THE RIDGELINE TRADITION

Originally established in New Zealand in 1994, Ridgeline has been designing outdoor clothing and related gear with a focus on adventure, durability and performance for almost 30 years. The brand quickly achieved a very high level of customer recognition in its Kiwi homeland — especially among hunters and farmers. Later, it expanded successfully into both the Australian and European markets.

Known for their brand staples such as fleece, Ridgeline garments have proven time and time again to easily handle New Zealand’s most demanding and dramatic climatic conditions. Durability is also a key selling point for the brand, with many early Kiwi customers still happily continuing to wear their original Ridgeline fleeces that are now more than 20 years old, but going strong… Ridgeline really has become an integral part of the hunting and rural tradition in New Zealand, and the brand quickly developed a similar status and following here in Australia.

Fishers and boaties have perhaps been a little slower to embrace the Ridgeline heritage than hunters and those working on the land for a crust, but now more and more anglers are also waking up to the effectiveness of this gear on and around the water: both fresh and salt. Practical, hard-wearing designs and a range of muted, low visibility colours (including some great camouflage patterns) make Ridgeline clothing the perfect choice for anyone chasing cautious, sharp-eyed fish in potentially harsh environments. For this reason, you can expect to see a lot more of that distinctive Ridgeline logo with its snow-capped mountain peaks around your local fishing spots in coming seasons, as growing numbers of fishers embrace this iconic outdoor brand.

This jacket, with its comfortable stretch design, is intended to fit reasonably snugly over whatever layers you opt to wear underneath. (I love wearing my Ridgeline fleecy under it in cooler climes.) For best results, you don’t really want air spaces, gaps and pockets between the inside of the jacket and your clothing. That said, be aware that I found the company’s sizing a tad on the small side. I wear an XL or 2XL in many brands, but needed to opt for a 3XL in this particular jacket. Bear that in mind, especially if you’re ordering on-line.

Being a big fan of camouflaged apparel for fishing, I opted for Ridgeline’s “Excape Camo” in the Infinity Jacket. This pattern can best be described as an autumnal “real tree” or “real leaf” style of muted, brownand-tan camouflage. It seems to work well in most settings, very effectively breaking up the wearer’s outline and silhouette — to the point where I sometimes have trouble finding myself in my own GoPro footage when I’m editing YouTube videos! Hopefully, fish will have just as much trouble spotting me.

Speaking of video work, one recurring issue with decent rain jackets that I’ve worn in the past is how incredibly noisy they can be. Moving in them — especially casting — creates a constant rustling and hissing that can be extremely annoying, especially on a video soundtrack. While not exactly silent, the Infinity is much quieter than anything in this category I’ve experienced before. I guess that’s what you’d expect from a company that caters first and foremost to serious hunters. You’re always going to struggle to get within range of that trophy sambar deer if you’re crinkling, rustling and crackling like someone crunching on potato chips in a deathly silent cinema!

The Ridgeline Infinity is also superefficient at cutting wind, and very good at keeping the rain out. Will you eventually get some water inside it if you keep fishing through a sustained, torrential downpour? The answer is yes. I’m yet to find any garment (especially a breathable one) that’s 100 per cent effective in this regard. Tiny trickles eventually make it in through cuffs and collars, despite having the hood up. But I’ve been able to fish longer and with greater comfort — even in horizontal, wind-driven rain — in this jacket than anything comparable I’ve tried in the past. The only thing that matches it is my Simms Challenger Jacket (another awesome piece of kit), and that one’s quite a bit more expensive than the Ridgeline Infinity.

The Infinity jacket sits somewhere in the middle of the price range for technical, high-performance, breathable jackets of this ilk. However, the good news is that with the number of retailers now selling Ridgeline, there are definitely deals to be had, so it pays to shop around. Or keep your eyes on: www.ridgelineclothing.com.au for more information.

Owning and using the right clothing has changed my fishing in recent years, giving me much more time on the water, and extending my “season” at both ends until there’s no part of the year when I can’t or won’t fish — anywhere in the country. That’s a big deal for me, and it should be for you, too. Tight Lines.