a fair amount less.

I guess time will tell once I get it out in a good rain storm or after some good bushwhacking.


I am slightly confused on how the tool retainers work though? Are you supposed to clip in some sort of re tractor that runs through the tube of fabric (that's what it looks like in the picture)?

 

[chris f]

oops had to edit my previous reply, misread it i thought you had decided on the simms buckley. anyway sounds like you like the ll bean you got hopefully it works out for you

 

[jlisk]

Nevermind... there are retainers built into it, I was being blind. XD

Took it out last night in the pouring rain and stayed dry, didn't cinch the wrist properly and got my long sleeve a bit wet when i dunked my hands in the water. I think that was more my fault then function of the jacket though.