Choosing a wading jacket: what you need to know?

I will hardly surprise any of the honorable fishing fraternity, if I say that in our equipment one of the most popular attributes of clothing among fans of fly fishing and spinning are zabrodnye jackets. From the name it is already clear that these things were created for fishing inbroadku, and ideally they are combined with zabrodnye pants (weiders). But, given the too different specifics of our fishing, vayders are not needed for everyone and not always, but the jackets themselves of this zabrodny type were very practical and therefore popular in themselves.

Main characteristics

Waders are not always needed, but zabrodnaya jacket thing is more universal

In general, there is no special secret in such popularity, it lies in the fact that zabrodnye jackets are just very convenient protective clothing, which has two useful functions – it reliably protects from various weather and is equipped with special pockets for placing boxes and boxes with various baits and other our fishing stuff. In addition, different manufacturers are trying to please us, adding to their models in varying degrees of useful additions that increase the comfort in the use of these clothes.

Popular styles of these clothes have been worked out for a long time, and tested by many thousands of anglers around the world, so in their basic details these things are similar in different brands. The most popular and well-known brands in the field of such clothing – Simms, Patagonia, Redington, Vision , LOOP , Daiwa, Shimano and further down the list. Differences, of course, there are, because each manufacturer has its own views and its fans, to whose opinion listen to designers, periodically making adjustments to their products to please customers and not to miss in the number of sales. The basis of such zabrodnye clothes are the most modern materials, based on membrane fabrics that provide reliable protection from any precipitation, strong winds and at the same time have breathable properties.

Cuffs protect your hands from water, which is especially important for fishing

That is, today these clothes are no longer just rubberized fabric that does not allow water to pass through, as it was at the dawn of the emergence of such things. In addition to the protective functions of the fabric itself, zabrodnye jackets are equipped with cuffs that do not allow water to penetrate through them, providing our hands enough reliable waterproofing. And even the pockets on these jackets are arranged so that things lying in them (documents, phones, fishing accessories) were reliably protected from moisture penetration in any weather. Plus zippers of a special type, with water protection, additionally equipped with valves of various types, on Velcro-velcro or buttons. That is, zabrodnaya jacket – it is such a compact “spacesuit” from any weather, in which you do not get wet, and things different things will keep under this clothing without problems.

Plus jackets of this type are equipped with devices for hanging all sorts of useful little things in the area of the pockets and loops for attaching and carrying a fly rod. All seams in such jackets are necessarily glued, and the bottom part, as a rule, is equipped with an adjustable tie. In addition, zabrodnye jackets can be equipped with additional pockets for warming hands or storing removed gloves.

All this is very convenient, good and great, but at the same time and expensive, so surely many have tried to find for fishing something similar in properties, but inexpensive, so to speak, cheap and surly. Probably many of us have tried to dress in second hand army jackets, using instead of fishing jackets the uniforms of the Bundeswehr, Swiss mountain shooters or British commandos. All these military jackets have only one undeniable plus – it is a relatively low price for a good quality membrane, but otherwise there is little comfort in them, after all, their purpose is different. That’s why there are inappropriate pockets, and sleeves without waterproofing cuffs, and hoods designed for an army helmet, and there is no suspension equipment, and the length of some is excessive, and the coloring, to put it bluntly, on the amateur. Saving on properly designed clothing is in fact saving on your own comfort and, what is even more unpleasant, on your own health. Therefore, the earlier we come to understand the choice of clothing proven over the years and thought out by the anglers themselves, the better.

How to choose?

Such a jacket should first of all protect from dampness

So, let’s immediately note for ourselves what differs in the best way the right fishing zabrodnaya jacket from others. First, maximum protection from bad weather in the form of any dampness – rain and wet snow. Secondly, equipped with thoughtful pockets with convenient clasps for carrying our fishing accessories, documents and communication equipment, allowing sometimes to do without additional elements of equipment – vests, bags and backpacks, at least for short-term fishing trips. Thirdly, a short cut for convenience when fishing in the backwaters.

Now let’s dwell more on the individual elements of this practical fishing clothes, which should always be paid attention to when choosing. Let’s start with the fabric materials. As a rule, clothing presented by a solid brand, complete with a whole booklet of colorful passports and labels for all kinds of materials and fabrics involved in sewing this high-tech product. You can, of course, google at your leisure all these intricate names and symbols that are indicated in these accompanying documents for your own comfort and general development, if, of course, not lazy to do it all. Although, if the case, we by and large except for the figures of membrane characteristics, in general, the rest is not so important. Moreover, we should not expect a trick from a solid manufacturer. But it is still important to look at the figures. They show what we can expect from the chosen jacket in rainy weather and from what force of rain it can really protect us.

It is important to find a balance between breathability and waterproofness

If, for example, the label states 20000 mm water column waterproofness and 15000 g/m2 / 24h vapor drainage (breathability), then this is a very decent figure. But the figures can be higher, that is, the jacket can then be attributed to a real storm, but it should be taken into account that a certain balance in the combination of waterproof and breathable properties of membrane fabrics, so that there is no imbalance leading to discomfort on fishing. In other words, if the jacket perfectly restrains any rain, but its membrane slowly removes vapor from our body, then in such clothes you can fish only sit or stand and make very small transitions, at the risk of getting wet from the inside. That is, inside such clothes is formed a kind of greenhouse effect, and in this case the meaning of external protection from moisture is lost, as we begin to get wet from the inside, and if the weather is cool, then nothing good in terms of health we do not promise such a pastime. Therefore, when choosing fishing clothes in addition to high waterproof membrane properties, be sure to look at the high test vapor drainage, so as not to buy a simple “greenhouse” with pockets.

The next step is to look at the cuffs of the selected jacket. This is also a very important point, especially if we are going to fish in the boat, and even rafting, or kayaking, where the water from the paddle often tries to get into the sleeves. A good manufacturer offers, as a rule, jackets equipped with waterproof cuffs made of various modern materials, which allow us not to worry about water getting into the sleeves. Such cuffs even allow you to lower your hands into the water together with the sleeves if necessary, for example, when unhooking the bait from snags without soaking them to the elbow, or when accidentally scooping up water with the sleeve while sitting in the boat. There are also more advanced solutions, for example, Patagonia has models of jackets that have special gloves attached to the cuffs, which makes both hands and sleeves completely inaccessible to getting wet.

The fabric should not only be waterproof, but also vapor permeable to avoid becoming a greenhouse

With some cuffs, you can dip your hands in the water

After we are convinced of the qualities of membrane materials and the reliability of the cuffs in the sleeves of the selected jacket, we proceed to a careful and picky inspection of its pockets. This moment is also very important as the cut of jackets, and the type of pockets on them have long been invented, it would seem that nothing new can not be invented here, but enterprising manufacturer, wanting to attract a new buyer, goes to various design tricks, which are not always combined with reasonable ergonomics and convenience of use.

The classic of the genre, so to speak, is usually represented by two spacious volume pockets on the chest , closed on Velcro, plus one large pocket on the back with a zipper or two zippers, and one or two internal pockets also on any fasteners. This is usually enough for most jackets, and some jackets from the fall-winter catalog also have a couple of outside pockets for gloves and keeping hands warm. In the spacious pockets on the chest are well placed boxes with baits, on the back in a large pocket you can carry a lot of stuff, especially if you do not want to take a backpack. Internal pockets carry documents, phones, keys, wallets and other essentials.

Spacious pockets on the chest allow you to place boxes with baits

If there are pockets for hands and gloves, they are also not superfluous. In addition, next to the chest pockets in special folds there are hangers of carabiners on springs and cords for hanging all sorts of fishing trifles or holding boxes with baits to keep them from being lost during fishing.

Too many pockets will turn the jacket into a bad unloading vest

So, usually this number of pockets has always been enough, but often in the sale began to appear not quite thought out things, where designers have arranged a real jumble of many additional pockets with very questionable possibilities of their real use. Turning thus zabrodnye jacket into an army unloading vest, these people forget about its direct purpose. Thus, if we take a jacket, where each breast pocket will have one more pocket piled on top, and a mortise pocket under it will be sewn in, then trying to occupy all these pockets with something useful and necessary, we will get a terrible appearance and no convenience, as all these things will “conflict” with each other. And if you really lack the pockets of the jacket, it is better to stock up on a fishing vest, which can be worn both over the jacket and under it. But do not combine both jacket and unloading vest in one, it is more likely to lead to discomfort than to any additional convenience.

The same applies to jackets, where instead of the usual overhead spacious pockets designers used mortise internal. Such a jacket, after all its pockets will be occupied and zipped all their zippers, looks terrible too with all these sticking out in all directions corners of boxes and other contents of pockets. That is, the functionality seems to be preserved, but achieved in a bad way. Besides pockets with boxes for baits to open-close on fishing have to open-close often, and when instead of Velcro you have to constantly pull zippers, especially in waterproof version, it is a very inconvenient process, especially when you do it with one hand, you can easily leave such a pocket is not fully closed and eventually lose something. And although in the store jackets with a lot of zippers look quite spectacular, it is still better to prefer them to the old tried-and-true type with patch pockets on Velcro, which are easy and simple to open-close with one hand, taking out and removing everything you need. Sometimes you can meet, so to speak, a compromise variant. Where a pair of patch pockets for boxes is combined with a pair of integrated zippered pockets, this is quite a healthy solution.

Nice additions

The main elements that you should immediately pay attention to when choosing a zabrod jacket, we seem to have listed. Now about the secondary ones, on which our comfortable stay on fishing depends to a lesser extent. For example, the hood, it can be arranged in different ways. The most convenient hood, retractable inside the collar of the jacket. This option is good because it does not interfere, clinging to branches, does not collect inside itself all sorts of garbage and does not flutter like a regimental banner in the wind, when we do not need it for its intended purpose. Hoods can be equipped with an adjustable visor, ties at the back of the head and a couple of additional ties. Rolled up and tucked into the collar, the hood is most often secured with Velcro, which is more convenient than buttons and zippers.

Ventilation holes with reflective elements will be a pleasant detail

Useful additional pluses can be considered the presence of such little things as a ventilation hole at the bottom of the pocket on the back. Usually this large pocket is waterproof, that is waterproof, and if you forget something in it, for example, wet gloves or rolled up wet raincoat, a bag with a half-eaten sandwich, then this thing there will not suffocate and will not leave an unpleasant odor.

It is not bad if the jacket will be equipped with reflective elements, they do not so much decorate the clothes, but will be useful if you have to move along the roads when fishing, for example, streetfishermen, or those who travel to fishing on a bicycle or scooter.

The presence of loops for hanging a sucker, tucks at the bottom of the jacket and reliable zippers, and fasteners are taken for granted on such things, without them a good proper jacket is hard to imagine.

There are plenty of good and comfortable clothes for fishing now, the main thing is not to make a mistake with the choice, then the sudden onset of bad weather will not be terrible for us, because, as the British say, there is no bad weather – there is inappropriate clothing.