Friday, September 26, 2008

Mixing business with pleasure

Here's a Way Upstream follow up to the recent Fly Fishing Retailer trade show in Denver. I wanted to do a post that gave those of you who weren't there a sense of the Patagonia booth and touch on the product highlights. The booth was beautifully executed by Tania Bjornlie and her team. They created a fuller sense of display this year with more product monuments and more imagery. The result was a presentation that provided clear stories focused on freshwater, saltwater, lifestyle and more.

For product highlights, much is new for Spring 2009: We’ve streamlined our proven HydroStorm wader offerings into a new Watermaster series (M's and W's waders a new Hip High style) and a new, exceptionally tough Guidewater Wader with wool-grid neoprene booties. For all wader styles we’ve moved away from metal snaps to a TPU post-and-keyhole system. Our Riverwalker Boot becomes our focused offereing but the Patagonia footwear line contains some surprises like two new proprietary Idrogrip rubber soled sandals and a multi-functional non-marking deck shoe. Speaking of feet, don’t head to the water (or the mountains) without your Remat.

We’ve also redesigned, with the help of the boss, the venerable SST Jacket to include a new integrated hood with a single pull adjustment, a waterproof, corrosion resistant main zipper and hand pocket zippers, and improved wrist closures. Both the Deep Wading Jacket and M’s Guidewater Jacket get some distinctive color updates.

The new Guidewater Shirt is a fishing-friendly soft shell “shaket” (hybrid shirt/jacket) you can wear alone or layered. It can follow the seasons so you may need two of them (check out the Digi Camo). The new Guidewater Pants and Shorts draw on the excellent nylon Wavefarer boardshort fabric from our Surf line. Marlwalker® Pants and shorts are made from 60% recycled (and recyclable) nylon. These new styles are tough, resilient, amphibious and moisture shedding. Other notable introductions include a Sun Glove, made of rashguard fabric, and a new Guidewater Duffel Max to transport your gear safely to hell and back.

Our Double Haul (2 colors), Hip Chest Pack (3 colors) and Pack vest all use tough double-weave, eco-friendly fabric now plus have all been appointed with various redesigned qualities. Our award winning Guidewater Vest and Riverwalker Vest get color updates. The patented Great Divider has a new little brother - The Sub Divider and both have been modified to be even cleaner and smoother operating. We’ve also made sure that the vest component of Pack Vest can connect to the all weather Stormfront® Pack.

Lastly I'd like to touch on the Patagonia reception held every year at the Denver Store. Cat Angell, Mary Beth Crumbaker, Terri Brady and the Denver Retail Store Staff deserve huge thanks. This event is where we get to show a bit more of our personality. This year we had over 200 guests with many industry heavyweights attending. Those that visited were treated to catering from Gene Tang's 1515 Restaraunt and artisan beer from New Belgium Brewery. Guests were entertained and enlightened by art and film clips from a posse of creative young anglers like James Prosek, Felt Soul Media, AEG, Rollcast Productions, Burl Productions and this year we had scientific/enviro partners Aaron Adams from BTU plus Dave Petersen and Andy Danylchuk of Core Angling show films of their groundbreaking work.

Let me wrap up with a quote overheard after the reception that I think puts the exclamation point on the post "Man, I couldn't believe the energy in the room during the movies. People were actually cheering jumping fish! That energy is what can save the fly-fishing business. Unfortunately, we keep putting old duffs out there as our heroes. They're all nice people, but it's making our sport seem too old and decrepit. I know that sounds tough, but I'm only talking business....Thanks for the party and the shot of adrenalin. I've been telling everybody, "You should have been at the Patagonia party, and you should have heard the crowd!"

Photos by Joe Tayag

24 comments:

bota said...

thanks for the update! i've been waiting to hear about the new products you guys are putting out this season. keep it coming...

when can we expect to see all the new products on the website or in store?

Tim Pask said...

SUB DIVIDER
I was lucky enough to get one on the Sub Dividers a while back (Thanks again Brian), and have already put a few years worth of use on it. What I was looking for was a durable case to carry around my underwater digital slr housing, and it seems to have been custom made for the job. I have already flown it all over Alaska and banged it around several rivers in BC. The zipper gets easier with use and it now works better then when I first got it. The size is great and I have slung it over my neck and packed it around for hours at a time with no effort. As far as I can tell its 100% waterproof, although I have not sunk it below the surface for any period of time. But its sat in the rain for hours and laid around in a soggy boat for days. Its been bone dry inside every time I have opened it.

Other then my camera housing I have used it as a small gear bag and was amazed how much tackle I could fit in it. The small divider inside (removable) is great for organizing my gear, and the 2 side pouches are perfect for tippet, leaders, or any other small object that seems to always fall to the bottom of a bag.

What I am most excited about is that Patagonia is bringing some great new products to market that seem to fill gaps in my world (with the Iron Clad Guarantee). Thanks

El Pescador said...

I'm glad you appreciate the update Bota. You can expect the new gear to start hitting shelves as early as January so stay tuned.

Thanks for the Sub Divider review El Paskador. Your words should be music to the ears of the photographers and anglers looking for durable, reliable gear protection. Note that the Dividers are not submersible but can handle anything up to that point pretty well. For complete protection from a dunking, go with the Stormfront® Pack.

Tim Pask said...

New Watermaster’s

I have had a lifelong battle with keeping my feet warm in bad conditions. I few months ago I was talking to El Pescador and mentioned I’d like to see some boot-foot waders at some point. A few days later a prototype pair of these new Watermaster’s showed up. The first thing I did was turn them inside out to check out the new booties. The wool is integrated in a cross weave fashion and runs throughout the entire bootie. I have somewhere around 30 days of use of them now (obviously fairly new) and have been blow away by the added warmth. The best I can do is to compare them on a scale and if the scale was 1 to 10 and a heavy boot-foot was a 10 and a normal neoprene bootie was a 5, I’d give the new wool/neo bootie an 8.

But here is the added bonus that blew me away. COMFORT!!!! If you are like me then after a few hour in normal waders your feet begin to feel clammy (or even wet) and it worsens throughout the day. For me its because my feet sweat and then feel damp and get cold (if the water is cold). These new booties all but eliminate that feeling of dampness and my feet feel bone-dry throughout the day. I have also noticed my feet feel much more comfortable when standing around for hours on end. I don’t know if this was part of Patagonia’s thoughts when they designed them, but its actually as good as the added warmth in my book.

I am currently steelhead fishing and the water is starting to drop (46 yesterday) and the Bone-Dry Comfort is lasting 10 hours each and every day.

In fact I am going to wader up right now and swing some flies....

El Paskador

El Pescador said...

Thanks for the report Tim. I'm a believer in the wool grid neoprene too, even in typical cool water conditions for trout and stripers. The grid seems to function as a thermal break keeping the foot at a constant temperature.....but I can't wait to try them in your neck of the woods. Just for clarification, the new waders with the wool grid are called Guidewater Waders. The Watermaster series uses our 3mm neoprene bootie.

Tim Pask said...

Guidewater Waders... Yes I noticed that as soon as I posted, but it was TO LATE.. I just returned from a strange day on the river. It soared to 80 degrees today, which was a real shock from the 45 yesterday. Walked a lot and the waders were still bone dry with the contrast of 49 degree water and 80 degree air temp. Really great.

NO FISH THOUGH.....

Anonymous said...

El Pescador:
Just curious about the new wading jackets - what color will the new SST and Guidewater jackets come in for the Spring? Also, when are they available?
Much thanks, Bradley

El Pescador said...

The New SST comes in Sage Khaki. The Guidewater Jacket comes in Gravel (brownish gray) and Northern Light (dark blue). These jackets will be available in mid-January. Thanks for asking Bradley

Anonymous said...

El Pescador:
Thanks for the reply. Any photos of the new Guidewater Jacket.
Bradley

El Pescador said...

There is a shot of the Gravel color Guidewater Jacket in fourth picture down from the top (yellow down jacket layered underneath). It's next to the Black Insulator Jacket. You can also see the Northern Light color in the second picture down from the top. It's shown in the Deep Wading Jacket (second from the left). Click on the pix for a closer view. Thanks for your interest Bradley.

Anonymous said...

First of all, I have to thank you for a very interesting and informative blog!

In the near future I plan to get a new pair of waders, and provided that it fits me right, your Watermaster II has emerged as the most likely candidate. Looking for information on the Watermasters, as well as news on Patagonia's 2009 lineup, was actually how I found your excellent blog in the first place.

I have one question I hope you can answer for me though. Will there be any changes to the 2009 Watermasters besides the already mentioned switch from metal snaps to a TPU post-and-keyhole system?

Sverre

El Pescador said...

I'm glad the Watermaster II Waders are on your short list Sverre. The S9 Watermaster Waders do contain some differences aside from the post/slot system. The new version has a simplified lower torso pattern which eliminates seams and taping. The gravel guard has been redesigned to fit better and we've been able to pull some excess fabric out of the overall wader design (below the waist). Either Watermaster Wader should serve you well. You also have the S9 Guidewater Wader to consider. Don't hesitate to ask additional questions. I'm happy to help.

John Frankot said...

It was a joy to trail the Hip High waders in The Driftless this fall. The three days I fished in them were warm (72-80 degrees) with moderate to heavy walking.

Overall, the Hip High hits the mark being lightweight and comfortable without becoming clammy in heat or heavy exertion; yet, durable to withstand kneeling on stream banks and bushwhacking. They are aesthetically pleasing as well (a few heifers gave me a second look as I walked the fields). Gravel guard is excellent.

I think there is an opportunity to market these as the hard core small stream "must have" with a focused effort on small stream hotspots ... Drfitless, Black Hills, New England, England (chalk streams), Appalachia, Smokey Mountains, New Mexico, alpine California, etc. Perhaps an ad with a Hip High clad angler landing an 18+" trout on a stream only twice the fish length in width, or majestic species (Rio Grande Cut, Brookie, Golden, etc).

Discussion points: 1) hip strap seems a little skinny which seemingly causes height
adjustment to slip a little. Perhaps a heavier gauge strap would remedy. 2) Is there a plan to customize stocking foot size?

Nice work!

JF

El Pescador said...

Thanks for the testing report John. The Watermaster Hip Highs are perfect for the Driftless Area and other small stream situations or where deep wading isn't necessary. Note that the prototype Hip Highs you used do not have the correct webbing. It will be thicker for production and will eliminate the slipping. Regarding bootie customization, we offer that service now out of our Reno Service Center.

Here are a couple of shots John sent with his report:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/airtaxi/2999632800/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/airtaxi/2999632784/

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the information about the new Watermasters! None of the changes appear to be critical, but I'll probably hold out for the 2009 version anyway.

As for the Guidewater waders, I really appreciate your continued attention to and focus on functional yet simple design and innovations free from gimmicks, but as a student on a somewhat restrictive budget, I guess the Watermasters will have to do this time...

Sverre

El Pescador said...

Noted on pricepoints Sverre. That's why we developed two hardcore wading styles in S9. Both are tough, reliable and sport the internal suspender system. Thanks for considering Patagonia.

Jay said...

I own the Lightweight Waders which are absolutely amazing , even after 3+ years.

I do think the foot size are kinda big for the sizes. I wear a ML and the foot size range are 9-11 which are too long for me. I wear a 8 size street shoe.

Any idea the foot range of the new waders will be more proportioned to the wader sizes?

El Pescador said...

Glad to know the waders are still going strong Jay. Noted on the bootie sizing. It's tricky to nail it for everyone when you are forced to pick one size bootie to put on an upper. We can put a different bootie size on wader at our repair facility in Reno. Customization fees usually run around $45 for this service.

Jay said...

Well, I try to 'fold up' the front part of the foot in the toe area of the wading shoes (grin).

But I do think the shoe size range for the medium size waders are too large. I'd say it should be in the 8-9 range rather than the 9-10.

By the way, when can we see all the new goodies at the Patagonia site?

El Pescador said...

The bootie sizing changes a little in S9 Jay (January '09). Regarding your current excess fabric in the bootie, don't try to fold up the front. My suggestion is to do two or three heel lifts to seat the bootie evenly in your boot. Loosen your laces and open the boot throat up as much as you can so the step in creates the least amount of resistance possible.

Jay said...

Tried that too. However the 'creeping' up of the loose heel area tends to give pressure after a while and the heel area starts to hurt.

Hmm... Maybe I should send the wader back for a new smaller booties?

El Pescador said...

Customizing would be the best option Jay, but that's your call, especially after 3+ years of solid service.

Jay said...

Just send back to repair service and ask for a smaller bootfoots?

El Pescador said...

Jay, I'd suggest visiting a local dealer and trying on a wader with the next size smaller bootie. Once you determine if that size is preferred then you can send your waders to the repairs department with your customization request.