Patagonia Middle Fork Packable Waders are by far my favorite waders I've ever owned. I have owned many pairs of Simms, at least two pairs of the Simms guide pants and multiple Simms chest waders. The Middle Forks are light where they can be, strong and light were they need to be and tough in high wear areas.
I don't work for Patagonia, I don't receive any gifts from them, I bought all of my gear full price just like the rest of you. I'm writing this endorsement because they are worthy of my hard earned money and my favorite time on the river and stream.
The foot on the wader is a sort of rubber, not a wetsuit material but a rubber sock so to speak. I put my waders on fast and pull up on them getting the wrinkles out and I wear thin liner socks on the inside and my feet don't get cold and the wader sock does not bunch up. They work really well. I wear them with wetsuit booties with a felt sole or with my sawanobori boots, they both work like it was meant to be.
When it comes to packing them up, I just take them off, lay them flat, roll 'em up and stuff them in the nice stuff sack. They end up being about the size of a 1 liter nalgene water bottle. That's with the included wader belt. For packrafting or a minimalist traveler, these things are so nice to wear, pack up small and are tough. Were I fish, I have to do some hiking and through the brush and these waders have stood up to it so far.
I am not a fan of waders, I prefer wet wading yet at a tailwater, waders are a necessity. If I'm traveling, they do not take up much space at all and I can throw them in a small backpack and use them with packable wetsuit felt sole booties or rubber sole boots.
The wader workstation works well with this system an allows me to have many choices in the way I approach my streams or rivers.
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