Waders: drag you to the bottom or not

[jeffnles1]

OK, guys and gals, here's the question.

If one falls into water over his/her head (let's say out of a pontoon boat in a lake, or accidentally slips while on a steep bank of a deep section of a river) and is wearing his waders, what happens?

When they fill up with water, will they drag him/her to the bottom to a sure death, or will they be no worse than a wet pair of jeans and shirt?

It would seem while in the water, the water in your waders would have the same weight as the water surrounding you and would be no more or less weight than the wet clothing.

I can see where a wading belt, if too tight, could cause the bottoms to baloon up and cause your feet to float higher than your head (bad thing).

I can see where they would be really heavy getting out of the water, but while in the water, what happens?

Thoughts?

Jeff

[Normand]

read post #1

http://www.stripersonline.com/surfta...d.php?t=490330

[Silver Creek]

Waders full of water will not drag you down since water has neutral buoyancy, but they do give you increased mass or momentum so you will have more difficulty maneuvering in the water.

Wading belts will slow water inflow into the waders. That is a good thing. Float on your back with your knees bent up. That keeps the air below your wading belt up at the top of your knees and it will help you stay on your back. The water below your wading belt will be down at your ankles and down at your butt.

You want to orient yourself feet pointing downstream to protect your head plus it allows you to see where you are going, and to maneuver yourself closer to the bank. When your butt or feet hit the bottom of the stream, work your way into the shore. Do not try to stand until you are close enough to the shore

[Normand]

watch the movie

http://www.flyforums.co.uk/general-f...wning-you.html

[ELKHUNTER]

That is a good question I have often wondered about. I have read different things on the subject. One article said water has no weight in water. Another said to point your feet downstream to see where you are headed and to protect your head. And another said to point your feet upstream because the current of a river will push water into your waders and if you get into a good swift flow will push you with it and make it harder to get out of the water, plus if you happen to go over a drop off in the river it could force you to the bottom. So, as Jeff asked, what is the answer.

Rocky

[Steven]

And Archimedes once again rolls over in his grave.

[zhoyt]

Per swift water rescue.....ALWAYS point your feet downstream. The opening in your waders at the top is no a whole lot wider than your body, so you will not get the "upside down umbrella" affect.

[sagefisher]

If you are in a river always keep your feet aimed downstream, your feet and legs make better shock absorbers against rocks than your head.
As indicated, waders will not weigh you down as long as you are in the water, however, as soon as you try to get out of the water then you have a problem. Water weights about 8 pounds per gallon and waders that are filled with water have many gallons in them. You will not be able to get out of the water except with great difficulty if you have waders full of water. Also while in the water, your movements will be restricted due to the filled waders. Most of the time we want to get out of the water as fast as possible. Once close to shore or in shallow water, slip your waders shoulder straps off and peel down, letting the water dump out, then stand higher than the level of water. Getting ones shoes off then pulling the waders off is difficult enough on shore when dry, I would hate to think how hard it would be in the water. So, strip the waders off of you. You could take a knive and cut slots in your waders down by the calf of your leg, sort of destroys the waders and there would be a good chance of cutting your leg, hence not a good idea. Also, remember that you will need to keep warm, especially if you are a long ways from anywhere. So, you may want to put your waders back on after you have dumped the water. They should act as a heat shield and keep your body core temperature at a decent level as compared to not having them on.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[jeffnles1]

Good points and worth discussing. Had a conversation with a friend and tried to explain to him that as long as one is in the water, the waders are not going to automatically pull you down like you had a brick tied to your foot. But getting out could be a problem.

Sage advcie to always wear (not just have on the boat) a PFD while in the boat. It seems from the video and just thinking about it, the combination of a wader belt and a good fitting PFD would keep most of the water out until you could climb back in the boat and if you were unfortunate enough to hit your head falling over, the PFD would keep you floating in the right direction even if the legs filled with air. You wouldn't be floating head down.

I always carry a spring assist knife in my vest (not a switch blade but a spring assist open). If I were trying to get out of the water and my waders were preventing that from hapepning, I'd rather cut holes in the waders than start to panic and potentially drown myself trying to get out.
Jeff

[JohnScott]

read post #1

http://www.stripersonline.com/surfta...d.php?t=490330

.... report in the first post of the linked thread. Thanks much for posting it, Norman.

John

P.S. If you skipped over the link Norman posted, do yourself a favor - follow it and read the test report.