Photo by Andrew Bennett

This thing is dry.

I got my Simms Pro Dry jacket just in time for the winter steelhead season and this was a good year to put it to the test. It’s seen some truly brutal days now in New York, Oregon and British Columbia. It’s also gotten me through a few real frog chokers down in the south as well as some soggy boat rides in the Keys and the Bahamas. My first impression of this jacket was good but now that I’ve put it to the test, I think it’s fucking awesome!

There are a lot of nice features to the Pro Dry, like the super tight wrist seals or the stretch panels at the elbows and shoulders but the most impressive thing about it is how it preformed its basic function. This thing is dry. I have never had a rain jacket that repelled water like this one. After seven months of hard use water still beads up on it like a freshly waxed car. There really is something to the real Gore-Tex and the stretch panels are just as water resistant. The collar is extra high and lined with comfortable micro fleece and the hood is nicely designed. When the hatches are all battened down, all that’s exposed are my glasses.

I really like the pockets. Four on the outside and three on the inside. Simms has done a really good job of designing these pockets so they are useful and yet streamlined. They don’t catch line and when they are full of fly boxes and such they don’t restrict movement. There is a nicely designed pocket for an iPod and even a little stretchy loop to help keep up with your ear buds when they’re not in your ears. Personally I don’t listen to music when I fish but I have found that this pocket is perfect for my data cards. The hand pockets have inner mesh pockets for chemical hand warmers, which is cozy. My favorite feature is the built-in lens cloth in the left chest pocket. It has it’s own lanyard and an inner pocket that keeps it clean and dry. It’s great for both glasses and camera lenses.

The cut of the jacket is excellent and extremely comfortable. It’s a little longer than normal which I really like. I generally have trouble with jacket sleeves coming up short on me. Not with the Pro Dry, even when casting. It’s light and I wear a down vest under it on really bad days. It’s all I need. The construction is as tough as the materials. I’ve put this jacket through the ringer and it still looks like new. I have the Delta Green, which I like of the three colors offered. The Fury Orange is too bright for me but Kent has one and it looks good on him. The grey is just, grey.

At $499 retail the Pro Dry is not cheap but the quality is there. I paid about as much for the Pradagonia jacket I had before and wasn’t nearly as happy with it. I feel confident that this jacket is going to last me a long time. You can buy it directly from Simms but if you have a local fly shop I’d encourage you to buy it from them. They’re good guys and the Internet can’t tell you what the fish are eating on your local river.