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Patagonia Deep Wading Jacket has let me down

5K views 14 replies 12 participants last post by  TheSwingingFly 
#1 ·
My wonderful wife bought me the Patagonia Deep Wading Jacket about 3 years ago after I came home with a mild case of hyperthermia after fishing for the day. It has been a fantastic jacket up to this year. Last trip it rained and rained and the jacket now appears to soak up more water than it sheds. Soaked to my skin. I went on the Patagonia site and they recommended the Granger's cleaner and waterproofing spray. Treated the coat with the hopes of getting more life out of the jacket. Yesterday, potentially the worst weather I have ever fished in, the jacket shed water for about an hour and failed again. Any thoughts on how to fix this jacket? I am trying to get in touch with Patagonia to sort this out. I have read reviews and most people are getting way more life out of the jacket then I have.

Anyone have any thoughts?
 
#4 ·
If the option of purchasing something else is out, and sending it in for refurbishing is on hold, then you're going to have to treat it yourself but this might impact Patagonia's service policy for future (?). With gore tex you can use a warm iron to "refresh" it, not sure if this is true with Patagonia's H2No material. 3M Scotchgard was also a way in the past to provide reasonable but temporary water resistance. If the coat is dirty (deep staining type soiling like sweat and fish slime) then that will have to be removed for the water barrier to work properly (breath as well as resist water penetration). Good luck. I've opted to have two different wading coats just for this reason (Redington and Filson, new school and old school).
 
#10 ·
I've owned 2 salts and in both jackets the zippers failed (i.e. broke) right around the base of the pockets. And I'm not the only one. A couple of other folks I know have reported that failure. Patagonia was great on the return and It's a great jacket otherwise, but because of the 2 failures, I've avoided them regardless of the support from Patagonia.If you want to do a Patagonia produce, I'd *highly* recommend the SST. In my mind it still represents the best wading jacket, but at a significantly higher price point.
 
#6 ·
A friend of mine got the Salt before our 2 week AK float this summer. While we were gifted 2 weeks of crazy nice weather, his jacket held up great to the couple days of rain we did get, about 1/3 of it really heavy. He liked it a lot.

Of course my 10 yr old patagonia held up to it too.
 
#8 ·
It's cool that Patagonia is giving you a new jacket, I've had great experience with their customer service as well.

I didn't see anyone mention washing the jacket so I thought I'd bring it up in case you have similar problems in the future. When the waterproof breathable fabrics get dirty they don't work well. A quick wash on cold will clean the jacket, and running it through the dryer will refresh the waterproofing.
 
#9 ·
Excellent service

All goretex gear or like products need to be washed occasionally, dirt works into the material making it less effective. After washing it, hang it up outside and spray it with ReviveX, once it has finished dripping and is still damp throw it in the dryer for 1 hr(heat activates the repellency). I have goretex jackets that are over 12 year old that keep me dry, I treat them one or twice a year. When I whitewater kayaked, I did this with my Patagonia Drytop, but with the latex gasket and neoprene waist band I couldn't use the dryer, I used an iron instead, even after 8 year it still kept me dry!!!
 
#11 ·
All goretex gear or like products need to be washed occasionally, dirt works into the material making it less effective. After washing it, hang it up outside and spray it with ReviveX, once it has finished dripping and is still damp throw it in the dryer for 1 hr(heat activates the repellency). I have goretex jackets that are over 12 year old that keep me dry, I treat them one or twice a year. When I whitewater kayaked, I did this with my Patagonia Drytop, but with the latex gasket and neoprene waist band I couldn't use the dryer, I used an iron instead, even after 8 year it still kept me dry!!!
Great tips! Will keep this in mind and forward to the Mrs. :)
 
#13 ·
The Deep Wader problems when dirty and warm

I've had my Deep Wader for three years and have fished the hell out of it during that time. This year we put in 20 days on the Bulkley River alone. I've found that when it gets dirty--which doesn't mean visibly dirty--it doesn't do as good a job at keeping me dry. I think it's because H20no, Patagonia's breathable membrane, isn't as good as Goretex. When it gets dirty the pores don't release body moisture and that's what gets you wet. This is especially apparent when the weather is relatively warm and drizzly or rainey. On colder days even when the rain fall is heavy, I stay dry.

The last of my 20 some days on the Bulkley was rainy and very cold. I was able to manage two hours in the water before the toes went numb and the fingers got stupid. But I was dry when I got back to the car, even after a small hike through dripping forest (where I spooked a moose who scared the **** out of me). Two days later I stopped to fish the Thompson and had too many layers on underneath as I walked the tracks to a goat path down to the river. Despite a very light mist, I was quite damp by the time I hit the water. By the time I got back to the car later in the day as the sun came out and it got warmer and had been dry for a couple of hours, I was soaked. I'm pretty sure it was sweat soaked.

I believe Patagonia has stopped making the Deep Wader. I hope someone else makes one because that shorter length is great for deep wading and PWC paddling.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Patagonia Deep Wading Jacket Has Let Md Down

I have maintained several Patagonia and Gore-Tex garments using NIKWAX TECH WASH (see instructions on the container). After cleaning, I wash the garments in TX DIRECT WASH-IN which restores and improves water repellency and maintains breathability. You can let the garments air dry or machine dry in accordance with porduct and garment instructions.
Patagonia has always provided me with excellent service and has always stood behind all of their products. Depending how frequently you employ your garments and how quickly the barrier is foulded with dirt will determine how frequently you will need to restore the garment. Do not cut corners on the NICKWAX TX DIRECT WASH-IN and TECH WASH, these products were developed to restore waterproof and breathable garments. Do not improvise washing with another product, for the best results use the TECH WASH. The spray on products do not provide for uniform coverage throughout the garment inside and out, the wash in products saturate the garment inside and out, no missed areas.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Breathable materials need to be washed and treated to stay water-proof, would just about guarantee that is the case here... You likely just had a warranty claim on a product that has nothing wrong with it... So if you like the coat, wash it and treat it...

I have the Patagonia Salt and love it, never had any issues with the zipper, but have heard of people having problems with the zipper...

I stay more dry with H2NO than anything else, with the exception of the Gore-Tex jacket I had in the Marines, but I have been told by several people, the Gore-Tex the military has access to is superior to what is sold to the public which I can say, any Gore-Tex products I have owned since could not compare to that coat...
 
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