Troutnut Forum > Fly Fishing Discussion > So who's making a decent canvas wader right now?
| Troutnut | June 21st, 2009, 4:14 am | |
| Fairbanks, AK Posts: 1435 | Most waders on the market right now are labeled as "soft," "comfortable," "breathable," etc. I see all of those things as code words for "pay $300 to wet wade." I'm normally totally in favor of new technology, but in the case of waders it seems the industry has gone crazy. In order to make "breathable" waders from which a little bit of sweat can evaporate, they're all making expensive, flimsy crap that leaks like a sieve if it passes within 10 feet of a rose bush or an especially ambitious mosquito. As if that weren't enough, every time we get into these sieves we get to try to stick two oversized nylon socks into two wet, suctiony, sand-filled boots, and then tie our cold, wet, sandy bootlaces. I've had it with this crap, and the six pairs (Orvis, Simms, Hodgman) that never lasted me more than half a season each. Now I'm trying to find a good new pair of non-breathable, tough-as-nails canvas waders with boots built right onto them. The closer they are to chest-high Xtratuffs, the better. It doesn't seem like many people are making those anymore. A quick search online has me looking at Hodgman Wadewells. Anyone have experience with those, or any others you'd recommend? | |
| Jason Neuswanger The Troutnut | ||
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| Wiflyfisher | June 21st, 2009, 9:19 am | |
| Wisconsin Posts: 356 | Besides having an expensive pair of Simm's breathable waders I have a pair of Cabela's Three Forks. I use them a lot in NW Wisconsin for fishing because of brush, etc... http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/horizontal-pod.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20431-cat350005_TGP&rid=&indexId=cat350005&navAction=push&masterpathid=&navCount=4&parentType=index&parentId=cat350005&id=0000596 | |
| John S. http://www.WiFlyFisher.com | ||
| Softhackle | June 21st, 2009, 12:42 pm | |
| Wellsville, NY Posts: 268 | Jason, I don't know about you, but I wore waders like those Hodgman's for years and years and hated them. Big, bulking, clumsy, sweaty. After getting my first pair of "breathable" waders from Cabela's it was like a revelation. Light weight, easy on the body, comfortable, not clumsy or heavy. I am on my second pair and going strong. I guess you are HARD on your waders. I have a pair of the Three Forks from Cabela's I purchased for my Grandson. They're a little tougher, not as heavy and may wear better for you. Mark | |
| "I have the highest respect for the skilled wet-fly fisherman, as he has mastered an art of very great difficulty." Edward R. Hewitt Flymphs, Soft-hackles and Spiders | ||
| RleeP | June 22nd, 2009, 7:21 pm | |
| One Mile South of Lake LeBoeuf Posts: 153 | Json: If you're looking for durability, the Cabelas 3 Forks Wiflyfisher linked to are by far the best wader for the price. They're tougher than my Dad's Aunt Ernie (who once shot and cooked a crow to see what it tasted like) and that's tough. At 400+ denier nylon, they can take a lot of scraping and direct hits from branches and the like. They aren't particularly comfortable and are a bit like wearing a suit of mail and they aren't made at all for hot weather wading. Over the years, they've had seepage problems along the seams and in the boot/wader connection, but this is supposedly much better now and at the price, you can afford some extra Aquaseal to keep them going, if needed But they're about as tough and unwussy as waders today get and at 60 bucks a pop, they're a deal and exactly the ticket for the brush busting angler. In fact, I know a pretty fair number of swamp-tromping, beaver spike-dodging duck guys who wear them with cleated shoes and love them. Don't get the bootfoot though. The felts are glued, not stitched and tend to get sucked off the bottom of the boot over time. Not that this is any different than a lot of the lower end wading shoes out there | |
| Falsifly | June 23rd, 2009, 2:17 pm | |
| Hayward, WI. Posts: 292 | Jason, I for one love my “soft,” “comfortable”, ‘breathable,” etc. waders. However, having never fished the wilderness of Alaska, where the rose bush can attack from 10 feet and the ambitious mosquito can drill holes in boiler plate, I suggest you visit this site: http://www.armorvenue.com/medieval-armor/ You should be able to find something that will protect your expensive fishing gear and may prove invaluable should the bears take a shining to you. | |
| Falsifly When asked what I just caught that monster on I showed him. He put on his magnifiers and said, "I can't believe they can see that." | ||
| Troutnut | June 23rd, 2009, 5:06 pm | |
| Fairbanks, AK Posts: 1435 | Falsifly makes a good point. It is tempting to just patch up my breathable waders, and wear something like this over them: (The image file this user tried to include was not found.) However, I've found that, even while resting quietly in an otherwise empty vacuum chamber, breathable waders tend to spontaneously crack wide open at the seams, not unlike a steamed clam. It may be that they glimpsed a twig through the window and it frightened them into surrender. I think I will give the Cabelas Three Forks a try... sounds like just what I'm looking for. I would rather get a little sweaty over the course of the day than carry a few pounds of water with me in each boot. | |
| Jason Neuswanger The Troutnut | ||
| Aaron7_8 | June 27th, 2009, 10:04 pm | |
| Helena Montana Posts: 65 | I had a pair of hodgman waders, with the boots attached. In my experience they lasted a year and were more punture resistant, however they weighed more with no water in them thand the lighter weight model that I have now. On the other hand trying to actually fish and travel the bank in the boot attached model was nearly impossible, specially for someone as clumsy as myself. | |
| Lastchance | July 2nd, 2009, 5:47 pm | |
| Portage, PA Posts: 81 | I've had nothing but great service from my Hodgman stockingfoot waders. I fish between 50 to 75 times a year and I've gotten at least 3 years out of each pair. I'll be buying another pair shortly. They only cost about $100. | |
| Delablobbo | August 24th, 2009, 11:43 pm | |
| Posts: 19 | You're looking for the old Hodgman Wadewells, which I believe you can still buy. I owned a pair and liked them, despite the weight. The real downside to these waders is when they encounter dampness and ozone. The rubber cracks, and the waders become a colander. You don't find this out until the first day of fishing season. They're good, cheap waders, but you really have to take care of them. | |
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