Wader update

Mark W

Mark W

Well-known member
I went and tried on the Frogg Toggs at my local Fleet Farm. They had the version 2.0, not the current 3.0. I am a size 9 and my current waders are a size 9. Tried them on, and they were tight in the foot and ankle. Thought 10 would work though and ordered from Amazon as on the Frogg Togg website their $179.00 deal are non returnable for any reason. Got the item from Amazon and these are nice looking waders. Lots of features I like and a couple I don't (hand warmer pocket insied the wader that flips out for example). I liked the concept of the zip out liner and thought I would give it a go.

Tried putting them on and the same narrowness around the ankle area was still there. Got the boot on with a pair of polypro socks and my feet started getting tingly. Too hard to get off and the liner wated to keep getting in the way. So anyone who wants to order their closeout special, even though customer service claims they are true to size, they are not. With time running out, and no waders aroun d me, going to give the TideWe a go. Have everything I'm looking for and at $179.00 and then a 15% discount and a coupon code for some more off, what the heck. Customer service seems to be accessible and the review are pretty high. I'll review when I get back at the end of Septmber.

Mark W
 
Frogg Toggs have a less that stellar review around here from fellow hunters. I tried the Frogg Togg hip water last year and sent them back. Total crap! I'll be interested in your review of the TideWe.
 
Seems all waders are hit and miss. Even seen some poor reviews of Simms (although quite a bit less but maybe that is because there are less people who own them).

I like the ones recommended on here that were designed and built by oystermen. Twice the bucks of the tidewe and they are not near me. TideWe is located in Western WI which is near our cabin. And yeah, these are chinese manufactured waders. As with everything else, there is good chinese stuff, and the not nearly as good chinese stuff. We shall wee.

Mark W
 
Even the high end waders have fit issues. I was a loyal Patagonia Rio Gallegos wader customer--loved them, went through two pairs over about 8 years, which given my use more than meets my standards. When I tore a hole in the 2nd pair that was not repairable, I ordered a new pair of the exact same waders and literally could not get them over my ankles (one of which is overlarge due to an old fracture and surgical repair) or chest. The old ones fit with multiple layers of wool or fleece under them and room to spare; the new ones would barely fit over a T-shirt. Several round of back and forth with Patagonia confirmed that they were not mis-labeled, but that Patagonia had changed their wader "fit" but not the "sizing". I really wanted another pair of the old ones with looser fit, and customer service was great trying to track down a pair anywhere in their system, but to no avail. At the end of the ordeal a customer service manager called me to report the failure, and when I asked why they changed the fit to slim them down, he said there were customer complaints that the old ones were too baggy. When I asked how many of the complainers had ordered XXL King size like I did, he just laughed, but there was nothing they could do. I've been leery of buying any waders from them ever since, despite what all my friends who have waders that fit say is still excellent quality.
 
OK here we go. It Ain't the WADERS it's us.

My Gawd does anyone recall the days before Neo and Breathable? Canvas & rubber waders. Waders never did FIT they were always to big, to small, to this and to that. They wore holes in the heels of yer socks. The crotch was to low, and inseam split from inner knee to inner knee. Yer feet Froze etc. etc. In short they were/are something that TRIED to keep us dry and to the point of having plastic bags over our socks cuz of leaky waders made it almost bearable.

Then low and behold they got better and WE expected more. WE expect a pair of waders to be Perfect? We Cannot expect that. Waders with zippers so guys can take a leak and pay a small fortune cuz ya can't get waders down in time. Spoiled? Man we are way past that. How the hell did all the duck hunters of the past hunt before waders (invented in the UK), but they DID.

Truth is the older we get the more a PITA waders are no matter their price. Ya pay the price put the MFing things on, go hunting and when done hunting struggle to get the damn things off. Ya get warm and dry then begin to savor the day of hunting. Then dry yer gear including the waders best ya can and plan the next hunt. Repeat until the season is Over.

We are duck hunters. There is nothing easy about it. We Touched in da Head. Deal with it.

my 2 cents
 
Like you I have never been satisfied with a pair of waders. That is until I tried High n Dry. Nothing fancy, price reasonable and durable. As close to ankle fit as you are going to find in a cold water wader. Definitely give them a try.
 
Best hip boots I had by far were a pair of RedBall canvas over rubber ones I bought in 1984. Lasted more than 10 years of hard use trout fishing and on the trapline.
 
Hip boots are something you don,t see much in use in the water fowling world now adays. Few years back I was in the MKT. for a new pair actually for wearing deer hunting to access a swamp stand . First stop was Cabela,s online for their old super mag/brush buster style neoprene only to find they no ,longer carried them. Ended up with a pair of insulated Lacrosse that have held up well. And I myself, once I made the transition to Red Ball chest waders as a young man ,very rarely wore hip boots water fowling. It felt good to have a dry butt! Probably only wore hip boots when the occasion arose that a patch was drying on the chest waders. Have an old hunting buddy that until he stopped going couple seasons ago still wore hip boots though. Think he was afraid he couldn't get the neo waders shimmied down quick enough to relieve himself !
 
I use a lot of waders. I bought my first pair of natural rubber waders with felt inserts from Cableas in 1992. Great in winter, but you could not walk any distance in them. In 2005, I bought a couple of pairs of Cabelas breathable and they were fantastic. I'm a waterfowl biologist and I used them for work and I used them hard. They had a few holes in them and I was always going to fix them, but I finally threw them out a couple of years ago. I've had many pairs since, but none compare to those wasters I got in 2005. The boots of their new version of those waders don't last ... I go through a couple pairs a year. But work was paying for them and I just kept buying them ... and complaining.

Anyway, I retired last year and work is no longer buys my waders. I looked at a lot of the new waders: Skita and Kuiu were my number one pick, but I had a hard time justifying the price. I looked at several others (Froggs, DiveBomb, Gators etc). I used to salmon fish and I have a pair of Simms stocking foots. They are the best waders I owned, but stocking foot are not great in mud. Recently, Simms has come out with their Freestone line which is a step down from their G3 series. The Freestones has a boot foot option. At a bit more than 1/2 the price of Sitka and Kuiu's I decided to try them. No regrets. I added a set of Al cleats... there are carbide options, but I was hesitant to use them in my boat - no regrets on the cleats ... I call the 4 wheel drive. I used them catching eiders in Rhode Island in early March, in eastern Quebec in late April, northern Labrador in June, and I put many miles on them searching for eider nests in the islands on south Baffin Island in July. I've warn out a set of cleats and I had a couple of pinholes. But I'm not easy on waders.

I can buy 2 pairs of Freestones to a pair of Stikas which I think is a pretty good deal. For anyone that hunts salt water and walks on slimy rocks the cleats are fantastic. The AL cleats work on white ice, but not on clear ice and can be quite slippery on wet painted plywood (don't ask). The only negative is they are not designed for duck hunters and do not have knee protection. I mentioned I have a few pin holes - they are in the knees. I'm getting old and I'm often on my knees getting in and out of boats and the wader knees could use some protection.

I will contact Simms and see if they will add some knee protection, other then that, these are fantastic waders. If you order them the boots seem to be undersized. I wear and 10.5 and ordered 11's. I got them on, but was and sure how I would get them off. I really thought I was going to have to cut them off. I ordered from Trout Unlimited in Canada and they promptly exchanged a pair of 12's and they were perfect.

Scott
 
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