neoprene booties on waders

when looking at wader sizes in catalogs and online sites, theres only 3 sizes of neoprene booties to choose from. 7-9, 8-10 and 9-11.

i currently own a pair of orvis silver label neoprene foot waders, size xl short, 32-34 inseam and a 9-11 bootie. i am a short (26" inseam), portly (nevermind the weight), small footed 5'-5" person.

my ideal size would be xl short, 28" inseam and 7-9 bootie. HA!

i emailed patagonia regarding changing out 1 boot size for another and they replied they would be happy to do it for me. i could have them in 4-6 weeks. thats no big deal for me, just get them right!

i have a 7 1/2 foot size, so my question would be: which size is right for my foot?? i usually wear a pair of smart wool socks while wading in the cooler months but by the time summer rolls along, i usually go barefooted inside the bootie.

obviously the 9-11 is out. even with a pair of socks, i still have to get all of the excess bootie inside a wading boot. so its leaves the 7-9 or the 8-10 bootie size. with the 7-9 i could wear a thin pair of socks under the smart wool socks and still get my foot into my boot or the 8-10 and wear 2 pairs of smart wool socks with alot less excess bootie to stuff into my boots.

what would you buy??

what do you other short people do??

Can't answer your questions directly, but I have heard that Simms will build you a custom pair of waders for the same price as an off-the-shelf pair. Don't know what 'custom' entails, but I think they'll work from measurements. I bet if you sent a copy of your post to Simms, they'd be happy to make knowledgable recommendations.

if you are taking the time to have them custom made why not call patagonia back and see if they will send you a bootie of each size to try on to be sure. or do you have a patagonia dealer nearby, if so go try them on in the store before ordering.

I'd go with the smaller bootie size.

I have small feet, but I usually take a tall in waders becuase I do a lot of kneeling and crawling and like the extra room in my legs. I got a pair of refurbished orvis waders in med tall but they have LARGE booties. I wear a 7.5 -9 depending on shoe make. I have to stuff and jump to get my wading boots on.

Anyway, for winter wading I like to have a liner sock and wool or fleece sock with a good fitting bootie and boot. 2 wool socks is overkill for me. I will wear this set up in water from 33 (sometimes with a toe warmer) to about 50 degrees. After that I will only wear a liner or light weight sock and anything over 65 I am usually wet wading. If you are worried about being cold in the winter I would get a different pair of waders for cold weather that had a larger bootie for more socks. You have different Rods and Reels for differet conditions, you can have different waders, too.

From an entirely different perspective... We have wader issues here up the... the... whatever! I am 6'4", 240, 11 1/2 shoes or so. My wife is 5' or a little less and tiny, with tiny feet. My son is 6'1", 140, 13 shoes... I am the only one that can fit "standard" waders!

Simms gives me a geat discount, and they build custom boots ($50 extra). And for my wife that makes sense as she will get some years out of them. But my son is projected to reach 6'9" by the docs. Cannot see him staying in a good set of boots that long.

Then we look at what we have for water temp and the need for a warm boot is obvious... But on a hot day when very little is under water... We need a thin boot also... Really, at least three boots are needed.

BTW, tying a feedbag on my son is an awe-inspiring thing! Skinny little dude can eat a big meal and toss an entire pie in on top. Then look around for desert! Eating and sleeping!
art

I'm in a similar situation. In a dress shoe I wear one size in a tennis shoe I wear something a little larger and my work boots something else. While I was unsuccessful finding a sizing chart from Dan Bailey, I remember their medium large was a size that I could relate too. I thought the boot wasn't that big and it had extra girth for this short fat guy. Might want to contact them as well and the possibility of getting something off of the shelf that can be returned easily if it doesn't fit right. Then grab the waders and go try on boots. Don't, repeat DON'T get them too tight.

Rick

Definitely go with the 7-9 size, if those are your options. Neoprene booties have a LOT of stretch in them, but what you are looking for is something that wont bind up in the boots. I have a pair of 12-13 neoprene booties on my Simms waders (I am going to get them changed out, but am oddly lazy) and they bind up at the heel, sometimes with lots of pain in the tendon. So if necessary, always go with a smaller size that still fits comfortably. I dont know much about the Simms custom waders, but I do know that they will be more than willing to set you up with whatever will make you happiest. And their repair/warranty programs are pretty darn awesome.

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Originally Posted by nb_ken

Can't answer your questions directly, but I have heard that Simms will build you a custom pair of waders for the same price as an off-the-shelf pair. Don't know what 'custom' entails, but I think they'll work from measurements. I bet if you sent a copy of your post to Simms, they'd be happy to make knowledgable recommendations.

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i just received an email from simms and the price to change out the booties from 1 size to another is $50. that is also specified on the web site.

custom waders are another thing and i dont know where you heard that custom waders are the same price as catalog waders but i can assure you the price quoted in the email i received from simms was $799.95 and an 8 month wait. thats for a shorter inseam and smaller booties.