waders!!!!??

[trailratedtj]

whats your opinions?? im looking at buying a pair for this spring/summer/fall. i have a pair of travel waders...patagonia watermaster light's but i want something that is not so thin, more durable, comfortable, stocking foot, and has a good fit.

what would you guys recommend??

Daniel

[WxGuy]

Hey Daniel,

Opinions on waders are as plentiful as opinions on rods, reels, lines, etc. so take this for what it's worth.

From my limited experience and seeing what friends of mine deal with, all waders quickly turn into leakers, and it depends on how often you fish and where you fish.

I just replaced a pair of Cabela's gold medal plus waist highs with another new pair of the very same model. I got 3 seasons of fishing out of the old pair, and fished an average of 2 days/week with them. I had to patch leaks on the seams on the old pair...just basic wear-and-tear...and never had any other leaks aside from regular seam seepage. On most of my outings I'm beating through overgrown grass, thorny bushes, and all the other goodies you find on driftless streams. Keep in mind that no pair of waders can stand up to a good line of barbed-wire.

For the price, I couldn't find a more reliable pair of waders for SE MN, but certainly there are exceptions.

My 2 cents...

[DEADhead]

The Cloudveil 8X waders are cherry. The Simms G4 are ridiculously expensive. $700 bones? come on now. Simms and Cloudveil got the last two goretex development licenses for their waders, so in theory they should also be the most technically advanced. I'd put my money on Cloudveil.

I like the Patagonia waders. The problem is, the watermaster are still basically the same model wader that came on to the market a decade ago. There's been a big change in breatheable laminates over the past five years. Patagonia needs to get on the ball, becuase they are falling behind Cloudveil and Simms.

If you are on a budget, I've had good luck with the gold medal dry plus waders from cabelas. That's the pair I use at work, and for the money, they are a good value and have held up well. Of course, they are no where near as nice as the 8X waders from Cloudveil

[DinkADunk]

The wader to get is whatever Cloudveil or Simms wader you can find on closeout at Sierra Trading Post, FleaBay, or Madison river. I have a hard time finding waders that fit so I'm always on the lookout for an inexpensive pair of Simms in my size. Waders that fit poorly develop leaks quickly and leaky waders are no fun. I do like my waist high Cabela's though for brush whacking.

[trailratedtj]

Thanks Guys,

Deadhead and Dinkadunk...

i searched all night last night and found the best deal on "fleabay". I got the Cloudveil 8x for $225. I found a couple of shops on the net asking as low as $172.50 for the cystal creek cloudveil waders but for a little over $50 i got the $435 cloudveil 8x for $225, couldnt go wrong.

the store advertising was north fork angler but the deal was only offered on "fleabay" so if you guys want a steal, id check it out. Second on my list was the cloudveil crystal creek, and then simm's rivertech wader.

i deffinately like the 5 layer gore-tex of the 8x's, plus cloudveil is a very trust worthly company.

thanks again for the help fellas. just need it to warm up a bit so i can test them out.

good fishing,

daniel

[DEADhead]

good deal daniel. I don't think you'll be disappointed with your cloudveil gear, I know I'm not.

[turiprap]

I'm knock-kneed, I guess. The first place that waders leak for me is along the inner seams where the fabric is doubled. I mention this because Dan Baily waders are sensible manufactured with the seam on the outside of the legs. I generally like the fit, features and quality of the waders as well.

[Quickstrike]

I have the Cloudveil 8X waders and wading jacket and I love them. Couldn't ask for a tougher more comfortable wader. They also come with a warranty which is tough to come by in the wader world. Cloudveil also has a few cheaper models that seem like a good value as well.

[JP Z]

I myself have Hodgeman......sadly don't probably spend the number of days in them that you guys do so they cover me fine and I think there were around $200 when I was given them. My first pair was actually a Birthday present and my backup pair was a Walmart closeout for $15 yep $15 for stockingfoot Breathables.

[trailratedtj]

one thing that spiked the idea of new waders was my patagonia waders failing pretty easily. I sat down on a rock while fly fishing in alabama and must have moved around on the rock with a can of copenhagen in my back pocket. this put a ring of pinholes in the seat of the waders. it kinda made me mad since i had only had the waders for one summer. i figured patagonia waders would be a bit more durable.

i dont think i will be disappointed with the cloudveils...i also just ordered a pair of the cloudveil 8x wader boots to go along with the waders.

[DEADhead]

I want to get the new 8x boots with the rubber soles. I think I'm about done with felt, forever.

[DinkADunk]

Good for you Daniel on the Cloudveil. I can't wear them as they don't make one that fits me. As for boots Simms and Cloudveil are good, safe choices. Some others to look for are the William Joseph (on sale at one of the sites for $50), Korkers (Sierra Trading has some of the older style and the changeable sole is great - winter rubber lug sole, summer felt, steelhead studded felt), and my favorite the Weinbrenner studded felt (they aren't on sale, but they have the best ankle support, plus they're cheap to have the soles rebuilt).

[Quickstrike]

Nice, I love those books as well. I actually have Korkers boots now, but only because the 8X was on back order in size 13.

[sodajerk]

I wear a pair of Hodgman Streamlites that I got on sale. They've held up well over the one season I used them and are leak-free as of last wearing, even after busting through some brush with them on. A better pair of Simms, Cloudveil or the like is on my wishlist though.

I have Korkers wading boots too, with the changeable soles. For some reason I never tried the felt soles out last year and stuck with the rubber lug sole all season. During hot weather on shallow streams I wade wet anyway, and use a pair of Morrell wading shoes.

[Quickstrike]

I've owned the Hodgman Guidelites as well and they were nice. However, with how often I am out, I wore through them after one season. I took good care of them and they never ripped or tore, they just wore out and slowly started letting in a bit of water around the seams. I still keep them as a backup and they would be a decent choice if someone is looking to spend a little less $. Another choice for less money would be Chota's line of waders. High quality and a reasonable price tag.

[trailratedtj]

just wanted to say these Cloudveil 8x's are the most bad a$$ waders ever!!!!! They are super tough and they fit perfect. These are my first gore-tex waders and they are just as awesome as all my other gore-tex swag. very very easy to adjust and they have the best stocking foot fit i have ever used. I cant say enough, just WOW! Go Cloudveil.

Thanks for the recommendations fellas.

p.s. these wader make my patagonia's look like a infomercial brand wader.

[Quickstrike]

I'm glad you like them too. I'm scared to see what the 8X pros are like that come out this year.

[DEADhead]

awesome. glad you're happy with them. Cloudveil's other gear is pretty solid too, including the non-angling apparel. Don't get me wrong, Patagonia makes great stuff, and I was about as die hard a fan as they come. But Cloudveil just about blew everybody out of the water with their innovation in their latest line of gear. I jumped ship to Cloudveil last year, and have never looked back.

[trailratedtj]

patagonia has been disappointing me lately. I had the whole wader issue come about and then shortly after that my still almost new softshell's welded seams started coming unwelded. Good thing they replace it for free.

[Abrams]

Dry-Plus from Cabelas, great wader at a good price.