Let's talk waders

Newbie to waders, should I buy drake and cry once, or get a cheaper pair?
Neoprene, insulated breathable, non insulated breathable?

The more info you add to your post the more you help me out.

I like non-insulated breathable and layer up underneath. I do hunt the Garwood area a couple times a year and they are perfect. Also have a lease up in OK and just layer up underneath with base layer and fleece and have never gotten cold.

You get what you pay for in waders IMO

Academy has good waders and the best return service. You can take them back 7 years later, faded and dry rotted with a leak and get a new pair. I have a pair of the neoprene tuff 1200 and they’ve held up for a few years. The hybrid 800’s are nice too, neoprene legs/waist and breathable chest. All good priced, 150 or less.

Another voter for breathable. Way better if you ever walk for sure and early season. But like said above, easy to layer up under them. Less sweating then freezing your arse off once you get still to hunt.

But, I don’t necessarily agree with the idea that you get what you pay for. I’ve had them all over the price radar. No matter what they cost the boot will still get cut. Seams will still leak. Kind of like boat batteries... all you can do is hope to get a few years of of them. I think the pair that lasted the longest was some off brand I got from Academy for $49 in an after season deal.

Breathable and stocking foot for sure. Layer underneath and not jeans. Denim damages your waders from the inside. I went through 3 pairs of cheapos in 3.5 years. I finally went Simms and they are great. They are not cheap, but I've had no issues in 3 years either. I have G3s. I tried the Ray Guards but my feet constantly hurt after every hunt. Tried going up in size and it didn't make a difference. I went with lace up Simms Flat Sneakers and its night and day.

I made the switch to breathable last year and will never look back. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of r major brands. Other options I’d consider would be Gator Waders (located in tyler) , Rogers sporting goods has a house brand wader that lets you unzip the insulated liner of you don’t need it. I ended up with the Drake Equiwader, mostly because I had gift cards to academy and they had them in stock. My only complaint is the way the boot fits. It is pretty big/wide on my foot and make it tough in muck. Other than that, I could walk a mile in them if I had to. Coach

Coach,

I bought the Rogers Breathable and my boots were the same way. Way too big. I went the the Lacrosse website and bought 2 pair of their felt insoles. Man the fit is so much better. I bought 2 so I can change them out from day to day. They come in 6 and 9 mm thickness. Work great Check it out.

https://www.lacrossefootwear.com/accessories/insoles/felt-6mm-insole.html

4W

I bought Gator Waders insulated breathables last year and I love them. I’ll never get neaprene again.

Gator Waders are extremely comfortable and came with a hand muff, waterproof cell phone bag attached to the inside of the bib, a large front pocket with magnetic closing snap, wader belt, and shell holder. Boots are the most comfortable I’ve had in waders and they’ve held up great so far.

I bought the previous year’s model and they were $300. They fit true to size. They’re also having a Black Friday deal now on their website.

Thanks everyone, just went with the gator waders. Spent way too much, lol, really liked all there other outerwear offerings. I'll see if I can't pop back in with an update once I get to try them out.

thanks . I will check them out.

Uninsulated breathable with a thinsulate bootfoot of at least 600gram. Preferably 800. This is a great all around solution for Texas. You might be could every couple of years.

I just layer underneath as it gets colder. This includes Arctic weight socks and M51 wool uniform pants on the coldest of days.

I actually prefer stocking foot waders and can get away with these as long as I’m staying in the water. If you hunt from a boat and get in and out of the water the lack of airspace seems to give me cold feet when I’m in the blind or boat,

I bought a new pair of breathables this year, man have waders gotten expensive! I initially ordered the cabelas insulated eathables and they were way to big for me and I got some from academy. 150 or so vs 300 big differwnce plus in most cases insulated is overkill. I'd rather layer under and be able to fish in tue spring in the same pair without sweatting muh butt off. Breathable waders 100%


another thing I noticed when looking at waders this year is almost ALL of them have a fake pantleg? what's up with that??

That fake pant leg takes the abuse and protects the waterproof layer from punctures due to brush and sticks.

I went with gator waders this year. both are breathable and 1 is insulated, the other is not. I have already worn both this season and both are good so far. I like the breathables but on really cold, windy days I still like neoprene waders just fine. They keep you warm and toasty.

Got the waders in, the worst part about being someone who works out is traps. Dang straps don't want to stay on because I have decent traps. The waders seem like they're going to be good though, really like the outerwear I ordered though.

The straps are kind of stretchy, right? I don’t think it’s because of your traps, unless I also have decent traps and that hasn’t been true for a decade.

Mine are stretchy and stay up well enouh, but I know what you’re talking about. It really depends on what coat I’m wearing. If it’s cold and I have my heavy coat on, it’s not as bad of an issue.

Did you get the right size? My boots fit great, waders fit great as long as I’m wearing layers (which is good).

Report back after a hunt. I love mine.

They are stretchy. I'm sure with a boat on it will be more of a non issue. I've got them cinched down as tight as they'll go too.
Report back should come next week.

Anyone have Rodger's sporting goods waders?

Looking at their 3 in 1 breathable, and was curious on the boot size.

I have their breathables. I wear a 12 and found the boot really big. I bought a couple of pair of Lacrosse felt insoles and they are now perfect.

Good luck, really like the waders.

Waders worked good. We walked over 3 miles to hunt and additional scouting. They're loud though, no sneaking up on woodies sitting in a creek, haha.
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. So far I'd recommend them, that might change once I get to try them out in the cold.

I would never walk 3miles in a bootfoot wader. A Simms stocking foot wader with solid boots. All day long

Didn't have a problem with them. But I walk a lot, rarely get blisters, I know what my feet like.

I like my gator waders, but these looked like a good wader set up. They have some interesting features on them that mine don't.

I did see something though where their boot sizes ran a little big.

KWood, glad to hear you like the Gator Waders. How do you like the boots on them? Most comfortable boots I’ve ever had on waders. You get comfortable with the elastic straps?

I like the boots. I wear a size 11.5 and got the 12's. They've yet to slide off when walking through muck. I wish they were about an inch or two longer from the inseam down though. I've got a limited range of motion while trying to sit, squat, or kneel. I'm 6' and at the top end of their regular size waders, but too short for the tall.
The elastic strap are alright, the more clothes I wear, the better they stay.

Bump.

BTW those $49 Academy specials are still being used. The neoprene is cut up in a spot but not leaking. My son uses them later season or when we're hunting in water (not the shoreline). He's 6'7" 250# now so there's no room for layering, but they do work.

I had a pair of breathable waders from academy - went through three pairs this past season.
I appreciate the warranty and return deal with academy, but i was tired of dealing with it.

Decided this year to either go with Sitka or Chene - just depends on what availability of sizes and colors.

I went with Simms for the exact reason on the Academy waders... it was great when they had what I needed to exchange but when they didn't it was a royal PITA.... time will tell if Simms are any better in regards to seam leaks....

My biggest issue with the academy waders was the inventory, now as of the last few weeks, I warrantied the last pair of breathable waders i had been using as a back up pair for the upcoming seasons.
Cannot beat the warranty deal through academy - one is none and two is one.

Now as for waders - does anyone on here have experience with chene waders? I'm so on the fence to get them, but all of my other gear i have for waterfowl is in Optifade Marsh/Timber.
I'm on a list with a Sitka dealer to get some "Earth" colored waders, but he said he wont get any inventory until mid-summer.

Chene for bigger built Fellas, and Sitkas for the athletic type. Nothing even comparable.

The science says to buy once and cry once

Delta waterfowl did a study on it

in Cancun

Btw, those gator waders weren't worth a crap. Boots ended up dry rotting after a season, company wouldn't warranty because they were 2 months past the one year warranty.
I can not recommend the gator waders.

I will have to agree with Kwood on the Gator Waders, same thing happen to mine, did not last two seasons and Gator waders would not do anything, Boots dry rotted on mine as well, same thing happened on a couple of friends too, GW said F you only covered for 1 year.

I have been wearing waders for 40 years and never had a pair of boots dry rot that soon if ever.

I’m my opinion GW is selling a defective product.

I would not recommend anyone buy Gator Waders.

I liked everything else about them and had no issues with the material other than the boots.

Not sure what style you went with in the Simms line, but I doubt you will have issues. If you do, their customer service is top notch.

Sitka, brah

Agree. I’ve worn both and both are great. To me the Chene feel like they’ll outlast the Sitkas.

Bought my Chene before the solid Browns came out, which is what I really wanted. If someone wants a deal on a nearly new set of Chene Bottomland size 11, shoot me a PM