Waders - The usual question

I hate to say this... but I pulled the trigger on the sitka breathables and they are the absolute best waders I have ever owned. I even wanted to hate them because of the price point, but I just can't. Ive hunted in as cold as -20 with them and my feet never got cold. Obviously layering is essential in breathables but they move so good that I can layer up without issue. Never had a wet foot in them and life time warranty is pretty nice when they do cast a leak. Notice I say when and not if, all waders will leak at some point. Boots are super important to me. I had some neoprene lacrosse before these and they were the best boot. I ordered another pair, before I bought the sitka, and they changed the boot design and that killed my feet. The sitkas have those lacrosse boot that I fell in love with on my first lacrosse waders. So naturally, it was one more thing I really really liked about the sitkas. Can't vouche for some of the other that have been listed, but for my experience, buy once cry once has been a very good experience for me with the sitka breathables.
 
Mark W said:
I have owned various brathable waders over the years. Used to always buy the Cableas brand was they came with a lifetime warranty. If they leaked, I would replace them under warranty. If the next pair leaked, I just bought new. Got about 2-3 years out of a pair.

My current waders leak. Badly. Right in the seat area. Looking inside the wadres, I can see the wear spots that are quite large. Not wanting any leaking waders this year, I'm not going to bother repairing thee.

WEnt looking for a new pair. Man have these become expensive. $250 for what I cerrenty have and the reviews are not stellar. Found some more expensive, and some less expensive. Waders with the highest review on Amazon are $50. Do I just go with the $50 waders knowing I'll be replacing them every year or look for something better?

Here are the cheap ones. Lots of reviews, Higly rated


I have also seen good reviews on waders from a company called TideWe. Anyone try these?


Thanks for the input. I can't afford waders that are $500 and up. I mean I could, I just haven't had any better luck with expensive waders in the past.
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I'll be giving the TideWe brand a go this season. I'm not particularly tough on them in my opinion, since it's mostly boat use, although all saltwater. 30-45 days a year. Wish me luck.
 
Was actually spending some time cruising around looking at stuff and found this. Rogers has the simms for a pretty competitive price. I know for a fact, Kuiu new waterfowl waders are just simms waders with a little different boot and their camo/logo. Simms has come a long way in the waterfowl wader world. I haven't looked at all the specs on these, but for the price point and what I know about simms and their technology. I would give these a go. Actually kicking around the idea of buying these as back up.

rogerssportinggoods.com

Men's Freestone Z Bootfoot Waders - Rubber Sole

The ultimate cold-weather wader, the Freestone Bootfoot is built on our rugged, breathable, mobility-enhancing Freestone chassis and features a built-in rubber-soled boot that goes on easy and charges hard. Buy the Simms Men's Freestone Z Bootfoot Waders and other great Simms products at Rogers...
rogerssportinggoods.com rogerssportinggoods.com
 
So I cannot get myself over the hump to buy an expensive pair of waders no matter what i will find a way to tear them open. here in the saltwater and building blinds is a death wish to waders, and they must be breatheable, more than half the days we hunt we have shorts under them. So lately i have been pursing ebay and scoring vintage new old stock cabela's breathables and some really look like older simms construction, I have two years out of pair and left them in alaska for our annual trip, found two more pair on ebay in the anchorage airport. They are reasonable and when they leak from me stubbling in an oyster reef oh well I have a back up. I have had zero luck with banded, they leaked and the pair they sent me in return leaked, they finally just said here is your money. Stupid me seen a sale, bingo they went back too. I do have some 100 dollar specials off amazon a buddy got a pallet of and they do not leak LOL but the legs are so skinny u cannot get them over the boots, all my wders are not boot foot. The real things is wading boots, they are not made for saltwater even with rinsing after every use, that is a open question as to the best as of yet.

The days of Cabela's warranty got Bass Pro'd!
 
like most I've run the gamut on waders, Cabela's, LaCrosse, Drake, Banded. Banded were my last pair, the boots showed some cracking at the end of last season. I purchased a pair of Avery Heritage 3.0's for this season. I know everybody thinks the worst of Banded, but I got I think almost 5 season out of them. Yes Avery is part of Banded Brands, I had reservations about and after testing I was convinced they leaked at the boot seams and sent them back to Roger's. Supposedly they tested them and they claim they couldn't find a leak. I will see I guess. I really wanted to spend the money on the Sitka or Chene's, but they just don't make them for short fat guys.
 
Capt J. Stieben said:
So I cannot get myself over the hump to buy an expensive pair of waders no matter what i will find a way to tear them open. here in the saltwater and building blinds is a death wish to waders, and they must be breatheable, more than half the days we hunt we have shorts under them. So lately i have been pursing ebay and scoring vintage new old stock cabela's breathables and some really look like older simms construction, I have two years out of pair and left them in alaska for our annual trip, found two more pair on ebay in the anchorage airport. They are reasonable and when they leak from me stubbling in an oyster reef oh well I have a back up. I have had zero luck with banded, they leaked and the pair they sent me in return leaked, they finally just said here is your money. Stupid me seen a sale, bingo they went back too. I do have some 100 dollar specials off amazon a buddy got a pallet of and they do not leak LOL but the legs are so skinny u cannot get them over the boots, all my wders are not boot foot. The real things is wading boots, they are not made for saltwater even with rinsing after every use, that is a open question as to the best as of yet.

The days of Cabela's warranty got Bass Pro'd!
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Let me save you some money.... DONT BUY DRAKE ANYTHING! Especially waders. A half season at best is what you will get out of them. Ive heard this about banded so many times.
 
Dave Horvath said:
like most I've run the gamut on waders, Cabela's, LaCrosse, Drake, Banded. Banded were my last pair, the boots showed some cracking at the end of last season. I purchased a pair of Avery Heritage 3.0's for this season. I know everybody thinks the worst of Banded, but I got I think almost 5 season out of them. Yes Avery is part of Banded Brands, I had reservations about and after testing I was convinced they leaked at the boot seams and sent them back to Roger's. Supposedly they tested them and they claim they couldn't find a leak. I will see I guess. I really wanted to spend the money on the Sitka or Chene's, but they just don't make them for short fat guys.
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I know everyone dogs dive bomb, and I am not the biggest fan of the crew myself, but their wader line is a few hundred cheaper and might be a possibility. I will say when my sitkas let go, I might go this route. They use the same torray technology (the japanese version of gore tex) and the YKK zippers like sitka and chene. I figure, at $200 cheaper, thats another case of shotgun shells. I dig that otter brown too. Im a fan of lighter camos or light browns. At distance, everything turns to a black blob anyways, so personally, the lighter brown, the better. I do think sitka marsh color is one of the better camos from a distance.
 
I have not bought a pair of their chest waders but I have been quite impressed with the hip waders they made for me.

Dans Hunting Gear

These can be customized in sizes so those folk who don't fit in normal off the shelf waders may find them to their liking too
 
Have you ever thought that maybe all the chinese waders are made in the same factory? Especially when price point is close on the American mkt .whomever is branding them. Whether it be Drake, Banded , Avery or Tidewe, etc.
 
roy brewington said:
Have you ever thought that maybe all the chinese waders are made in the same factory? Especially when price point is close on the American mkt .whomever is branding them. Whether it be Drake, Banded , Avery or Tidewe, etc.
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You can find all the sitka stuff on Alibaba now. Im way too afraid to try and order some stuff though, fearing I would get knock off stuff that isnt even close to original. The fact they advertise Torray as their technology, and not Gore-tex, you know its all coming from China.

I almost almost almost pulled the trigger on sitka stuff from Alibaba. That same week there was an insane deal on Forward facing Garmin sonar technology on Alibaba. All my fishing buddies ordered the unit (the price was literally too good to be true) and then it spread like wild fire. Next thing I know there are like 50 guys talking about ordering these units. A week later, all 50 dudes were working to get refunds because they all received empty boxes. I dont trust Alibaba at all, but I do know for a fact some people have had really good luck with ordering from there.
 
But here you go.....

BEYOND SUSPICIOUS and cannot be real. But something to note, these are all the old style boots before they went to the lacrosse. So these could hypothetically be old stuff that never made it to the states. My first set of sitkas were this boot style. First time out, I put a branch right through the soft ankle spot. I sent them back and sitka cut those off and put the new boot style on for free. Then on the last hunt of that season, a guy was hunting drakes and they were leaking. When I took them off at the end of the hunt, I asked the boy what his size was, same as mine. Told him to put them on and go for a hike so he can see if he could justify the price. 5 minutes hes walking back and asked what I needed right then so he could take them home. I just giggled and said they were used, 1 season old, give me $900 and theyre yours. He made it happen.

High Quality Waterproof Camo Hunting Chest Height Hunting Waders - Buy Hunting Waders,Chest Height Hunting Waders,Camo Hunting Chest Waders Product on Alibaba.com

High Quality Waterproof Camo Hunting Chest Height Hunting Waders - Buy Hunting Waders,Chest Height Hunting Waders,Camo Hunting Chest Waders Product on Alibaba.com
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