I finally decided to bite the bullet and spend some real money for "premium" waders. I tried on the Simms waders but none of them had a big enough bootie for my large feet, especially with the wool socks I wear in winter. I finally bought the most expensive pair sold by Cabelas. After three years I have slow leaks in both feet, I turned them inside out and filled them with water to find the leaks and was surprised to discover that the water was actually sweating through the neoprene bootie! Apparently I had stretched it out enough pulling them on and off to destroy the integrity of the material. Kind of a bummer because it is impossible to patch. But all of the wader seams are holding up very well.
For the record... I haven't been able to tell a lick of difference between the Gortex material in my Cabelas waders and the less famous breathable material sold by others. You're going to sweat in all of them, so don't let that factor into you decision.
Don's advice sounds good to me. I've never used Orvis products but might give them a try when I decide to buy next pair.
Tom Davenport
On Nov 1, 2004, at 10:50 AM, Rene Zillmann wrote:
I know, we had this before, but.....
Due to some unexspected events (I'm getting a bit older today) my wife decided to arrange a little bit of shopping.
I'm going to get a pair of breathable waders. The question is now, which brand and model.
We have some brands not over here, no Cabelas..
The choice can be: Simms, Patagonia, Orvis and some local brands.
What are your experience? Is Simms the No. 1 (At leat in price), Is the freestone model ok?
The local shop here sells only Orvis? OK? I often hear some objections about them.
Excited about the upcoming visit in a fly shop
Rene
Tom Davenport
Home Page: http://homepage.mac.com/tsmd Webshots Albums: http://community.webshots.com/user/tsmdav
