Simms Headwaters Sling Pack Review

When You Want A Sling Pack

If you’re fishing for bonefish or steelhead or salmon, you don’t need to bring 42 different gizmos out on the water.

You need a fly box, a few spools of tippet, your pliers and maybe just a few other gadgets. You’re also going to spend most of your time fishing, not futzing around with your setup – so you’re not going to be in and out of your pack all that often.

These are the situations where we think a sling pack works great. Sling packs have a strap that goes over one shoulder, and they often have a waist belt as well. When you’re fishing, you pull the pack behind your hips. When you need to play with your gear, you just pull it around to the front.

Why We Like The Simms Sling Pack

We’ve spent some time with the Simms Headwaters Sling Pack, and we like it a lot. It provides a couple of exterior flap pockets (maybe for your waterproof point-and-shoot camera and a spool of Maxima Ultragreen), a zippered exterior pocket (where we like to put our pliers) and a big zippered interior pocket with some easy-access side pouches (maybe for a fly box, more spools of leader material and whichever few gadgets suit your fancy). When you need access to your gear, you can pull it around to the front and open the main zipper, and you’ve got a clear view of your stuff with no risk of anything falling into the water.

This pack is not waterproof. It doesn’t have room for 5 different fly boxes. It’s got no fly patch, no magnets, no built-in retractors and no room for your ‘hydration bladder’. It’s light, simple and comfortable and it costs $59.95.

If you’ve got some time on the water in your future that doesn’t involve any techo-fishing, we think you should give the Simms Headwaters Sling Pack a try.

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