Patagonia Passed, Simms Failed my test on invasives

[Silver Creek]

I wrote both Simms and Patagonia for their suggestions on decontamination. I asked the same question using their web sites and then with a direct e-mail to their customer service. I asked the question below:

"What decontamination methods for Dydimo, NZ Mud Snails, Whirling Disease, and Zebra Mussels are effective and approved by you for your Waders and Boots? Are these methods safe for your gear and are the damages from these methods covered under your warranty?"

It has been a week since my first message and Simms never replied to either question. I have sent a followup mesage to Simms and they have yet to reply to that. Patagonia replied within 2 hours to the first and within 12 hours to the second message. According to the the replies from Patagonia, there is NO Chemical Method that is approved, only complete drying or freezing of gear.

The second reply from Bill K of Patagaonia was personalized and said it best:

"This is a very good question and one that comes up often. Our suggestion that has been agreed by all the resource folks we work with all over the West - National Parks, Forest Service, fish and game, universities, etc is to Clean, Inspect and Dry your gear after use. Remove all particulate matter, brush if you can, then rinse them and let them dry. Drying is a difficult part since anglers may be fishing for a week or so and moving to different watersheds. So do the best one can. I found that buying a brush and those flip top Rubbermaid containers cost $20. And I place boots and waders in the water (top between the flip top) and rinse as I dry to and from river. The brush I use when getting out of water to remove particulate matter. This is a great, inexpensive and handy way to reduce this threat. Think like a saltwater angler as you have to rinse all your gear well after use."

"Using chemicals can create damage to gear. And we do not know long term issues with water, insects, hatch etc. using chemicals. This was the best method. The ideal, but difficult method is to freeze your gear. I know a number of lodges that are doing this for their clients. www.cleanangling.com is a good website to review. I can provide more detailed info if you need this?"

The first Patagonia reply seemed automated:

"Thanks for your email. To prevent the spread of invasive species, we recommend the following measures:

- Do not transport fish or fish parts from one drainage to another. Disposing of one infected fish in a clear drainage provides enough spores to start a new infection.



- Rinse all mud and debris from waders, shoes, and all equipment.



- Completely dry all wading equipment before wading new water.



- Drain water from boats and rinse off all mud before leaving infected*waters.



- Fish from the bank or a boat.



For further information and ideas on how to avoid cross-contamination, please see

http://protectyourwaters.net/prevention/prevention_generic.php#1."

I'm disappointed that Simms, the largest manufacturer and seller of wading gear did not reply to my initial and followup contacts.

I think it Patagonia has it right. Anglers are not going to use destructive chemicals on their gear nor are they going to use chemicals like bleach that can accidentally destroy the inside of their vehicles should containers leak. The brush and dry method that Bill suggests seems to be the best compromise. I already have a Rubbermaid container that I put my boots in so the don't get the inside of my vehicle dirty.

Personally, I have a separate set of wading gear for travel and home use. I figure the boots and waders will last twice as long. Between trips, the travel set has weeks to dry out.

[hairwing]

Personally I can't afford either of these manufacturers products, but I'll bet the response wouldn't be any better from lower priced producers. I'll credit Patagonia though for their concern. Most of all you deserve credit for pursuing this problem *****!

Here's an idea if you'd like to run with it....Maybe for 50 bucks or so you could ozonate your Rubbermaid tub filled with your gear and water.As long as your gear was all synthetics I don't see much damage being done. The ozone will take care of the organics.

We need a water treatment engineer to comment here. A question like this is well above my pay-grade. I have seen amazing results using ozone treatment for polishing and purifying water of organics and I'm sure there is some way the technology can be applied. I suppose decontamination could be done either using the the gas itself or using water as a medium. These are questions a scientist or engineer can answer.

3 cheers!!!

hairwing

[roygpa]

I'll bet pulling on a pair of frozen waders would you up in the morning!

I guess I could let the warm up a bit first.

Roy

[Silver Creek]

I've found what I consider errors in official publications from my state. For example my Wisconsin River Alliance and the Wisconisin DNR recommends a soak in a 2% solution of bleach for Didymo:

http://wisconsinrivers.org/documents...T910_Final.pdf

Apparently they did not check out the destructiveness of bleach or check with the manufacturers of wading equipment.

The state of California Department of Fish and Game did a study of chemical decontamination methods. They found that a concentrated solution of bleach destroyed waders and boots in during a series of 7 soakings of 30 minutes each. Bleach is an oxidizer and although 2% is a much lower concentration fro a shorter time, I believe it will eventually destroy your equipment by letting the bleach remain in contact as it air dries.

http://www.scwa2.com/documents/NZMS/...eport%2003.pdf

[MSD53X]

So what do you think of the salt didymo washing ????

[hairwing]

How about UV sterilization?

http://www.luggage.com/asp/show_detail.asp?sku=PUA1001

[flyguy66]

I can't help but wonder what the elk, caribou, waterfowl, etc. do to prevent the spread of invasives from one watershed, lake, etc. to another during migrations. I mean - I'm all for keeping my impact on the environment in check. I use a Monomaster, wear the new non-felt studded soles from Korkers, and try to keep my waders and kayak reasonably clean. But let's not lose our perspective. We're only a very tiny variable in the equation.

[rainbowchaser]

Migrating wildlife takes some time to go from one watershed to another. Hopefully travel through brush and grass will remove what survives drying out. We humans can be fishing on one continent today and another tomorrow. We are the major carrier of invasives.

[Marco]

Flyguy66,
You have "NAILED" it with your "We're only a tiny variable in the equation".
Rainbowchaser, how can you POSSIBLY substantiate your "We are................" statement???????? What about BILLIONS of migrationg waterfowl? "Hopefully" is also not an oft used term in proving anything much less the survivability or not of invasives in your "brush and grass" scenario.

Mark

Silver Creek, my apology for the deviation from your original post . I do appreciate your effort in this matter .

[flyguy66]

Avian Cholera, influenzas, red rice and other exotic plant materials from the other end of migratory corridors ending up in highly cultivated ag fields...just to name a few. Biologic organisms can live indefinitely on warm-bodied hosts, and plant seeds have amazingly long dormant phases in many cases. Even the wind moves these things around as much or more than we do.