Leland on the Patagonia Stealth Hip Pack:

The Patagonia Stealth Hip Pack is a comfortable fly fishing pack for anglers hiking on the Nature Conservancy along the McCloud River who need to bring their entire trout arsenal.

Leland on Specifications:

The Patagonia Stealth Hip Pack is made with a water-resistance nylon for durability. The molded front drop down panel offers a platform to work over as well as a handy fly keeper at your finger tips. The main compartment holds two large fly boxes, tools, spools, leaders, and more in various storage pockets. All exterior zippers are highly water repellant and the much needed water bottle pockets are secured with a keeper. The belt and waist panel is made from air mesh to provide comfort and ventilation for the angler. The buckle is adjustable with an expandable belt.

Specifications:

• Made with 840-denier water-resistant coated ballistics nylon for durability and water repellent
• Molded front drop down front panel with interior fly keeper
• Main zip pocket holds two large fly boxes
• Top drop-in mesh-lined pocket
• Various interior Velcro closed storage pockets for tippet spools, tapered leaders, floatants and shot
• Zippers are highly water repellent
• Two-side nylon/spandex expandable water bottle pockets with security keeper
• Hypalon gear keeper
• 3-mm air mesh back panel and belt provide comfort and ventilation
• Front stealth buckle with expandable belt that’s adjustable

Leland on Patagonia Chest & Tackle Packs:

As one of the first firms in the industry to push the envelope of fishing kit design beyond the Vest Orthodoxy, Patagonia has given sustained attention to the development of their fly fishing chest packs and tackle packs. Now industry veterans, the Patagonia Double Haul and Hip Chest Pack offer those anglers looking to 'divest' a couple proven options for on-water tool and tackle organization. Built of rugged-and-recycled polyester double weave, the unassuming Hip Chest Pack has remained unchanged in concept over the years -- still the quintessential fishing fanny -- but Patagonia has tweaked the small stuff more than a handful of times: for a few years now it's been a two-role fishing pack, to be worn around the neck or around the waist. Stretch mesh outers and a few bells and whistles add some function without muddling the clean lines. The Patagonia Double Haul, built for slightly more ambitious fishing excursions, takes the multi-role fly fishing pack concept and runs with it. This tackle-and-light-daypack allows room for fishing supplies, a Deep Wading Jacket, some water, lunch and a camera when worn in its entirety. But both the chest and back components are fishing kits in their own right, and can be worn one at a time for pre- or post-work cherry picks. Superior performance in hot weather, outstanding range of motion, and outside-the-box thinking characterize Patagonia's stellar line of fly fishing tackle packs.

Leland on Patagonia:

One of the most admired and emulated firms in the outdoor marketplace, Patagonia is also one of the stalwarts in the fly fishing industry. From its humble beginnings as Yvon Chouinard's piton forging business to its ascendancy as one of the major houses in outdoor apparel and equipment, Patagonia has been marked by the same commitment to well-designed, well-made product, the same dedication to corporate social responsibility, and the same finger-on-the-pulse outdoor culture -- for almost forty years now. Chouinard, still the company's head and something of an enlightened monarch, is well known as an alpinist and a surfer, but is also an avid fly fisherman. Atlantics, cutthroats, permit: he knows what he likes for fish as well as for gear, and he maintains a hand in the processes of product design to this day.

Patagonia is a founding partner of '1% for the Planet', a league of environmentally progressive businesses, and the firm demonstrates its engagement with environmental stewardship in other ways as well. To minimize the inevitable ecological costs of manufacturing, Patagonia uses recycled-content fabrics where possible and -- more to the point, perhaps -- makes products that will perform at a high level for years without the need for a replacement.

Patagonia on the Stealth Hip Pack:

A highly versatile hip pack that provides function and performance for the minimalist angler.

Patagonia on Patagonia:

Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. –Patagonia's Mission Statement

Patagonia grew out of a small company that made tools for climbers. Alpinism remains at the heart of a worldwide business that still makes clothes for climbing – as well as for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, paddling and trail running. These are all silent sports. None requires a motor; none delivers the cheers of a crowd. In each sport, reward comes in the form of hard-won grace and moments of connection between us and nature. Our values reflect those of a business started by a band of climbers and surfers, and the minimalist style they promoted. The approach we take towards product design demonstrates a bias for simplicity and utility. For us at Patagonia, a love of wild and beautiful places demands participation in the fight to save them, and to help reverse the steep decline in the overall environmental health of our planet. We donate our time, services and at least 1% of our sales to hundreds of grassroots environmental groups all over the world who work to help reverse the tide. We know that our business activity – from lighting stores to dyeing shirts – creates pollution as a by-product. So we work steadily to reduce those harms. We use recycled polyester in many of our clothes and only organic, rather than pesticide-intensive, cotton. Staying true to our core values during thirty-plus years in business has helped us create a company we're proud to run and work for. And our focus on making the best products possible has brought us success in the marketplace.

Patagonia on the Oceans as Wilderness Campaign:

Fifty million buffalo once roamed the rolling green prairies of North America. Gunners reduced them to near extinction. Now, hunters are at work on the rolling blue prairies of the sea, and already, the big fish – including miracles like thousand-pound, warm-blooded bluefin tuna – are 90 percent gone. What we regret happening on land, may again happen in the sea. Those who care about wildlife should get to know about oceans." – Carl Safina, "Comes a Turtle, Comes the World," Patagonia 2006 Heart of Winter Catalog On land, we saw once what wildness meant. Imagine it: 50 million buffalo. Passenger pigeons that flocked so thick they covered the sun. A Spanish explorer sailing up the coast of California described a beach with scores of grizzly bears feeding on whale carcasses. Now, the vast numbers have dwindled or gone extinct. Only a remnant reminds us of what was, the animals and land we destroyed in our belief that there was a never-ending supply. We protect them with the Endangered Species Act, wilderness areas and hunting and fishing laws – having finally learned that we must. And so now the sea: In Maine, they used to catch lobsters by gaffing them in shallow water by the shore. Cod were so numerous and so easily caught that prisoners complained because they were fed the fish too many times a week. Once, salmon returning from the ocean so crowded rivers and streams that people told stories of walking on their backs. Marlin, swordfish, mako, bluefin, abalone – everywhere in abundance. We need to train ourselves to see what is hidden under the surface of the waters because fish stocks are in collapse and the oceans are in trouble. Many recent studies, including the Pew Oceans Commission (2003), have come to the same conclusions. The big fish, like that thousand-pound tuna, are 90 percent gone. Newfoundland cod, wild abalone, Atlantic halibut and Chilean sea bass are so scarce as to be nearly nonexistent. Breeding swordfish populations have been cut in half; marlin are rare. Pelicans in the Sea of Cortés starve for want of fish to eat. Coral reefs are crumbling, and the ocean floor is plowed up by trawlers. Plastic kills seabirds and is found on the beaches of the world's most remote islands. Surfers, swimmers and lifeguards are vaccinated annually against hepatitis as a matter of course. Tuna and swordfish have so much methylmercury in their bodies, they are hazardous food for pregnant women and children. The causes are many, but chief among them is an ugly trinity: unsustainable fishing practices, habitat destruction and contamination. Patagonia's 2006–07 environmental campaign was devoted to the oceans. Our goal was to help us all see what is under the waters of the earth. How the vast schools of tuna are like those herds of buffalo. How bottom trawling is like clear-cutting an entire forest to get at a single tree. In our catalogs, retail stores and on our Web site, we spent 18 months with marine scientists and writers, surfers and fishermen, to teach ourselves and our customers just how close the connection is between the vitality of human life and the marine environment. Our OAW campaign helped bring about a great success for the oceans: the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing fishing practices in U.S. waters. But our work on this issue is far from over. The fishing holes, beaches and wetlands that we enjoyed as children will not be there for our children unless we acknowledge that the oceans belong to everyone and take seriously our shared responsibility for long-term marine management.