waist high waders

[Mike E]

Thinking about a new pair of waders,always purchased chest highs.But with the coming of age I don't wade as deep so.Will a short rain jacket(made for wading) cover the tops of waist highs?

[Riverdancer]

I think 70% of the short jackets made will cover waist high waders. Do you mean this for looks, or for protection from rain? I think waist high waders are a great idea for most wading.

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Jude
Late to bed,
Early to Rise,
Guide all day,
Tie more flies!
www.customflys.com

[lesyoung]

Mike E - over the decades I have used a lot of waders as well as rain jackets. So the answer to whether or not a shorty jacket covers the tops of waist highs:

Sometimes.

What I do now is get convertible waist/chest waders. I agree that unless the water is slow while deep, it's an awfully good idea for safety's sake to not wade deeper than your hips. There are only a few situations I've gotten into (on moving water) when there's a reason to get that deep. I do have to confess that I've been known to do just that once in a while, eg a couple of my favorite pools on the Delaware and Beaverkill.
But when I do anyway, my vest gets soaked and the bottom tier of pockets with fly boxes get wet, which leads to a timeout to dry things out (I mostly dry fly - if you do a lot of nymphing, I suppose getting the vest and fly boxes soaked could be a plus).

Some of the current generation of breathable chesties have a clever arrangement with the buckles whereby it's a snap to do convert the waders to waist-hi. Chotas do this, and I recall Orvis and Cabela's have models that allow this too. Maybe others do too - it's kinda obvious from a design standpoint, so the feature might be like cup holders and cruise control on cars - they all now mostly have them.

Good luck on your shopping. I've had overall pretty good luck with Orvis (depending on conditions) and excellent experience with Chotas. I ffish a lot in warm/humid conditions too, so the bulletproof rep of the top line Simms hasn't outweighed the comfort factor for me.




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tl
les

[Mike E]

No looks involved here Rdancer,now if i were on the cover of a mag i might lean that way.Just want to make sure when it rains,the water stays out of where its not supposed to be.Seems like im always fishing in the rain,because it always rains in Ohio.Then again the fish don't care.Sounds like waist highs are the ticket.Thanks for the reply.

Mike

[Mike E]

Les-
The trout streams in Ohio are mostly nymphing rivers.I throw soft hackles/wets which keep me in the riffles,but can't seem to stay out of the deep pools,hince the problem.
I fish the AuSable in Mich several times a year,the hatches keep me on top for the better part of the day.The aluminum hatch is all day long,and the fish head for the pools.
Thanks for the info.Since price is always an issue,thats how i'll decide.
See ya.
Mike

[Royal Wulff]

Mike E, RW here

I'm going to get waist-highs this year too and am presently mulling over Beans or Cabelas.
I'm also getting on in years and have been using hippers for a long time for most of my small stream fishing and such and probably wouldn't go over hip-boot depth anyway, but, ya know, I like to sit down once in awhile (lol) and hippers can't protect ya from a wet stump or stream bank and waist-highs would be just the ticket.

I think practically every good fly fishing related manufacturer makes waist-highs even hi-end companies like Simms, so there is a big choice out there.

As for your original question, I've had rain jackets that go far enough down to protect your butt.

Later, RW



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"We fish for pleasure; I for mine, you for yours." -James Leisenring on fishing the wet fly-

[FIREMAN]

Hey guys,

Just my two cents. I had a pair of Cabelas waist highs and wore them for pretty much all of my fishing. But it always seemed like whenever I wanted to cross or wade out just a little farther I wished I would have had chest highs. I guess the point is you can always convert them to waist highs if you want. So with chest highs you would get both. I will always buy chest highs from now on just for the option.

Good luck,
Seege

[Crotalus]

I thought about waist highs also BUT...

what about the few times you need chest waders?


Do what I did, bought chest high breathables, then just roll them down to waist level and use the suspenders as a belt of course it helps that Cabelas designed thier waders specifically to do that by making the suspenders "opposite" so they buckle together.

Also in the event of rain you could pull them up to cover any area not covered by your wading jacket.

[rjj]

Simms came out with convertible waders last year, and I picked up a pair. They're not cheap, but they convert from waist highs to chest waders and vice-versa quickly, just by rolling down the chest portion and just using the wide belt to hold 'em up. Or, if you want chest waders, roll up the chest portion and use the built-in suspenders.

They came through one season of tough use pretty well, no leaks, so I don't have any real complaints.

rjj

[This message has been edited by rjj (edited 20 January 2006).]

[This message has been edited by rjj (edited 20 January 2006).]

[danoinark]

RW
I have the Cabelas waist highs and really like them. They are a breeze to get on and off and have withstood some tough falls and scrapes.
Dano