I have been looking for a pair of waders but everytime I find one in my body weight/size, the booties are like size 11. I can never find a pair of say large/short w/ 7.5-8 neoprene bootie without having to spending a fortune. My question is, Is there a way to cut the bootie and reseal and stitch it so it will fit my small hobbit feet?
Why don’t you consider buying a pair of neoprene socks and them wear them under your waders. Thats what I did when I imherited a pair of boots that were way too big for me.
Tim
Panman’s suggestion is a good one.
In answer to your question, no I would not cut the neoprene booties.
Spending a bit more for good waders in my opinion is a good investment. But if you are limited in what you can spend then give Panman’s suggestion a go. Neoprene booties are not that expnesive.
Good luck!
I bought a pair of orvis waders without trying them on (shame on me, but I assumed the booties in a new model were really the same size as in their previous model) when i was headed on a big trip and my waders sprung a leak right before that. the wad of excess neoprene under my toes was very uncomfortable.
a couple of thoughts:
might womens’ waders have smaller booties (I haven’t checked)
you can get special order booties from some of the wader manufacturers for an extra $50 charge. I am pretty sure simms does this
i do a far amount of cold weather wading so I did as is already suggested. I bought a pair of neoprene socks, and I wear them in conjunction with a pair of heavy wool socks, and they fill my korkers with no extra neoprene lump. it does mean you need to get boots that are large enough to accomodate the extra neoprene layer. if you are going this route, try the combination on to make sure you have a good fit.
My wading boots are not the problem. It is the neoprene booty attached to the waders. If I buy a pair of waders that fit me body wise, the attached booty is always to big. What if I cut the booty that is too big off my waders, go buy the wading neoprene sock in my size and put them over my waders, then use the gravel guards that are on the waders to go over that? I just can’t afford to buy a pairr of waders. I already have two pair that don’t fit.
I can get a set of womans waders with the right size bootys but, the body size is to small.
It will leak.
What others have suggested is to fill up the oversized wader bootie (with neoprene socks) and to use larger sized wading boots.
Gotcha, I did not understand. Thanks
If the problem is your waist size to foot size ratio hip boots might be a partial solution.
Some manufacturers offer waders in a “stout” size for those of us who are short and round.
An additional suggestion. If you have a cobbler or shoe repairman close to your abode why don’t you bend his ear. He may have a simple answer to your problem.
Tim
That would be me. 7.5 foot, 42 waist and 46 chest. Very hard to fit, not to mention my foot is very wide in a EEE. So now you see the problem. Most boots or shoes are made in a D or if your lucky you could find EE but, a EEE is ver y tough. My mom had to special order my shoes from Buster Brown when I was a child. And do to medication and my wifes cooking and more than a little snacking makes me have just a little belly. As I said, my waist is a 42 but my belly is the problem. So unless I buy high priced custom waders then I have to make do. I do have a pr. of hip waders that work well, they are hot because they are rubber and canvas but work well, just not all waters, I have an older pr. of Simms that are tight on me, they are a medium if anyone is interested and a size large that are snug because I did not get the stout also, for sale if someone is interested. I only wore them once. Anyway, “Now you know the rest of the story”(Paul Harvey)
I thought about a cobbler and will have to check around and see if there are any in my area. Thanks for the suggestions guys
I have the exact opposite problem. Trying to find waders that fit a size 15 foot isn’t exactly easy… Especially when I don’t weigh 400 lbs.
Have you looked at the waders at Albright? Their Medium list a 45" waist and a size 9 shoe; their large is a 49" waist and a size 10 shoe.
I did not know about albright. I will have to look them up. Thanks
They are a sponsor here and are having a great sale at the moment.
Yes, I looked them up. Great deal on waders. Thanks guys
I have the same problem. Simple solution is to buy a pair of heavy wool socks to wear under the waders. Cheap, easy, and works like a charm. Don’t attempt to alter the booties on the waders. You will never get them sealed properly. Another plus for the heavy socks is that they increase the comfort by a big margin.
And buy a size 10 wading boot? They are also very tight in the butt and stomach area. I need to loose some weight, that’s all there is about it