Breathable Wader Longevity

[Wildfisher]

I think I may have  cracked this. Have two pairs of breathables. One good pair for use on sensible, reassuringly  expensive waters and trips to New Zealand  plus one tatty, cheap Bison style  old pair  for home use on bramble and barbed wire infested rivers. You can patch up the leaks, pin holes and barbed wire fence tears with silicon RTV and nylon fabric patches keeping  them going for years. This approach seems to be working for me so far this season. There is no point whatsoever using expensive waders on rivers that run though farmland, they are bound to get trashed. 

[aliferste]

So....... you have an old tatty pair of waders?

[Wildfisher]

Sure do and a classy pair for classy places. The latest application of RTV is drying on the tatty ones as I type.

[Midgie Hater]

I'm still up to my nipples in rubber.

Oh, and I also have some waders.

[Midgie Hater]

Being serious for a moment (it happens sometimes), I don't think I'll get breathables in the near future, partly because of the cost and also because of said vulnerability, albeit as Fred points out, this can be easy to remedy. I am however considering some cheap-ish neoprenes for when I fish the chilly glacier-fed waters of Oregon's Sandy River which will hopefully become my "local" (apparently it remains cold even after good warm spell), and since you mention Bison I notice their breathables are cheap-as-chips on Ebay. Any experience of them? I've never had neoprene waders so, in good Manuel-style "I know nothing".

[nacnud]

I had my Simms breathable waders pressure tested and repaired by "Diver Dave" in Aberdeen, great job and since then, now into my third season with them with no problems.

[Allan Crawford]

Not sure about cheap neoprenes tendency to leak at the seems. I got snowbee ones that have a good bit of stretch in them. Oceans good and easiest to fix.

[Highlander]

There is still a lot to be said for the  Oceans & similar. My pair still going strong afer 3/4 years. Just a pity you sweat like buggery in them on any thing more than a cool day but if you are not walking too far then they are ideal.
Having said that I invested in a set of Orvis Endura & Clearwater boots & so far though they have not had heavy use are fine & you always have the excellent Orvis warranty to back you up. So similar to Fred I will call them my "good" waders.

Tight Lines

[Wildfisher]

The point of the thread was really, don't use "good" waders, no matter what they are made of on rivers where there is loads of barbed wire, brambles etc. If you do pretty soon they will no longer be "good" waders. Don't chuck out old leaky, tatty ones. Patch them and keep them  for these dodgy places which tend to be most lowland rivers and burns that run through farmland in Scotland. This becomes more and more of an issue as the season progresses and these man traps are hidden in the rank vegetation.

[east wind]

I tend to work the opposite way round. All the rivers I fish regularly have the same puncture risks so I use the toughest, most durable I have at the time that will fend off some of the hazards.

If they have to be repaired or replaced I have a cheaper backup that I use only to fill the fishing gap. As soon as the first choice are ready the backup pair are put back in their box.

There's one stream I fish that would quickly take out any quality of breathable wader. I can just about get away with thigh waders. Cheap ones.

Its more noticeable the amount of barbed wire at ground level as fences are taken out by floods and replaced further back. Extra care required even just walking now.