Fly Fisherman Gear Guide Green Awards 2026: Airflo Sustain Lines & Simms Midstream Jacket

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To read all of the nitty gritty, field-tested reviews of new fly-fishing gear for 2026, grab a copy of Gear Guide at the Outdoor Sportsman Group newsstand, through the Fly Fisherman Special Issues app available in the App Store and Google Play, or on newsstands today.

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Green Award: Airflo Sustain Fly Lines

Here’s a dirty little secret: There is a great amount of waste involved in fly line production. Every company out there charges a premium for their best lines and they have very strict quality standards. Many lines—particularly at the start of a production run—might not be exactly the right color, they have slight blemishes, or the line ID has an error or is not readable. The lines are not perfect, but they don’t deserve to go in the trash. Airflo Sustain fly lines are factory seconds of Airflo’s most popular lines. They may have color bleed where the colors transition, they may have black dots or other cosmetic imperfections, but they are new and slick, perfectly castable, and they have loops and all the functionality of the regular lines. They are completely fishable and cost half as much as the regular lines. The lines are PVC free, the line weight and model are printed on the brown unbleached cardboard box, and the lines are merely coiled on their inside to reduce packaging. They are not wound into a spool.

The lines are sold “as is” from fly shops and are not returnable or under any type of warranty from the manufacturer.

As always, when you are done with them the lines are recyclable through Airflo’s TerrraCycle program and participating U.S. fly shops.

50% Off Regular Price | airflousa.com

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Green Award: Simms Midstream Hooded Jacket

Performance, environmental awareness, and sustainability are three key aspects to the Simms Midstream Hooded Jacket.

Lavalan, a European-based wool manufacturer, pro-cures wool sources from various European shepherds and farmers. They take pride in their products being sustainable with a low carbon footprint. Their wool has fully traceable origins and the husbandry of the sheep is kept to a strict standard. This results in healthy animals that grow superior wool.

Using a corn-based PLA (polylactic acid plastic) the jacket body is a mapped 60-gram, 80% virgin wool, 20% PLA insulation blend called Lavalan Sport that is renowned in outdoor garments for its fine and dense wool fibers. The sleeves use the same material with a 40-gram, 70% virgin wool, 30% PLA blend that allows for more movement and creates less bulk. These blends retain and regulate body heat, wick moisture, naturally combat odors, stretch and move with you, and at the end of their prod-uct life are biodegradable.

C0 DWR is a non-fluorinated, PFC-free (perfluorocarbon) and PFAS-free (polyfluoroalkyl substances, aka “forever chemicals”) water-repellent finish used to coat the exterior abrasion-resistant nylon shell that is environmentally friendly and poses no health risks to humans. The interior liner is a nylon and Spandex blend that flexes and includes two mesh dump pockets for gear and fly boxes. On the exterior, two YKK Conceal zippered chest pockets and hand pockets give additional storage.

An adjustable hood keeps you warm when the elements get nasty but it won’t block your peripheral vision. Lycra-finished cuffs allow for easy layering and won’t grab your fleece or base layer. An adjustable drawcord hem keeps the wind at bay.

When damp and cold conditions prevail, the natural powers of Lavalan wool and new plant-based DWRs in the Midstream Hooded Jacket will keep you warm and dry, while not poisoning our rivers and your body.

—Dennis Pastucha

$270 | simmsfishing.com

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