Patagonia Swiftcurrent Ultralight Waders

Patagonia’s Swiftcurrent Ultralight ($499) waders were designed to be a super light, packable solution for traveling, hike-in and weight-conscious anglers, who also might be willing to pay a little extra for high-end quality and craftsmanship, think minimalistic (smart) features appended to the company’s long product history of abrasion resistance. Yes, the Swiftcurrent Ultralights are ostensibly meant to counterbalance a glutted market of heavier, bulkier waders, but they also offer a fairly unique design concept: lightweight (35.5 ounces) materials, tough construction, utilitarian functionality.

So, how do the Swiftcurrent Ultralights stand up to these self-assured marketing claims? While not quite a 500-foot home run on product delivery, Patagonia’s evolving, multi-year experiment with this wader concept still provides anglers a lot to like. It’s also important to understand what these waders are not (before you grab a pair): 300-day-use workhorses, cold-water warmth, barbed wire, bombproof construction. They are built for specific use cases (travel, hiking) and in that context, they more than deliver on functionality and durability.

The wader uppers and lowers are constructed with a tough, breathable, 4-layer material (H2No® Performance Standard shell) that’s pretty comfortable and easy to get around the river in. If you care about comfort and mobility, the inseam and knee design won’t disappoint. Having said that, you also won’t find reinforced knee pads, bulky pockets with zippers, or heavy-duty construction. We found them perfectly adequate for mild bushwhacking and exploring, but we also weren’t scaling barbed wire or digging through hawthorn bushes. Products do have limits.

Because the Swiftcurrent Ultralights don’t employ a front zipper (for weight), they utilize an adjustable suspender system, where the angler can drop the “chest-highs” to “waist-highs” with a set of plastic cam buckles. They work like they’re supposed to, providing a pretty slick way to convert mid-stream, but the thin, minimalist design on the plastic buckles doesn’t provide a lot of confidence. One crack on a rock and these buckles are built for failure. We’ve also heard of some buckle breakage issues here and there (not great). On the plus side, the understated (suspender) gear docks are a nice touch and worked well. A waterproof (internal) pocket also provides a seven-inch by seven-inch space for phones or car keys–we weren’t huge fans of the vertical pocket orientation, but overall, a nice feature.

The relatively functional (loosely gusseted elastic cuff, with a lace clip) gravel guards are also constructed with the breathable, 4-layer performance shell, though the heavier-duty, inside scuff guards are made from their Black Hole® fabric, a high-denier recycled polyester ripstop. That’s a lot of technical jargon to say the gravel guards are, more or less, functional. We’re not huge fans of loose fitting gravel guards built into waders–either make a guard that is snug and impervious, or leave them off. The middle-ground approach basically works, but also snags on logs and debris a fair amount of the time. Definitely a design mark to consider. How “tough” does a gravel guard need to be?

Finally, the plastic foot stockings are made from a vacuum-formed TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), not neoprene like most wader booties, and are intended to provide durability, abrasion-resistance and an ultra-thin profile. A lot of this sounds too good to be true and probably is. I guess the two biggest concerns with the plastic stockings are comfort and breathability. 

From a comfort perspective, they have a full seam that runs from the length of the foot and ankle, which, at first, is fairly annoying, but you quickly get used to it. I also felt my foot sliding inside my wading boots a fair amount and probably missed the boat on the perfect thickness of socks on a few occasions. I was lucky to have a fairly “true” foot sizing for the waders/stockings I tested, but I could see issues with too much material (bunching), or not enough (TPU doesn’t have much give). Patagonia markets the waders with unisex sizing, so it’s important to get the correct foot sizing, if you can.

From the breathability perspective, it’s pretty simple: Plastic stockings don’t breathe or insulate. I’ve worn them in the spring and early summer, and you’ll often find your socks damp from sweat. I definitely wouldn’t wear these on a multi-mile, summer hike (I’d pack them), and I also wouldn’t expect much warmth on cold tailwaters, or late-season, steelhead trips. I guess as long as you understand the limitations of the plastic stocking design, you can work around the challenges.    

End of the day, the Swiftcurrent Ultralights are a well-designed and functional solution for hiking and traveling anglers. A few design miscues here and there certainly can be overlooked and eventually upgraded as the vision for these waders evolves.