New waders

[pcray1231]

For me, one of the major advantages of Simms gore tex waders is the ability to find pinholes by spraying rubbing alcohol. I get multiple pinhole leaks every year in all waders. With my G-3's it's a wintertime ritual, wash, turn inside out, spray rubbing alcohol, find all the pinhole leaks, rub a little Aquaseal in it, and good to go.

That trick makes it soooo much easier to find them and you can extend the life of the waders years and years with that, until it's more aquaseal inside than wader material, lol. These are not massive leaks that you can find with soapy water and a shop vac. They are the type that if you have multiple leaks in an area, that area will get a little damp after hours of wading...

I am not saying Simms is the only brand you can do that with. But I know it has not worked on some other brands. To he point I almost consider it a basic requirement for me to buy waders anymore, to find out if that trick works, and if not, not buy em. To my best understanding, it works on Gore-Tex branded material but not a lot of the others. It's about he backing material (inside).

 

[bigjohn358]

For me, one of the major advantages of Simms gore tex waders is the ability to find pinholes by spraying rubbing alcohol. I get multiple pinhole leaks every year in all waders. With my G-3's it's a wintertime ritual, wash, turn inside out, spray rubbing alcohol, find all the pinhole leaks, rub a little Aquaseal in it, and good to go.

That trick makes it soooo much easier to find them and you can extend the life of the waders years and years with that, until it's more aquaseal inside than wader material, lol. These are not massive leaks that you can find with soapy water and a shop vac. They are the type that if you have multiple leaks in an area, that area will get a little damp after hours of wading...

I am not saying Simms is the only brand you can do that with. But I know it has not worked on some other brands. To he point I almost consider it a basic requirement for me to buy waders anymore, to find out if that trick works, and if not, not buy em. To my best understanding, it works on Gore-Tex branded material but not a lot of the others. It's about he backing material (inside).

I'll have to try that trick...I know I have some small holes in mine! How does the rubbing alcohol make the holes show up?

 

[pcray1231]

I'll have to try that trick...I know I have some small holes in mine! How does the rubbing alcohol make the holes show up?

Turn waders inside out. Fill spray bottle with rubbing alcohol. Spray on mist all over. Within a few seconds any pinholes darken up, so you get a light background with dark circles.

Get aquaseal, put just a touch on fingertip, rub into dark spots.

Wait till it dries, do it again, till no more dark circles.

 

[falcon]

It my understanding that 85% alcohol or better is preferred. Is this true?

 

[dryflyguy]

It my understanding that 85% alcohol or better is preferred. Is this true?

I've used the 50% and it seemed to work OK

While this method works good on the goretex panels, it doesn't always show seam leaks in my experience.
Nor the neoprene booties too

 

[pcray1231]

I've used the 50% and it seemed to work OK

While this method works good on the goretex panels, it doesn't always show seam leaks in my experience.
Nor the neoprene booties too

I've never had a bootie leak on any waders, from Hodgeman to Cabelas to Orvis to Simms. But true.

It does work on seams to a degree. Although in my experience seam leaks are much more severe, i.e. you know it without the alcohol, lol. And much harder to fix, it very well may be the end of those waders. You get a line of wet on your pants and you know what's up. The quality of the seams is a large part of what separates good quality waders from bad.

I used to buy cheap waders and they'd eventually fail at the seams. My last pair of G3's was my first, they lasted much longer, and the seams held up, it was just pinholes. After like 9 years I had several hundred repaired pinholes and there was more aquaseal covered goretex than not, so it wasn't all that breathable anymore, and the number of pinholes was increasing every year. I bought a new pair of G3's and my old ones became my brush busters.

 

[Dr.J 1952]

A couple other tricks to find holes in waders are these: In a darkened room, stick a flashlight inside the waders and look for the holes. A more involved way is to fill the waders with water and then look for the leaks. This works well on neoprene booties. The leaks in the booties were my fault. I've used Aquaseal for years and it works. I've had waders that leaked at the seams, and they are hard if not impossible to fix. I had the company replace or refund my money.

 

[dryflyguy]

The flashlight method is the easiest, and the first thing I try.
It usually shows punctures and tears, but not pinholes.

Then I use the alcohol method 2nd.
If that still doesn't show the leak, then I go to water filling.

Fixing seam leaks is dicey. But I have done it. Depends how bad it is...
I've found that sealing with aqua seal on both sides, increases the chances of success

 

[krayfish2]

I've used tear aid on the inside and aqua seal on the outside when trying to stop a seam leak. I have a pair of old Simms L2 Gore-Tex from the early 2000's. Retired them in 2008 or 2009. They have at least 1 full tube of aqua seal on the outside and 6' of tear aid on the inside. My nephew still uses them so they aren't leaking too badly.

 

[caddisflyer]

I went to a flyfishing event last summer and there was a guy there from Patagonia repairing waders for free. any brand wader he was fixing. He had a big tub of water and something like a shop vac blowing air. He would blow up waders and then submerge to find leaks. I really regretted not having my several pairs of leaking waders along. But I could easily do what he was doing.

 

[joebamboo]

If using the water filled method, remember to turn the waders inside out first! Just sayin!

 

[krayfish2]

If using the water filled method, remember to turn the waders inside out first! Just sayin!

And don't hang them from the shower curtain rod 😳🤣🤣

 

[dryflyguy]

And don't hang them from the shower curtain rod 😳🤣🤣

According to the wader repair video on Simms web site, you're not supposed to water fill waders higher than the knee. I'm guessing that means while holding or hanging them.
Higher puts too much stress on them.

For leaks above the knee, I've been laying them on a steep bank on my yard and filling them up to where I need to.
The water weight is distributed evenly on the ground.
And haven't had any issues with tearing seams.

 

[dryflyguy]

I went to a flyfishing event last summer and there was a guy there from Patagonia repairing waders for free. any brand wader he was fixing. He had a big tub of water and something like a shop vac blowing air. He would blow up waders and then submerge to find leaks. I really regretted not having my several pairs of leaking waders along. But I could easily do what he was doing.

I've done the shop vac thing before.
But instead of submerging them in a water tank, I've dabbed soapy water on the area where I suspect the leak.
It worked - but is rather hard to do alone.
Pretty much need both hands to seal the waders around the vacuum hose, and blow them up tight
I had my wife dab with soap solution.

 

[Mashbill]

What great help and information from this group .... its why i love coming here and reading all the posts.

Heres one for you that you may not have heard of .... Dryft Waders. dryftfishing.com.

I was looking for a pair of wading pants ... for small stream fishing and warmer spring season fishing here in North Carolinas western mountain streams and Pa.

... i got tired of hip boots, cant find any anymore ... and most are a disappointment.
... im hard to fit . im 6'3" ... with a size 15 shoe size
... for my Simms G3 full waders ... i have to go custom ... which is expensive

So i was looking for reasonably priced wading pants ... and stumbled on Dryft. Never heard of them before. seem to be from west coast. i think these guys design the waders here ... then manufacture them overseas. they had a wading pant with a bootie size that would fit me .... so i pulled the trigger last winter.

I was (and am ) very pleased with the product. they are very well made, great copnstruction, integrated gravel guards, waterproof zipper, integrated hip belt, etc,etc. in may ... i fished them hard from Big Spring, to Big Fishing Creek, to Kettle Creek and Upper KC watershed, to the Beaverkill and Willowemoc. busted some brush with them, fell down a hell of alot of times, hiked alot of miles on Penns, the Davidson River in Brevard ... and alot of mountain streams.

Very comfortable, no leaks ... and so comfortable and easy to get around in. if you've been thinking about a pair of wading pants ... these might suit you well!

Enjoy and stay safe!

 

[caddisflyer]

I've done the shop vac thing before.
But instead of submerging them in a water tank, I've dabbed soapy water on the area where I suspect the leak.
It worked - but is rather hard to do alone.
Pretty much need both hands to seal the waders around the vacuum hose, and blow them up tight
I had my wife dab with soap solution.

Yes. As I recall the guy from Patagonia had some type of band that sealed the waders around the end of the tube blowing air. This way he had both hands free. I believe he did have soap involved too as there were definitely bubbles.

 

[nymphingmaniac]

I'll have to try that trick...I know I have some small holes in mine! How does the rubbing alcohol make the holes show up?

Water is repelled by the non-polar (more appropriately, hydrophobic) PTFE membrane and excludes the very polar water molecules. isopropanol is less polar than water and is able to penetrate the holes in the membrane better and faster than water. Water can be excluded from the tiny holes too for a period of time depending on the size of the hole- ever notice it takes a little while for the water to penetrate small holes?. The alcohol probably works it way under the membrane better for the same reason.
Someone above asked about percentage of alcohol. The higher the better... or faster acting. You can get 91% in some stores. Over the years I have used 100% (I have access) down to 70%. The holes show up faster and I think the smaller ones show up better with the high percentage solutions.

 

[bdhoover77]

I have a love hate relationship with waders, I love to fish and every wader I have ever used has let me down inside 2 years(at best). I just got a pair of the Orvis pros as I've had a couple people who I trust tell me they will last....fingers crossed.

What is your opinion on the Orvis Pro waders so far? I am starting to look at replacing my current waders. I have the Simms Freestone waders but they are starting to show their age and wearing out.

 

[ryansheehan]

What is your opinion on the Orvis Pro waders so far? I am starting to look at replacing my current waders. I have the Simms Freestone waders but they are starting to show their age and wearing out.

So far so good, they are very sturdy feeling. I would definitely tell you to try them on first. Wear the clothes you might have on in colder temperatures. When you put them on go through all the physical motions you do while fishing. The first set I tried on felt great but as bent down and high stepped i realized they were a little too small. The next size up was perfect. The waders have very little "give" compared to others. I thought they might stretch some but I'm realizing that probably won't happen.