Wading shoe sizing?

[jreichel]

I currently own a pair of Orvis Ultra Lite wading shoes. They work fine for warm weather fishing with a pair of liner socks, but when the weather turns cold and I want to ware thicker socks they are just to tight and I loose the benefit of the thicker socks. My question is, should I have two different size boots or did I just get the wrong size when I ordered my boots? When I ordered these I ordered according to my shoe size "12". Should I have gotten size 13 instead? I'm looking to get another boot and don't want to end up with cold cramped feet! Should I take my waders and socks to a store and try them on first? Thanks in advance for any and all input on this!

Jeff

 

[tomgamber]

My personal opinion is that all shoe sizes are smaller then they were a few years ago. Either that at 43 my feet have grown one full size each of the last two years. I would never buy boots online. I have and they were too small. Buy them for winter, just like you would hiking boot to accommodate thick socks. My waders have neoprene booties so I really don;t notice a big difference when I'm not wearing extra thick socks in warmer months.

 

[Raven456]

I had the same problem with Orvis Ultralight boots. They seem to run pretty small in relation to normal shoe measurements. I replaced them with Orvis Henry's Fork II boots after they wore out and these are sized according to your normal size shoe. I have enough room for heavier socks but I'm not swimming in them when the temps are higher.

 

[dryflyguy]

jreichel:

That is a good question.
For regular shoes, I wear size 10, 10 and a half, and 11 - depending on style and brand.
I'm usually fine with size 11 wading boots - they give me just a little extra room to wear a thick sock in cold weather, but sometimes they don't. And a size 12 boot will usually always be too big, and flop around on my feet.
I've often wished that they came in half sizes
As Tom mentioned , boots are the one thing I don't like to buy online, or from a catalog. It's best to take your waders to a store, and actually try them on first
I've also noticed that wading boots shrink after a year or 2 of use, making it impossible to wear a thick sock then

 

[RLeeP]

My experience has been that if you don't do a lot of jumping around from brand to brand, you can safely buy wading shoes online.

I know for instance that I take an 11 in the Borger shoe and always have and the same goes for the lower end Simms Freestone shoe. But I take a 10 in the Orvis Clearwater shoe and the low-end Chota.

I did get stung last year though on the Orvis studded rubber shoe, whatever it's called. I bought a 10, figuring the sizing would be the same as the Clearwater. They were pretty small. But that shoe has far greater problems than the sizing issue. They're flat out junk as far as I'm concerned. Built to disintegrate in the first 50 hours of stream wear..

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear jreichel,

I always buy one size larger than my street shoe when I buy wading boots.

You can always fill up empty space, but you cannot make room where none exists.

If you are really concerned with keeping warmer in the winter you might want to consider a pair of boot foot waders? They are much warmer than stocking foot/wading boot combos in really cold water and weather.

Regards,
Tim Murphy

 

[jreichel]

Thanks for all the info! Guess I will have to make a trip to Erie and see what I can find at ****'s or Gander Mountain.

Thanks again.
Jeff