Tailwaters XT

[ian_brown]

Orvis' quality control has really gone down the tubes lately. I bought a pair of their tailwaters XT earlier this year. With less than 20 trips on them, they began leaking in both legs. The weren't punctured; the inseams wore through where my knees rub. I paid $200 for them, and for that much I expect better.

I'm going to try fixing them myself because I don't want the hassle of going to a shop or being without waders for the next few weeks.

After I bought them, I found that their "100% Satisfaction Guarantee" doesn't apply to waders. Here's their wader guarantee: "If your fly fishing waders fail due to a manufacturing or materials defect, Orvis will repair or replace the waders at our discretion, free of charge. This guarantee does not cover abuse, improper care, accidents, or the normal breakdown of materials over time. All defective or damaged fishing waders should be returned to Orvis for evaluation, or call Orvis direct at 800-548-9548, or use the convenient wader repair request form. Fishing waders not covered by the guarantee, but repairable, can be repaired for a $30 fee."

 

[dryflyguy]

I returned a pair of Orvis pro guide waders last year, and they replaced them without charging me the $30.
However, the new pair have started leaking already around the crotch. They have redesigned them now - maybe the new ones are better

 

[afishinado]

Dryflyguy - "Ditto" But when I recieved a new pair of Proguides free of charge, they also started leaking at the seams. Orvis ended up giving me a full refund rather than a third pair of waders, so I ended up fishing 3 seasons for free. BTW, I took my refund money and bought a pair of Simms.

 

[wetnet]

The proguides (P3's) were redesigned for this year and my son has a pair and so far, so good. I'll keep you posted. Most companies have changed where the seams go because of seam leak problems. I won't buy any pair unless they are the new design.

 

[chstrcntyfish]

I have the cheaper orvis waders, the clearwater endura's. I must be lucky because mine haven't leaked so far. I have had them since winter.

 

[Padraic]

ian_brown wrote:
Orvis' quality control has really gone down the tubes lately. I bought a pair of their tailwaters XT earlier this year. With less than 20 trips on them, they began leaking in both legs. The weren't punctured; the inseams wore through where my knees rub.

Your knees "rub"?? I would expect that the knees would tighten when you kneel, but why are they rubbing? You may have a fit issue. And it does matter who made it, pulling out seems because you have the wrong size will kill any wader. If you can replace the waders, try looking into different sizes (short, tall... whatever suits you).

 

[wetnet]

Today I just tried on some of the new Pro Guides. They fit so much better than my others. No seams between the legs. I can bend in them without them binding up like my old ones. They are also amazing lighter than they look.

They are not cheap but I may consider washing dishes night to buy a pair. Really nice waders.

 

[dryflyguy]

Affishinado:

Thanks for the info on the waders.
As stated before,the new ones they sent me a year ago are leaking pretty good.
I've been trying to patch them for about a month now, with no luck. I wasn't sure what to do with them, so maybe I'll return them again. I wouldn't mind if they replaced them with the new model.

I bought a pair of simms guide weights 7-8 years ago - they were their top of the line waders then - and cost me $400.
The heels started leaking during the second season of use, and I returned them to simms. They told me that the leaks were caused by extreme wear, and charged me another $75 to repair them - new heels. A year later, the heels strted leaking again, and they wanted more money to fix them again.
Needless to say, I'm not happy with their customer service, which basically seems to be, that their waders are great, and any problems with them are your fault.
Best of luck with yours . If you do have any problems with them though, I'd be curious to know what they do about it

 

[jayL]

Pad,

The knees rub on mine too. It's an issue when you don't have a very wide gait, I guess. The insides of the knees of my jeans will wear over time too.