Fish Like a Trout Ninja: Simms Confluence Stockingfoot Wader

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The new Confluence Stockingfoot Wader is where athletic mobility, comfort, breathability, and slick storage systems all come together. The first thing you notice about this new wader from Simms is the integrated neoprene knee panels. Not external knee pads, but integrated 7 mm neoprene knee panels with four-way stretch that allow you to more easily high-step, kneel, clamber over rocks and logs, or crawl like a trout ninja.

The panel is attached through a triple-gluing process and survived extensive testing in the Simms lab including 158,000 cycles of simulated knee flexing, 5,000 “kneels” into gravel with 123 pounds-force applied to a simulated knee with a pneumatic actuator, environmental testing with wash/freeze/heat cycles that amounted to 410 hours of freezing, 350 hours at 150 degrees, and 80 hours of washing. After all that, the waders still had to pass hydrostatic pressure testing to ensure they don’t leak. After the lab work was complete, the prototype waders were field tested by Simms pros over 1,000 hours on the water, amounting to 330 miles of hiking and wading.

The lower legs are built with Simms’s proprietary, breathable 4-layer polycarbonate Toray fabric for maximum durability and abrasion resistance. The upper portion is sewn from 4-layer stretch Toray so you can bend at the hips and waist just as easily as you can at the knees.

To assist with the extra mobility, the waders have an adjustable spacer air-mesh suspender system that moves with you, and not against you. The wide, comfortable suspender system has a net attachment point, and also supports the wader’s built-in carry system, which includes a top-loading zippered stretch pocket sized for multiple fly boxes and zippered, reach-through, microfleece-lined handwarmer pockets.

The low-profile belt loops at the back of the wader have high and low options to best fit your body, and the 2-inch stretch nylon belt can haul bear spray, GPS satellite devices, two-way radios, or whatever else you need to carry. Two generous looped fly fields also have docking stations for zingers and surgical clamps.

Confluence Stockingfoot Waders also have built-in neoprene gravel guards and anatomically correct left and right neoprene stockingfeet.

$549.95 | simmsfishing.com