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[HOOK]

those of you with Simms jackets - if your getting wet sleeves under your coat then your not tightening the wrist enough. it should be fairly snug but not so much so your hand goes tingly. I have done as Matt and reached all the way down and left my arm in the water until i could feel the water getting by the cuff, took probably close to 20-30seconds with my G4 jacket  now if im fly fishing a single hander i do get damp to my elbow from the slight amount of rain trickling down my arm all day while casting. with my old raincoat i would have a puddle at my elbow. I have owned so many different coats/jackets/cheap wading jackets and glad i finally broke down and got something worth what i spent (im not however looking forward to the day i ever have to replace it)


Biggest reason for a wading jacket and especially one worth something is the breathing ability, this will keep you dry, warm and very comfy. remember that wading jackets are just shells for the most part and its up to you to layer properly underneath. I have been out in -12 weather in a t-shirt, Airwalk sweater(cotton) and then my wading jacket and been perfect, when i start walking alot of times i actually have to undo the jacket because i start getting to warm and sweating is bad in cold weather. another huge thing that some wading jackets dont have is handwarmer pockets, I will never have a jacket without them and they need to be fleece lined, i actually keep my fingertipless gloves in there full time.

for those of you that are shopping around for a jacket, make sure you do your research because you can get pretty good quality for half of what the Simms jackets cost. my dad himself wears a jacket from Vision and he loves it, i grabbed it used for him for $120 i think its normally around $200 so it can pay to look around especially if you can find stuff on sale, I know of a website thats blowing out alot of LOOP stuff but they arent a supporter here so ...........

[Funeral Of Hearts]

now if im fly fishing a single hander i do get damp to my elbow from the slight amount of rain trickling down my arm all day while casting. with my old raincoat i would have a puddle at my elbow.

Ah yes. that makes sense. I was on the fly for a good part of the day, probably why my wrist got wet. That and I didn't have it as tight around my wrist as i should have.

[Matt]

You can negate the small amount of water that does get through the cuff by wearing fleece (better) or wool (best) underneath.  Avoid cotton, it doesn't retain its ability to insulate when wet.  I wear a merino wool top, under a light wool sweater under Goretex.  Not only does this keep me comfortable in a really wide range of temperatures, I stay warm even if i do get a little wet.  I've completely filled waders between many times between October and Mar, emptied them out, put my wool clothes back on and fished in comfort the rest of the day in relative comfort.  I'd have been hypothermic in cotton clothes.

[Speyhead]

My Redington has worked for me 

[Tex]

You can negate the small amount of water that does get through the cuff by wearing fleece (better) or wool (best) underneath.  Avoid cotton, it doesn't retain its ability to insulate when wet.  I wear a merino wool top, under a light wool sweater under Goretex.  Not only does this keep me comfortable in a really wide range of temperatures, I stay warm even if i do get a little wet.  I've completely filled waders between many times between October and Mar, emptied them out, put my wool clothes back on and fished in comfort the rest of the day in relative comfort.  I'd have been hypothermic in cotton clothes.

^^^100% agree with Matt.  I switched to Merino base layers a couple years ago after discussing the merits of them with Matt and will never go back to poly or fleece as my base layer again.  And NEVER cotton.  

My typical set-up is this...

Lower body:
- one pair of good merino wool socks, merino long johns if it's cold, fleece pants over top of them, then my waders.

Upper body:
- longsleeve merino wool shirt, short-sleeve merino wool shirt over top, fleece sweater, rain jacket.

I stay warm, dry, and comfortable in almost all conditions.  The only things I'll change from above is during really cold weather (ie. winter steelhead) I'll add one more pair of wool or synthetic socks (but not so thick that it cuts off circulation when I wear my wading boots), or else sometimes instead of my rain jacket I'll wear a soft-shell windbreaker if it's not raining.

Tex

[mvelasco]

Don't want to high jack a thread but do neoprene waders in the rain serve better than rain pants?

[Tex]

Don't want to high jack a thread but do neoprene waders in the rain serve better than rain pants?

Depends what you're using them for. 

Are you wading?  Are you splashing through puddles?  Is it cold out?  Then yes waders would be better. 

If it's warm and you're not wading (ie. you're in a boat) then rain pants would probably be much more comfortable.

But if you're simply talking about staying dry, of course waders are going to be superior.

[cutthroat22]

I went out picking mushrooms today in my wetskins from Costco and my legs were wet in a couple of hrs. I guess thats why the call them wetskins.

Really?  I rode a motorcycle for a season with them in lots of nasty weather and have used them for a lot of fishing and hiking and still stay dry.   

They are not breathable so if you are sweating a lot they can get wet inside.