expected wader life

[deepcreek]

I know this is a very subjective question based on many variables but how long do you expect your waders to last if all you fish are rivers and streams with the normal walks to the river often times on bushy trails. Since a year has a different day count for most how many days do you expect to get out of a set of waders.
I am trying to decide if it's better to buy cheap wader more often or go long with double the price.

[LadyFisher]

That's really tough. I've known and fished with guys who I wouldn't give a one month guarantee. Really. That said, I haven't fished as much as I would have over the past three years because of the torn up shoulder - BUT I have a 2 pair of Bare out of Canada which have preformed wonderfully for over 6 years now. I will fish more this year (Montana) but I don't expect a problem, they've been that good. The breathables sold for $350.00 and that's about half of the 'prime' waders. Maybe you should be looking at a price range about there? The other pair are neos and I'll probably use those more in the fall if we're still in Montana.

[John Rhoades]

I prefer the double the price waders, and believe they are cheaper in the long run if you use them a lot, which I do.

I put more miles on my waders, actual walking and wading miles, than a lot of guys do. Upwards of 5 miles of walking and wading on many days. I've never counted the actual days of use, because I have half a dozen waders that I wear during the course of a year, but I figure I get about 300 days of use out of a pair of Simms before I cut the feet out and continue to wear them when I'm shoveling snow. Sometime during their lifetime I'll probably return them for repair (at my expense, like replacing the feet), and/or do some repair to them on my own (like fixing pin holes or treating them with Revivex). Anyway, I figure the cost comes out to roughly $2 per usage day. When you look at it that way, even the ones that are "double the price" are pretty cheap in the long run.

Incidentally, I have a pair of custom made Bare bootfoot waders that I got 2-3 days of use from before they developed a seam leak in the crotch - I probably should return them for repair, but I've procrastinated doing so due to the cost of shipping them back to Canada.

[dudley]

I have 4 sets of waders and I rotate them for different conditions
The 5 mil neoprenes are 14 years old and the 'fly weights" are old enough so that they were bought before breathables were standard.
I wear my 8 year old Hodgman canvas hipboots when ever possible and find them most comfortable and the best alternative to breathables
My 4 year old breathable bootfoots are worn on the beach in the surf and don't see the stress that's normal on stream and that works out well
Except for the hipboots, I get all my waders from Cabela's and have forever

[oldfrat]

I'd love to see a truly scientific study of this.

Visiting a few boards on a regular basis leads me to believe the Simms users think they are nearly indestructible I'm a child of the children of the Depression, though, and just can't get over the initial price point for them. They may be the best value in terms of $/day but I can't get over the price point.

Then there are a lot of folks like me who seem to be super happy with our Cabela's. Some of mine have turkeyed ASAP, but Cabala's has been great about replacing them. And every one I have bought has been engineered to wear better than the ones I owned before.

And you will find a lot of posts about other wader brands.

I wish I could bring myself to buy some Simms so I could do a real comparison. I suspect they really do represent great value. I just can't get myself to buy a pair for comparison purposes.

[JohnScott]

.... is what John was talking about - and that is the proper frame of reference for my money.

I wear waders about 100 days a year and probably average over 3 miles of walking / wading per outing. Some bushwacking, but nothing too serious except on rare occasion.

Over the past six years, I have had two pair of Simms.

The first set was their Lightweight ( I believe that was the name ) that cost a little over $200. They are still useable in warmer conditions where some leakage is not a problem. With one refresh / rehab by Simms for $50 and some minimal maintenance at home, and something over 300 days on them, I'm well below John's $2 per outing.

The second set is about three years old. They were middle of the line when I bought them on sale for just over $300. I'm getting close to 300 days with them and they are still in great shape, after my second $50 refresh / rehab job by Simms. At this point the cost is over $1 per outing ....

.... BUT I expect to get a couple more years or about 200 more days, maybe more, out of the two pair combined. That would add up to somewhere over 800 days for around $700 invested. You can do the math.

AND both pair have been very comfortable for just about any kind of wading outing - from wearing them with no insulating undergarments to wearing them with thermal underware plus adequate fleece pants to fish in sub freezing temps.

John

[deon]

my grandpa bought a pair of red ball waders that i still ear to this day. he used them for maybe 200 days but out of the last year between fly fishing and hunting i have used them atleast 200 if not more. i dont know when he bought them but they are a good breathe able wader and my grandpa is from the depression and so he buys decent quality but cheap also.

Deon

[MTSkibum]

I put quite a few days of wear on waders per year.

I have a pair of Orvis Proguides that have 150-200 days on them with. I have patched them 3 times so far, and currently they leak in the left leg if you get above knee deep. 25% of the days on my waders are hunting. These waders are getting close to 5 years old, and have 50 days, 2 repairs, and 2 years left in them as a pair of backup waders.

I also have an 8 month old pair of Dan Bailey's lightweights that have around 40 days on them, with 10 days of those being hunting. They l recently started leaking, but made it over 30 days without developing one. The main issue is that the inside seems rub together, creating excess wear. This is common and easily repaired, the Orvis Proguides had the same issue. These waders were less expensive than the proguides, however i see no reason why i am not going to get another 100 fishing days out of them with proper care.

I have a third pair as well; Hodgeman breathables from walmart. These waders are 3 years old and only have 20 days on them, first leak at 10 days. They are the perfect wader for the fisherman who wears waders less than 10 times per year, they are easy to repair. I would never recommend these waders to a waterfowl hunter.


I expect a good pair of waders to last 20-50 days between repairs, and a cheap pair from 5-20 days.

The most important factor for me in future waders is going to be the fit of the booties, the least important factor is going to be the manufacturer.

[herefishy]

I think if you don't mind aqua seal, get the cheapest that have any reputation at all. I have had Dan Bailey, Redington, Orvis, and lightweight Simms and they all got pinholes. I think what I am going to do is get one pair thoroughly patched and save them for cold weather, and just live with the minor leakage on the others - being damp in summer is no problem for me.

[David L]

I have Simms G3s that are in there 8th year of use with no problems of any kind. The first 7 years they were fished real hard. Last year was there sabbatical now it is back to work for them. Just make sure the stocking foot fits your foot and your wading boots fit your foot with the waders on.