Wader woes

[negooseman]

I've never had any luck with breathable waders and I hate that there is no forgiveness like the stretch of neoprene. Really i don't feel it's possible to make a pair of leakproof waders if you hunt hard. If all you do is walk from the truck down a flooded mud bank or field to the blind then I guess your very less likely to cause a leak but if your in and out of the boat. Jumping in and out. Kicking off sandbars. Pushing off mud flats. Getting to the spot / kneeling on all sorts of rough surfaces. Etc/etc then your gonna have water intrusion issues. It's gonna find a way in period.... Soooo when i get new waders out of the box I immediately aquaseal/ seal with any neoprene goo the stitches. Inside and outside seams on all my waders. Even if they are stitched and glued already. And as the season progresses I am constantly finding and fixing leak spots. After each trip my sweatpants tell me the where if a new spot arrises. . I can't fathom how a person expects they can return waders after they beat the heck out of them after a year and have a few minor leaks. Fix it yourself. Yes it's a pain . Yes it's a few extra dollars in aquaseal but it works. Now if they just fall apart or dryrot after 1 year then you got yourself a defective product but other than that you should fix it. And I also can't put my head around spending over 400;bucks on something I Kno I will puncture very quickly. I buy my 200 dollar pairs and maintain and get the time I think they should last. 3 years. 4 max if you hunt hard alot. That's theirtheir expectancy in my opinion. . If I get 3 years I'm happy.

here’s my usual scenario for wearing waders. Put waders on at truck, walk to the water through grass, enter water to get to where we’re going, setup decoys, and either stay in the water to hunt of sit on dry ground in grass. No getting in/out of boats, going thru brush, dealing with beaver sticks,etc. At home, on a boot dryer and then hung in the garage for the next hunt. They should last, IMO, more than a few outings or a season or two no matter the brand or expense.

 

[OneShotBandit]

If you've been in waders for more than a few years, you know the crotch is the most common place relatively new waders fail. This is especially so with breathables because they don't stretch. Now, some of these failures are defects, and some are from stress from climbing in boats and similar movements, but I firmly believe the majority are from guys not being careful while putting them on and taking them off. Once I started taking a few extra seconds of care, I had far fewer leak problems.

^^^^^This! I had a pair of Macks 1600 (can't remember the "model name"), but they started to leak in the crotch after 3 years. I noticed one day that I was putting my freed foot in the crotch and pulling the other boot off. Ya think that might have been the "problem?" Well now we carry one of the boot accessory that hooks on the boot and lets you pull the boot off! Time will tell........

 

[dubob]

Since the Utah season runs October to January (107 days) and I’m retired, I get to hunt a lot and in all conditions. In the past I have always worn breathables early and neoprene after ice up. I’ve used Cabela’s products for at least the last 30 years. Since the advent of breathables with removable, insulated liners a few years ago, I’ve decided this year to give them a try.

I did some research and decided that the Rogers Sporting Goods product would be the one to try. I bought the Elite Huskey Breathable 2.0, size 11 boot. The Elite has the 1600 gram boots and a 120 gram liner. The regular has a 1200 gram boot and a 120 gram liner. Single digit hunting calls for the heavier version for me.

The Rogers wader is made by Frogg Toggs and is exactly the same basic wader. The Rogers version has a couple extra features not produced on the Frogg Togg version. The Frogg Togg sells for $350 in the heavy version; the Rogers goes for $300. Rogers ships free; Frogg Togg does not. The liner on both uses color coded zippers for easy, error free insertion. I’ve used the new waders 6 times so far and haven’t discovered any downside to them yet. I won’t need the liner until probably sometime in November as the water temps are still in the high 40s/low 50s and air is mid 40s to low 60s.

I wear an 11 shoe and the boot fit is excellent; heavy socks do not cramp my feet and they haven’t pulled off in 18” of muck that is very common in our marshes. Time will tell on longevity of the uppers. My Cabelas breathables have always lasted at least 5 years or more.

I’m going to let all y’all in on a secret to why my breathables have lasted at least 5 years and it will apply to any brand out there. I have never owned any wager that didn’t start leaking somewhere with the first 3 years. Some started before the end of the first season. But there is a product out there that you see advertised almost daily on your TV that will instantly seal any and all leaks; seams, puncture holes, three-corner tears, etc. The product is FLEXSEAL. Use the spray on all seam leaks. The seam will never leak again where it was sprayed. I use the clear version and spry both the inside and the outside of the seam. For puncture holes or tears, I use the tape. I’ve found it works better if you put it on the inside of the wader because if on the outside, it can catch on things and the corners of the tape start to peel back over time. This doesn’t happen with the tape inside the wader.

The FLEXSEAL products will work on every wader material available. There is no easier way to seal a leak in a pare of waders, and probably not a better way to do it either. Happy, DRY hunting to all y’all.

 

[spaightlabs]

Comic sans....please stop.

 

[KAHunter]

Are some of Cabelas products being discontinued?? Been hunting in Ultimate hunting waders for years and love them. Ride high and are warm and I like the velcro straps. They have had limited sizes (large boot size) and now have been sold out for a few weeks. I hope they keep selling them as they are a great set of waders.
Any suggestions of a similar type of wader? I will need a new pair this year. I like the velcro strap instead of clips

 

[widgeon]

Since the Utah season runs October to January (107 days) and I’m retired, I get to hunt a lot and in all conditions. In the past I have always worn breathables early and neoprene after ice up. I’ve used Cabela’s products for at least the last 30 years. Since the advent of breathables with removable, insulated liners a few years ago, I’ve decided this year to give them a try.

I did some research and decided that the Rogers Sporting Goods product would be the one to try. I bought the Elite Huskey Breathable 2.0, size 11 boot. The Elite has the 1600 gram boots and a 120 gram liner. The regular has a 1200 gram boot and a 120 gram liner. Single digit hunting calls for the heavier version for me.

The Rogers wader is made by Frogg Toggs and is exactly the same basic wader. The Rogers version has a couple extra features not produced on the Frogg Togg version. The Frogg Togg sells for $350 in the heavy version; the Rogers goes for $300. Rogers ships free; Frogg Togg does not. The liner on both uses color coded zippers for easy, error free insertion. I’ve used the new waders 6 times so far and haven’t discovered any downside to them yet. I won’t need the liner until probably sometime in November as the water temps are still in the high 40s/low 50s and air is mid 40s to low 60s.

I wear an 11 shoe and the boot fit is excellent; heavy socks do not cramp my feet and they haven’t pulled off in 18” of muck that is very common in our marshes. Time will tell on longevity of the uppers. My Cabelas breathables have always lasted at least 5 years or more.

I’m going to let all y’all in on a secret to why my breathables have lasted at least 5 years and it will apply to any brand out there. I have never owned any wager that didn’t start leaking somewhere with the first 3 years. Some started before the end of the first season. But there is a product out there that you see advertised almost daily on your TV that will instantly seal any and all leaks; seams, puncture holes, three-corner tears, etc. The product is FLEXSEAL. Use the spray on all seam leaks. The seam will never leak again where it was sprayed. I use the clear version and spry both the inside and the outside of the seam. For puncture holes or tears, I use the tape. I’ve found it works better if you put it on the inside of the wader because if on the outside, it can catch on things and the corners of the tape start to peel back over time. This doesn’t happen with the tape inside the wader.

The FLEXSEAL products will work on every wader material available. There is no easier way to seal a leak in a pare of waders, and probably not a better way to do it either. Happy, DRY hunting to all y’all.

I knew it!

 

[CookMan]

This site needs more info on waders.

 

[bwelty]

Try some Gator Waders breathable. Used one year and really like them.

 

[BigSkyDuk]

This site needs more info on waders.

I know, lots of threads on waders around here. I started this one to 1) b!tch about my one season leakers and warn others and 2) see if there were some brands out there I hadn’t heard of, which there are (USIA is interesting for the zipper front... they might leak, but so can I!).

 

[RTIC]

Not a MFG defect but one due to my own carelessness. While building the blind i stuck a recipricating saw blade in the side of the boot. I took them to a tire shop and had a hot patch put on it. Year 5 or 6 and still going great. I would say I only use the waders though about 2 dozen times in a year though.