Quote Originally Posted by FIREMAN View Post
...Would like to know peoples opinions through their own experiences with these two companies. Like Days fished, waders you wear etc... Im looking to buy either the G3's or G4's and also throwing around the idea of Patagonias top of the line wader....
... since I have had only Simms. Over the past eight years I've had two pair. The first pair was their bottom of the line model and the current pair is a step or two up. The first pair lasted four years and was still serviceable for most conditions, although I probably wouldn't have wanted to fish midwinter is SE Idaho in them. The current pair has about four years on them and do leak in the lower right leg, but not so much that winter fishing is a concern.

Over those eight years, I've fished well over 1000 days. About half of that is wet wading ( mostly in Simms sandals ), so figure about 500 days in waders, split roughly in half between the two pair, and the current pair probably has at least one more season in them, so they could end of being serviceable for something over 300 days.

Other than the GoreTex factor, which I consider very important, there is the fit consideration. I wear a size 11 boot, which is a bit outsized for someone who is 5'8" and doesn't want several inches of extra crotch and leg material getting in the way. Simms had a model that fits my foot nicely and fits my frame reasonably well - that is something you won't find with all wader manufacturers, at least not last time I checked around. Don't know about Patagonia, nor whether you take a standard fit or something a bit more demanding.

Also, while Simms did charge $50 to rehab my waders after a couple seasons, they did a great job - like getting back new waders, except for the really bad stains.

John

P.S. Regarding the fit thing - don't know if Simms still does it, but as of a few years ago they would build a "custom" wader to match your body / boot combination.