Its doubtful you will be happy with new breathable waders costing $200 if you fish often. The closest thing I can think of are Simms Freestones for just shy of $300. Waders are probably one of, if not the most important piece of gear owned by an angler. Skimp on floats, toques, food, swivels etc, but not waders.
Price or hype doesn`t mean everything Matt. I`ve had a $100 dollar pair of breathables that are still in use after about 4 years of service and they are used as my primary boat waders now. Boat waders are get far more abuse on the seams as you are constantly getting up and sitting down all day long while fly fishing, aqua seal is a must though. I`ve also had the last discontinued model of Simms Guide waders(when they moved the Guide leg seams to the front even before the G3`s had them there) leak right out of the box
I had to move up to the G3`s cause the Guides were discontinued for warranty. The G3`s were nice but spendy$$$ waders but I got tired of fighting with my waders at the end of the day because the calf area is very narrow. I sold them and moved on.
Latest waders are Dan Bailey Lightweights scored for $180 usd all in and shipped to Washington State. I took my money on the Simms G3`s I sold and the money I saved on $300-$400 waders and bought another fly rod that I will have for life hopefully. Breathable waders are a crapshoot and my philosophy now is to go a bit cheaper, get a good warranty(like Bailey`s) and carry some aquaseal....spend savings on new fly rods, reels or lines
BTW, if you haven`t already check out the reviews of the Bailey Lightweights....I would say for under $200,$300$400, they are the best bang for your buck....granted I haven`t thoroughly put the Bailey`s through the gears if anything goes wrong I`ll fall back on the warranty for now.
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Topic: Buying new waders... (Read 7485 times)