Waders on a budget

[Arrowflinger]

In the market for some new waders and can't justify spending 500$ on Simms with a kid in college.Have it narrowed down to reddington sonic pro's , Hodgeman aesis sonics , and orvis silver Sonics. Any opinions on these brands or any others I should check out can you please let me know May also check the Dryft s14 thanks.

 

[Canoetripper]

I'm pleased with what I have from L.L. Bean.

 

[jifigz]

L.L Bean Flyweights are waders that I've been happy with for only $100. I've had 2 pairs over the years.

 

[hooker-of-men]

You might poke around Cabela’s various sale/clearance/bargain cave pages. Back in December, I got a pair of their $200 Guide Tech waders for $70. I think they had some oddball stout sizes marked way down. Good reason to grow the beer gut, if you don’t have one already.

I will mention, though, that I haven’t put them through much yet to really speak to the quality.

 

[Brown71]

I second the thought on cabelas. You can usually find something reasonable there for 250 or under.

 

[deaddriftx]

Go to Walmart and get yourself some rubber boots for 40 dollars.

 

[raftman]

Just bought a pair of Redington Pro's for 200 on sale... I think they are regularly twice that.

 

[Mike]

Work and fishing have allowed me to use many brands of boot foot waders over a period of 40+ years. The cheap, rubber ones found at various outlets can generally take about two seasons of use, but the second season may involve fighting some leaks in the crotch that develop from doing a lot of walking, particularly if you are tall like me and the leg portions of the waders are cut a little short. In later years, some lighter, much more expensive ones lasted maybe a year longer or two, but I always thought it better to use the cheaper ones and have a perfectly dry pair every two years. When Cabela's arrived I started using their boot foot waders and they have lasted for years. Two problems have been the amount of condensation that builds up, although that may be because of how much walking I do, and finding the pin holes caused by multi flora rose is difficult. They are very easy to patch, however. Just use the various goop products directly on the upper portions of the boot. At work we often wade and walk 1.5 - 2 miles in a day and I wear them whenever we are working in boats pulling nets and electrofishing, so in total we test their durability more than we would when fishing.

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote:
Work and fishing have allowed me to use many brands of boot foot waders over a period of 40+ years. The cheap, rubber ones found at various outlets can generally take about two seasons of use, but the second season may involve fighting some leaks in the crotch that develop from doing a lot of walking, particularly if you are tall like me and the leg portions of the waders are cut a little short. In later years, some lighter, much more expensive ones lasted maybe a year longer or two, but I always thought it better to use the cheaper ones and have a perfectly dry pair every two years. When Cabela's arrived I started using their boot foot waders and they have lasted for years. Two problems have been the amount of condensation that builds up, although that may be because of how much walking I do, and finding the pin holes caused by multi flora rose is difficult. They are very easy to patch, however. Just use the various goop products directly on the upper portions of the boot. At work we often wade and walk 1.5 - 2 miles in a day and I wear them whenever we are working in boats pulling nets and electrofishing, so in total we test their durability more than we would when fishing.

Hey Mike,

Pin holes are rather easy to find and seal on breathable waders. The video below shows you how. HTH.

 

[RLeep2]

Isn't that the Gore-Tex repair video? I'm not sure that works for the regular waders owned by many of us out here in the pheasantry..

For regular waders, I've always used either the soapy water/paint brush/air source method or taking the waders into a pitch dark closet and find the leaks from the inside with a mini-mag and then marking them for repair once I get back out in the light. Both methods are a little time consuming, but have always worked well for me..

 

[Mike]

Thanks, I'll try that. The waders are not breathable, however, so the holes may not show up, but it is worth a try. Some of my crew do have breathable, stocking foot waders however, and I'll pass your info along to them as well.

 

[afishinado]

RLeep2 wrote:
Isn't that the Gore-Tex repair video? I'm not sure that works for the regular waders owned by many of us out here in the pheasantry..

For regular waders, I've always used either the soapy water/paint brush/air source method or taking the waders into a pitch dark closet and find the leaks from the inside with a mini-mag and then marking them for repair once I get back out in the light. Both methods are a little time consuming, but have always worked well for me..

"Gore-Tex" is a brand name for waterproof breathable fabrics that are layered and use a membrane. WL Gore invented / patented the material and was the first one to bring it to market so all such fabrics are called "Gortex" by many. Not unlike the use of the word bandaid or kleenex....

I've been using waterproof, breathable waders for about 25 years now, I would guess. I couldn't even imagine considering buying waders or even a raincoat that's not breathable. I fish in all kinds of weather and find breathable fabrics warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Breathable waders are really modestly priced today. Check this out:

Cabela's Breathable Waders for around $100

 

[Maurice]

no better way to find a leak than to throw the crotch over a step ladder, fill the legs with water and look for the water droplets coming out on the outside. Might even work on Mikes Redballs, waders that is.... Circle the holes with your kids driveway chalk, it comes in various colors, I like the pink. Turn em inside out, let em dry and then pinch the mark, use your aquaseal on the inside.

If its on a seam, I got nuthin...them seam leaks are buggers.

My simms freestones are leaking down the front of both legs recently. where a seam is. Ratz'en fratz'en, I hope I don;t gotta buy new ones for this season. So I guess its off to the garden hose for me this afternoon, now where did I put that step ladder?

 

[djs12354]

Personal preference is the LL Bean selection. If you are just looking for a "tide me over" pair, I saw something at Ollie's for $39.

 

[jifigz]

For fixing any nylon/polyester type of wader the best option in my opinion is thoroughly cleaning the area with isopropyl alcohol and then applying Tear-Aid. Once that patch is in place I may apply Aquaseal over that. Tear-Aid is great stuff. in fact I think Bean usually ships some Tear-Aid with their waders. It definitely came with my current pair of Emerger II's I'm using. I love those waders.

 

[nymphingmaniac]

maurice,
Unless the leak is way up the seam, the leak can be at the seal between the booties and the gore-tex. It can be deceiving because I think the water "wicks up" through the seem between the tape and comes up above the leak area. It can be misleading (sort of the way a wet spot on the inside of the house might not be exactly under where the roof leak is). That's what happened to me. I sent them back and they replaced the booties. It cost 60-70.00 (well at least a few years back). Replacing the booties got me though another 4 years before other parts of the wader got worn out.

Simms warns against filling them above the knee. It stresses the connection between the booties and material

 

[greenghost]

To the original post: I've had a pair of FroggToggs breathable Anuras for about 3 years of medium use (100 days a year). No issues and they fit nicely. I think I paid around $150 for them a few years ago.