Two short personal experiences. The stream was 4 foot across and vegatation was 2'' under the surface. With one foot on the land I started to slowly step into the stream. When one leg was up to my calf I was surprised how deep it was and shifted my weight. Yes, you guessed it, I fell in. The moving water filled my waders up and the cold water took my breath away. The current was fast enough that my feet did not touch the bottom as I was clining to the bank with both hands as my feet were being swept off of the bottom and I was more horizontal than verticle. Morale of the story, buy a wading staff and wear a wading belt.

Second story. While coming down a steep bank my feet became intangled in some vines and I went in head first. My nice new wading belt stopped most of the water from rushing in and filling up my waders but my waders were full of air and I could not get my feet under me. The water was deep enough that I could not touch the bottom with my hands so I had to swim to the other size in less than 4' of water. My fishing partner was kind and instead of laughing in my face, he turned around with his back to me to laugh his arse off while I was drowning and couldn't get my feet under me.

I still wear a wading belt, but as I was in the water head down and legs floating up, I wonder why.

Rick