Simms rain gear

I am seriously considering a Simms Challenger rain jacket and bibs (uninsulated) on discount and was wondering if anyone has these and is willing to offer their opinion.

Thank you

They’re very nice, especially if you get a deal. Oversize so you can layer underneath and it will extend the seasons you use them. They pack very small and perform well for me in AK in tough conditions.

gimruis wrote:

I am seriously considering a Simms Challenger rain jacket and bibs (uninsulated) on discount and was wondering if anyone has these and is willing to offer their opinion.

Thank you

Where are they on discount?

Bearcat89 wrote:

Where are they on discount?

Directly from the Simms website. Not every size is available though.

https://www.simmsfishing.com/challenger-jacket

Gimruis, I bought a set this spring, only worn them once and very pleased with breatheability

Make sure to go bigger. When I received my Simms bibs they were a little on the small size for normal sizing to me. Now after my covid weight I don’t even know if I can still fit into them. They were worth the money.

They keep you dry enough. Bibs are better than the jacket. If it’s pouring, you’ll still get wet. If it’s drizzle then you’d stay dry. Does a pretty decent job of blocking the wind.

Tom Albrecht wrote:

If it’s pouring, you’ll still get wet

Send it back for a replacement. You got a dud/defect in materials. I have a challenger and pro suit. The pro is thicker, warmer, and will last longer but both equally as dry.

Tom Albrecht wrote:

They keep you dry enough. Bibs are better than the jacket. If it’s pouring, you’ll still get wet. If it’s drizzle then you’d stay dry. Does a pretty decent job of blocking the wind.

So $400 gets you a set of rain gear that “kind of” works?

My Challenger suit has been great after almost 2 years of regular use. A couple times I was a little wet after a all day heavy rain, but I suspect most of that was coming in through the cuffs and collar. I also wear them all through the late and early season as a outer layer just to cut the wind. I normally wear a XL and I thought they were about right on with sizing. I even fit a fleece underneath on the cold days. That said, I don’t know that I’d pay full price for them, but for what I paid it’s a great suit.

I’m struggling on rain bibs too. All these new coated products you’ve never heard of that cost $150-$300 per piece seem, by most comments, too last 2-3 years. That seems crazy too me. I’m starting to believe it’s Gore Tex or keep replacing the new stuff every few years. No matter what brand you ask about gets you as many negative reviews as positive.

My son and I ea bought a set of Simms challenger suits. Looked everywhere, and never found a discount on the current Challenger suits. They did have discounts on the past version of the Challenger suits. I think they were about $130 for ea piece of the old version, vs $200 for ea piece of the new. The new has a different and supposedly better fabric. Also there is some updated features to the new. I called Simms when I saw the two different prices on their web site and they explained it all. This was apx 1 1/2 months ago.

I appreciate all the responses and reviews. I haven’t bought any yet but I am going to keep looking for more sales/clearance on them. Most of what I’ve seen is that they are always exempt from those site-wide sales.

3rdtryguy wrote:

All these new coated products you’ve never heard of that cost $150-$300 per piece seem, by most comments, too last 2-3 years. That seems crazy too me. I’m starting to believe it’s Gore Tex or keep replacing the new stuff every few years. No matter what brand you ask about gets you as many negative reviews as positive.

It’s crazy but true and here’s what I think I’ve learned. Once you get into these price points you’re into quality gear. All quality breathable rain gear uses the same two things. A Durable Water Repellent (DWR) coating on the oustide. A laminate or membrain on the inside, Gore Tex is the most famous/expensive but everyone has their proprietary flavor.

The DWR is by far what does the most work to keep you dry. A little like driving a new car off the lot as soon as you start using the gear the DWR starts to degrade. Don’t care how much you spent, this just degrades over time. This is where the 2-3 years comes from. You can try to refresh with products like Nikwax to extend useful life but they’re never as good as new. Guess how I know.

The laminate membrain coating also degrades over time. This can’t be refreshed.

I’ll spend just about anything to be warm and dry in the fall fishing Ontario. However extra money does not translate directly into extra years. I have a set of Simms Pro Dry that I’m cringing on replacing. Rather than do this again I’m going to buy lower cost with proprietary membrains. ex. Marmot, Patagonia, Simms Challenger, etc. Basically instead of a $400 hoping to last 5-10 years I’ll buy a $200 jacket every 2-3 years.

Surprised that more people don’t use PVC bibs for fishing. WPB jacket I understand, but PVC just seems the way to go for bibs.

I bought a new Simms Challenger suit ($400 total) for a Lake Erie trip I was on last week. Only had one day of rain/wind that I needed it and was happy with how it performed; comfortable and kept me dry. My experience is that they run true to size.

My H/H PVC suit would have kept me just as dry but I probably wouldn’t have looked as good I’m guessing.

patk wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>3rdtryguy wrote:</div>
All these new coated products you’ve never heard of that cost $150-$300 per piece seem, by most comments, too last 2-3 years. That seems crazy too me. I’m starting to believe it’s Gore Tex or keep replacing the new stuff every few years. No matter what brand you ask about gets you as many negative reviews as positive.

It’s crazy but true and here’s what I think I’ve learned. Once you get into these price points you’re into quality gear. All quality breathable rain gear uses the same two things. A Durable Water Repellent (DWR) coating on the oustide. A laminate or membrain on the inside, Gore Tex is the most famous/expensive but everyone has their proprietary flavor.

The DWR is by far what does the most work to keep you dry. A little like driving a new car off the lot as soon as you start using the gear the DWR starts to degrade. Don’t care how much you spent, this just degrades over time. This is where the 2-3 years comes from. You can try to refresh with products like Nikwax to extend useful life but they’re never as good as new. Guess how I know.

The laminate membrain coating also degrades over time. This can’t be refreshed.

I’ll spend just about anything to be warm and dry in the fall fishing Ontario. However extra money does not translate directly into extra years. I have a set of Simms Pro Dry that I’m cringing on replacing. Rather than do this again I’m going to buy lower cost with proprietary membrains. ex. Marmot, Patagonia, Simms Challenger, etc. Basically instead of a $400 hoping to last 5-10 years I’ll buy a $200 jacket every 2-3 years.

I was under the impression Gore-Tex is an actual fabric liner, and the rest are just some sort of laminated type stuff. Am I wrong? I don’t think these other guys have a product like Gore-Tex fabric on them at all. Gander Mountain and a lot of other companies used to have dry plus and I always thought that was an actual fabric like Gore-Tex only a lesser product. Do these new upstarts have an actual fabric like Gore-Tex or dry plus in them?

Here’s what the net says, I guess gore Tex isn’t an actual fabric. Are the others a three layer system like this?———- GORE-TEX isn’t one simple material: it’s actually a sandwich of three layers. There are two layers of nylon making up the “bread” and then a layer of microporous Teflon® (a brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE) in between. You might know Teflon as the slippery coating on non-stick cookware.Nov 17, 2020

3rdtryguy wrote:

Here’s what the net says, I guess gore Tex isn’t an actual fabric. Are the others a three layer system like this?———- GORE-TEX isn’t one simple material: it’s actually a sandwich of three layers. There are two layers of nylon making up the “bread” and then a layer of microporous Teflon® (a brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE) in between. You might know Teflon as the slippery coating on non-stick cookware.Nov 17, 2020

When you see a jacket marketed as 3 layer that means the membrain coating is sandwiched between two other layers. When you see it marketed as a 2L or 2 layer that means it’s only one side. 3L is more effective that 2L but to my original thought the outer DWR treatment does the vast majority of the work.

Apologies on derailing the original post. I am also curious on the Challenger as a potential replacement.

I have been watching prices on the Challenger for a LONG time. Finally pulled the trigger on a Guidewear instead. Went on sale – got it for $70 off which I could stomach – so far I love it – not insulated but use it as a windbreaker and for layers. Not enough serious rain weather to get the full experience in it yet but after TONS of research on the web about layers, chemicals, breathability…….. I just pulled the trigger on this. Have friends who have had them a long time and love them. Witnessed firsthand the difference in them between my Simms and their Guidewear ( same lake, same weather, same day, different results) so I just pulled the trigger. Have “re-coated ” my Simms with new repellant so we’ll see how that works. IF it does well I may just end up doing that instead of constantly trying to find “good” gear. I have the Columbia rainwear jacket that does all right until you’re out there for 3 hours in a steady rain and then soaked. But for light rain and misting it works great.

I have a simms challenger suit. I love it. Have had it for a year now and it’s pretty nice!

How many layers is the Simms Challenger?

3rdtryguy wrote:

How many layers is the Simms Challenger?

2

Bass Pro’s (I hate them too!) 100MPH rain gear is about the same price with real Gore Tex. Cabelas Guidewear is close too. Why wouldn’t a person want real Gore Tex?

So much for that idea. Gore Tex makes 4 different products. One is not even wind proof let alone waterproof. Looks to me like bite the bullet and pay the price or spend or spend 200 to 300 and get something that MIGHT last 3 or 4 years and might not. My good Browning gear just gave up after about 25 to 35 years. Jacket is still as waterproof as the day it was new. Crotch went bad on the bibs, the usual spot. But that was real Gore Tex.

Bumping this almost 2 year old post.

First, gimruis did you end up buying this rain gear?

As mentioned, hard to find on sale unless it’s a small or 3x plus! Also hard to find in a store stocked at the popular XL sizing. Same for most higher end brands out there. I have to try it on and make sure all of the zippers are working and no other sewing defects. Especially dropping $450+ on a rain suit!

Anyway, found a set in XL and they fit perfect! Pulled the trigger and bought the set. Just love how lightweight they are. Pack down well too.

So, how is your Simms gear holding up? Any regrets?

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

First, gimruis did you end up buying this rain gear?

I didn’t end up buying Simms. I bought Cabela’s Guidewear Lite version last March (2022) instead. They didn’t have the right size of Simms where I looked, and I prefer to try that kind of stuff on before I buy it.

I’ve been very pleased with the Guidewear Lite so far. I sweat like an oven even when its not very warm out so I need about the thinnest and lightest rain gear available.

One thing I’ve had trouble with with past rain gear is keeping it waterproof over the long run. It tends to lose that weatherpoofing after a few years. So every winter before spring, I am re-appling some spray on waterproofing to keep that aspect of it working as long as possible.

Found Simms CX raingear on sale last spring at Scheels 250$ for jacket same for bibs, believe it is a step up from the Challenger.So far so good.Had Guidewear bibs before and no complaints,stayed waterproof after year round use for over 5years with a couple washes and treatments in between.I think wearing them year round takes its toll,specially in winter/early spring brushing up against dirty vehicles,boats ect.From my understanding the cleaner the gear is kept the better the waterproofing works.I will be wearing the old gear in winter/early spring as being waterproof is not such a big deal,mainly just needed to keep the wind at bay.

One of the best things a person can do with rainwear is to hang it up and let it dry as soon as possible after it’s been wet. I made some wire inserts, like loose wire balls, that go in the legs and arms of mine so air flow is obtained easily. My rain gear is on hangers until I think I’ll need it, then is rolled loosely and carried in a plastic bag. Take care of it, and it will take care of you for a long time.

Maybe I read too fast, but surprised no mention of Grundens. Happy with all their products. Helly Hansen is another good one, best bet is to scour their clearance site.