As we watched the introduction of the Simms Solarflex Armor shirt/hoody or whatever you want to call it, one very specific memory was pushed to the front of my brain. It was from a summer day in Everglades National Park. I don’t quite remember all the details of the day, just the afternoon. If there was any wind that morning it completely died at this point. Air temperature was probably low to mid 90s but it felt like over 100. A redfish tail broke the glassy, hazy water and waved like a flag about 250 feet outside of us. I poled while my buddy on the bow clutched his knees. We got in range and proceeded to blow the shot. We were both drained from the heat. It’s amazing how much of a factor the sun can be on your performance. It’s actually the driving force in the evolution of fishing apparel – fabrics are getting lighter, breathing better, and integrating higher UPF protection all to keep you focused in the heat.

When you close your eyes and recall times when permit were floating, bonefish were grinding, or tarpon were playfully throwing themselves around, chances are you also remember how uncomfortably hot and muggy it was that day. These fish are programmed to love those conditions, we as humans aren’t. Simms has engineered this sunshirt to make sure your new memories of insane eats and blistering runs don’t include side notes of near heat exhaustion. Going back to the evolution of fishing apparel, the Solarflex Armor‘s Coolcore fabric technology takes the cake as the biggest advancement in the last few years. What Coolcore does is takes sweat or water and uses evaporative tech (the same that we’ve seen pro athletes using) to cool the surface temperature of the hot spots on your body up to 30%. In addition to effectively cooling you down, the Solarflex Armor’s integrated neckgaiter/hoody system, sunglass cleaning pad, and technical cuffs make it the most feature-rich sun protection piece to date.