Its been so long since I sent my Simms G3 waders in for evaluation that I forgot I even sent them in. Long story short my main pair of waders I’ve used for the past 6 or 7 years has been the Simms G3’s. I remembering paying the pretty $500+ price tag for them back then thinking this is insane.
Granted this was my first “professional” brand wader purchase as I previously used the $100 walmart hodgemans. Which never even lasted a year. After 3 consecutive years of doing that I thought, maybe if I purchase a pair of Simms for 5X the price, they’ll last 5x the duration.
While that seems to be true as I said they’ve been used for 5-6 years now, they wernt used agressively. In fact, I treated these waders like egg shells, taking them off, putting them on, etc. They got alot of outings in them, but nothing harsh. No bush whacking, no friction, etc. Literally out of the car, walking down the pavement, standing in the water.
Which is why I was unpleasantly surprised in the last year that they developed massive amounts of pin holes. You can see the holes all located randomly along seams throughout by shining a flash light inside of them in a dark room. Ive since patched them with aqua seal but a few months later the booties started getting damp. At this point i decided to send them in. If not hoping for a cheap repair, but at-least a severely discounted price on a new pair.
Simms received my waders on Dec 1st, and I got my first update from them today, 25 days later. Saying they received them and they are about to be evaluated. When i receive the final evaluation Ill be sure to update the post. Since the G3s have been sitting at Simms for the last month ive been using my backup pair of Patagucci, erm, I mean Patagonia wading pants. I believe I paid around $400 for these things shortly after I purchased the G3s back then. I think I got them because the G3s just were too hot in the spring\summer heat and the wading pants option seemed favorable.
I would have to say these wading pants have probably only seen 100 outings in the last 5 years and the booties are already leaking and ive also patched pin holes. Needless to say im NOT impressed. Im sure ill be sending these into Patagucci as soon as the G3s get sorted out. And worst case scenario, If I need to say screw both Simms and Patagonia, based on their final decisions on these products i just may be investing my money into a new pair of Dryft waders. As they seem to be getting some attention and praise lately.
If anything else, it might make more sense to just order 6 pairs of amazon waders and have a brand new set to use every year. Because for the price and reputation that both Simms or Patagonia preaches, they both should of lasted longer based on how often they were used and how well they were treated.
UPDATE 2/1/20: I got an email this week and the email said they are shipping them back to me as they are un-repairable and I can call to discuss replacement options. Not sure what that replacement option means. But im assuming its, “well sell you a new pair of our latest model”. So I will take the bait and give them a call later to see what the deal is. Maybe ill be surprised and ill be offered a comparable set of waders at a reputable discount directly from them. If not, then this will be the last set of SIMMs i purchase.
I’m wondering if $500+ waders really offer any better durability then $300 waders. I’m very tempted to just give Orvis Pro models a try, even if they’re in the $500 spectrum only because there’s a local Orvis\TCO store and i’ve heard they back their products very well. Then again, I thought SIMMs did as well, womp.
Anyway, heres a list of some pretty popular wader options that are known or are on the up and coming. As soon as I decide which ones im going with ill make sure i give a 6 month and yearly review on them.
1. LL Bean Kennebec Stockingfoot Waders with Super Seam – $279 (https://bit.ly/3ajQ1zC)
2. Redington Sonic Pro – $350 (https://bit.ly/36zHPtY)
3. Frogg Toggs Puilit II – $240 (https://bit.ly/3pTuZOQ)
4. Orivs Pro – $550 (https://bit.ly/3tiB35K)
5. Dryft S14 Adrenaline – $300 (https://bit.ly/3oGHDPV)
I honestly am even contemplating buying multiple ~$100 waders on amazon as some look decent. As long as they last atleast a year, that would align with what Simms just gave me. And I could basically have a new pair every year.
I had a similar experience with Simms. After 4 years or so mine began to leak and when the foot booties started leaking that was it. I sent them in and it took over 4 months before I received a response saying they were un-repairable. I wanted new booties put on anyway and let me deal with the pin holes but they wouldn’t do it. They also offered no response for the time it took to evaluate them. The representative I spoke with didn’t seem to care after I told him I was going to smear their reputation all over social media & forums.
I’m now using a pair of Caddis breathables that have held up well for the time being, if they do give out I’m out $80, backup being Cabelas neoprenes that were a bargain buy and seem to be indestructible during colder weather outings and much bush wacking to spots.
Thanks for the comment Ross! Its quite sad Simms treats their customers like that. Past customer here anyway. Ill give me money to someone who atleast pretends to care. So far ive been very happy with hte Orvis waders. They have so many pockets, I honestly dont use half of them. I know they are not even broken in yet, but i have high hopes for them.
Ive heard of the Caddis 360 waders and a bunch of people talking good things of them. I also almost bought the Redington SonicPros which may be my next choice depending how well Orvis does.