I’ve never liked waders. They’re uncomfortable, they’re bulky, they get in the way of scrambling over boulders or busting through brush, and worst of all, they always seem to spring a leak at the worst possible time.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I never took care of my waders until about five years ago. I quit leaving them bunched up in the truck bed and started hanging them up after every use. I actually washed my waders last year and treated them with waterproofing spray. Even with following the manufacturer’s recommendations, I still wound up with my preferred pair leaking while I was waist-deep in a tailwater last December.
Most of my displeasure with waders came from the fact that I bought the cheapest pairs available and completely trashed them within weeks. I was too cheap to drop the money on Simms (who was leading the industry at the time) and kept convincing myself that I’d just bought “a bad pair” of the big-box brand from Sportsman’s Warehouse.
When I finally plunked the money down on a set of waders that retailed for $800, I figured that marked my ascendence to the realm of a “serious angler.” I wouldn’t be bogged down by gear failure anymore. I could wade anywhere, anytime, in pursuit of any fish, with these high-dollar waders.
To their credit, they lasted about three years before springing leaks all along the seams. The manufacturer told me it was from spending too much time wearing them while in a float tube. Apparently, they weren’t designed for that much friction.
Well, if your waders weren’t designed for use in a float tube, doesn’t that seem like a bit of a design flaw? I’m no engineer, but float tubing isn’t some fringe fly fishing movement that’s not worth designing a wader for.
At any rate, that’s when I realized my problem wasn’t so much with the waders themselves, but that I was willing to buy what wader manufacturers said about their products. I’ve always been one to be enticed by shiny new things, and apparently, I’m not immune to effective marketing copy.
Having done gear reviews for over a decade now, and worn waders from almost every manufacturer, here’s what they’re not quite open about: every wader has a shelf life, and every wader is built to fail. Seems reasonable when laid out in plain English, right? But how do you package that to anglers who you hope will spend close to $1,000 on your product?
You call your waders “bomber-style” or “built for rugged anglers who live in their waders.” The waders are “puncture-resistant” or use a “virtually tear-proof” fabric. Those are all lines I’ve read from wader manufacturers over the years, and they don’t paint the truth that you’re buying a product designed to be thrown away.
I had one company tell me their waders are built to last 100 days on the water. Within those 100 days, they shouldn’t leak. After that, the wear and tear on fabric and seams is such that leaks are inevitable. If you bought their $800 waders and got 100 leak-free days out of them, that amounts to $8 a day for your waders. And if you fish 10-15 days a year, that’s $80 to $120 you’re spending per year for waders.
What you have to decide, then, is whether it’s worth it to spend $8 a day on the higher-end models, or hope you can coax 100 days out of a $250 pair of waders.
I’m not calling companies dishonest. They’re effectively marketing their product. At some point, though, wouldn’t you rather buy waders from a company that says, “These will last x amount of days. After that, good luck. But we built these to be as great as possible until they inevitably fail.”
Waders now are certainly more comfortable and feature-packed than when I started fly fishing. There are some solid options on the market these days. I’m still searching for a pair that’s as comfortable as wet-wading, but I think that’s a pipe dream. In the end, I just wish wader companies were a bit more upfront with setting expectations for their products.
Many decades ago, I started buying Simms Guide waders, the original deal long before G3, G4, and riparian nomenclature were used. I learned how to use cotton swabs and alcohol to detect the leaks, mark them with magic marker circles, and seal them with Aqua Seal and its companion bottle of accelerator. My waders lasted years and years. The pair of G3s I bought not long ago has little black circles filled with AquaSeal’s successor, the Loon UV stuff, all over the inside legs. The thorns on my home waters in summer would rip through anything. No seam leaks. But the Headwaters waders I bought were garbage, a complete failure. I learned that the secret to keeping well made waders intact is to hang dry them thoroughly as soon as possible. I store them folded or rolled in a duffel. I nearly bought Grundens or Skwalas last time, and my buddy is very happy with his Patagonias. I’m hoping my G3s keep going.