Ultralight waders have been around for at least a couple of decades, likely more. The designers of these types of waders are faced with a difficult challenge: build a wader that is lightweight, packable, and comfortable but also one that stands up to the elements and the abuse that anglers inevitably deliver. Over the years, ultralight waders have always come with compromises. But as design and technology improves, each iteration seems to offer less and less to grin and bear — performing nearly as well as “normal” waders.

Salvation is a vexing thing. Some people seem to find it in the familiar comfort of the shared liturgical experience, immersing themselves in those codified rituals and behaviors that promise it. Other people seem to find it where no one else is looking, in things no one else sees; private little salvations known only to them. Still other people—the majority of them, really—search all their lives for it, but don’t know where to look for it, or how to recognize it when they find it. So they drift, seeking balm for a despair they feel deeply, but cannot quite define.