Many aspects contribute to a great day on the water. The scenery, the company, whether or not the fish cooperate – the list goes on and on. However, there is one aspect that’s often overlooked — your gear. Think about it. If one of the guides on your favorite 5-weight is broken, it’s not going to be nearly as enjoyable (or effective) when you’re trying to drop a hopper underneath that juicy cutbank. If you’re drag isn’t running smooth, how happy are you going to be when you get that fat rainbow on the reel and your tippet breaks on the first run? Whether it’s rods, reels, packs, nets, boats, whatever – if the gear you rely on isn’t performing at its best, you are diminishing the quality of your day.

Let’s Talk Waders

While waders aren’t going to help you find more fish, hook more fish, or release more fish – they are without a doubt one of, if not the most critical pieces of gear in your arsenal. The sole purpose of waders is to keep you dry, therefore, they’re designed to keep you comfortable. Nothing throws a wet towel on an otherwise fantastic day quite like the feeling of being cold, wet, and most importantly, uncomfortable.

Over the past 30 years, Simms has earned a reputation for building the highest performing, most durable waders in the world. Yes, we use the most performance driven fabrics and materials we can get our hands on and implement the most reliable construction methods possible — but that’s only pat of it. The truth is, once a wader leaves our production floor, its longevity ultimately lies in the hands of its owner.

On any given day, you can walk on the floor of Simms’ repair center and find waders that are 10, 15, even 20 years old hanging up to dry. These waders have been repaired and are getting ready to be sent back to their owners for continued use. Waders like these that have endured season after season of abuse and are still going strong aren’t from a special production run, or built by a singular wader making guru – they’ve just been treated with care by their owners. If properly cared for, your Simms waders have the ability to last for the long haul.

Size Matters

First and foremost, the best thing an angler can do to prolong the life of their Simms Waders is to take the time and determine the best size. While Simms offers several tools on simmsfishing.com to help anglers find the perfect size wader — nothing beats visiting your local retailer, having a conversation, and trying on a few different size options. 

At Simms, we don't take sizing lightly. Sizing is one of the most critical aspects of wader durability. This is why Simms doesn't just offer Small, Medium, Large, and so on. We want our waders to fit more like a tailored suit. By taking all of the appropriate measurements and finding a wader that fits like Cinderella's glass slipper, you're eliminating areas of the wader that might bunch and rub and cause abrasion. Conversely, if a wader is too tight fitting or snug, you are really going to putting stress on the stitching and seams, especially when crouched down or climbing over boulders or logs. Plus, fishing in a wader that doesn't fit properly isn't nearly as enjoyable as fishing in a wader does.

To illustrate just how important sizing is to Simms, let's take a look at the G3 Guide Wader. G3 is one of the most celebrated waders that ever been created and it's been in Simms' wader collection over 20 years. In G3, Simms offers 17 standard sizes with custom options available as well. To learn the proper steps in finding the perfect size wader for you, click here.

Proper Layering

The next rule to maximize wader longevity is to be mindful of what you wear underneath them. You’d think that with as harsh as most fishing environments can be, the exterior of the wader would take the brunt of abrasion and wear and tear. And that is true, but only when you wear appropriate layering. It’s amazing just how abrasive some fabrics like denim and canvas can be to the interior of a wader. And let’s not forget, pants made from these types of fabrics more often that not have buttons and zippers which obviously can degrade and destroy a wader very quickly. Besides, do you really want to fish in jeans anyways? Probably not. Do yourself and your waders a favor – wear appropriate layering underneath.

Simms Picks

The same concept for upper layering applies, however we really like to emphasize the lower because that is the hardest working/most active area in a wader. Some of our favorite next-to-skin/next-to-wader layering options are: Men's Lightweight Baselayer Bottom, M's Thermal Midlayer Bottom, M's Heavyweight Baselayer Bottom, M's Challenger Sweatpants, and the W's Thermal Jogger. If you are one of those anglers that freezes when the temp drops below 50 degrees, or you are fishing in the coldest of cold environments, there's no better option than what we refer to as "the toaster", the Fjord Pant. Finally, a lesser known Simms layering option that's developed a cult following for those that are in the know is the M's Fleece Midlayer Bib, or as we call it, the Onesy.   

Washing and Drying

Another major contributor to wader longevity is washing. Of course, you don’t need to wash your waders after every single fishing session, however, it’s definitely a good practice to give them a wash every so often. The Gore-Tex membrane is porous. The way it works is that the pores in the membrane are smaller than a water molecule, but they are big enough for water vapor to escape. This is how waterproof breathability is achieved. Regularly washing your waders not only keeps them fresh, it prevents fish slime, oil, dirt, and other substances from building up and blocking the pores/breathability of the Gore-Tex membrane. So, washing your waders not only benefits longevity, but it also ensures you are getting the most performance out them as well. 

Keep in mind, when it comes to washing waders, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. The best and perhaps the safest way to wash your waders is to do it by hand.

Turn the wader inside out, use a soft scrub brush with soap that doesn’t contain fabric softener, scrub the interior, and rinse all the soap off. Repeat this process with the waders turned right side out. If you want to use a washing machine, you can. However, it’s best to use one that doesn’t have an agitator. If it does have an agitator, make sure the machine is set to its most delicate cycle. Whether you hand wash or use a washing machine – do not use a dryer. Hang them in a cool, well-ventilated area until dry.

Storage

Nothing degrades and compromises a wader more than being stored improperly, especially for long periods of time. Just like socks and underwear, your waders should have a designated spot while not in use. That designated spot is not: Waded up in the back of your car, haphazardly tossed in the corner of your garage, or crammed in a duffel with your wet and funky wading boots. The best way to store waders is to hang them. Hanging them keeps creasing, bunching, crumpling and other compromises out of the equation. Ideally, where you store your waders is also where you allow them to dry out. If you don’t have that luxury and for whatever reason you have keep your waders stored folded up, just make sure they are completely dry (inside and out) before you fold to store. Wherever you store your waders, make sure it’s an area free of or at the very least, out of reach from mice and other small rodents — apparently, some of these small critters find wader fabric to be quite tasty.

Maintenance

Finally, just like any piece of valuable gear, waders greatly benefit from annual or even bi-annual maintenance. This is an opportunity to find and correct small issues, and/or identify and fix problem areas before they get worse and really compromise the integrity and life of your wader. While Simms does have and encourages the use of our in-house repair center, there are many basic repairs consumers can easily do on their own. One of the most common (and easiest) repairs on a wader is fixing pinholes. Simply turn your waders inside out and spray with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). If there is a pinhole, the problem area will turn very dark. To fix these pinholes, smear a very small amount of Aquaseal over any dark spots that appear. Once all the pinholes have received a small application of Aquaseal, allow the wader to dry (inside out) for at least 24 hours. Remember, Aquaseal is only meant for pinholes found in wader fabric and works best with a less is more approach. It is not meant to be used on attachments such as stockingfeet, or larger holes, or tears. A good rule of thumb is — if the repair requires more than a teeny tiny bit of Aquaseal, Aquaseal is not going to be the solve.

While conducting maintenance on your waders, if you find a trouble spot that is something you don’t feel comfortable handling on your own, or a component needs to be replaced, always feel free to reach out and chat with an authorized repair technician. In a lot of cases, they can walk you through a bigger repair job, send you patches and repair kits, or replacement components such as dividers, buckles, and zipper pulls.

Keeping your waders in top-notch condition not only provides anglers with a better experience, it adds years of life to an incredibly important piece of gear. It’s not hard and it doesn’t take a lot of time – it just takes a little bit of discipline. Take care of your waders – after all, they were designed and built to take care of you.