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[180gall]

Hey everyone.
I in the market for my first pair of breathable
waders and I am wondering how the bear blackwater
waders hold up. Any suggestions would be great.
ie. what is best bang for buck and best location for
purches.

[BigFisher]

SImms Freestones, all you need to know.

[leadbelly]

I liked my Blackwaters, Bare replaced them once, then again when that pair came apart.
Bare gave me this year a pair of Addams though the cut is different and i had to go back for a smaller size
Bare told me on the phone they will replace them up to a year from when I got the last pair.

[GordJ]

I was a big fan of Bare waders until I got a pair of the new "Golds". I had a pair of the Sharkskins until the butt literally wore right out.  I got a pair of the brand new, top of the line, Golds to replace the old waders and the first time out one foot leaked and I took it in to them for repair. I also decided that there is a design flaw in that there is no center loop for the wading belt and if you have it undone it falls off. Real handy in wader with a zipper. After the repair I tried again and this time  both feet leaked and one of the pockets started coming off the chest. Replaced with a new pair, charged me twenty bucks to install a center belt loop and I bought a pair of wading boots. Trim started coming off the new waders, insole not glued in one of the wading boots. After they re-attached the trim on the waders they looked for a new pair of boots and found that all of them had one foot not glued. But no problem, insole glued in and waders returned with the instructions "if the trim comes off again just use a hot iron to stick it back on". If I had any advice it would be to BewARE until such time as they are able to have some sort of quality control in place.

[180gall]

Thanks for the input. So Simms it is. But befor I pull the trigger is it
worth the extra $50 for the headwaters (for the built in hand warmer
pocket) or just go with the better price freestones?

[Geff_t]

I know bare had issues with quality control especially with the gold waders where they had to ship entire shippments back to china. The vedders and adams have both been good once they got the quality under control. They now pressure test the waders before they hit the stores. I bought a pair of the Adams and have had no issues what so ever. I wanted a pair of the gold because of the front zipper but it just was not worth the head aches that one could possibly have when they have so many issues.  I owned a pair of simms before these and at first they where good but after the first year I had nothing but leaks. Was glad to finally be rid of them.

   I am finding that buying breathable waders is a guessing game with what kind of quality you get and it differs from one shippment to the next. What finally got me to buy the ones from Bare it was that they do test their waders before they go out and they have a good warranty with alot less hassle then having to ship your Simms to the states and wait and wait and wait. If you have a problem with your Bare waders, they are just over in Langley and this makes it alot easier to deal with warranty.

[milo]

So far no issues with my BARE Adams waders. My experience with BARE is that if you get a defective pair, it shows right away (first or second outing) and it is no hassle to exchange them.
It's been eight months since I bought my Adams and all is good after maybe a dozen or so outings. I also have an old pair of Blackwaters (the green ones) that are still going strong, but I had to exchange them three times until a got a good pair years ago. I like BARE's no hassle warranty and the fact that it is a Canadian company, but with all the manufacturing being in China now I see no reason to support them unless they produce a top-notch product, which doesn't seem to be the case.

Has Fred's resumed selling the BARE brand? That would be an indicator of how seriously BARE has dealt with quality control issues that has plagued their wader production.

[180gall]

Deffinetly some food for thought. Thanks

[blaydRnr]

Thanks for the input. So Simms it is. But befor I pull the trigger is it
worth the extra $50 for the headwaters (for the built in hand warmer
pocket) or just go with the better price freestones?

if you can afford it go for the hand warmer pocket...i've had my freestones for about 6 years and i've only had to repair a minor leak last year (i've put them through hell and back)...will probably need to replace them by the end of this steelhead season, but other than that, i can't complain.

[Steely]

Thanks for the input. So Simms it is. But befor I pull the trigger is it
worth the extra $50 for the headwaters (for the built in hand warmer
pocket) or just go with the better price freestones?

I own a pair of headwaters, they're light weight and tough/durable. Bare's in my opinion still have an issue with leaking, owned 2 pairs, both leaked within a year. When buying the headwaters I too considered the freestones and this is what I was told. The freestones are an imported product, the headwaters are made in the US. Simms stands behind there US products more then the ones made overseas so I was told by the tackle shop. Plus, the headwaters are made with goretex as well, freestones were not. I love my headwaters and strongly recommend them

[Pin-nook]

Own Simms G4 Pros that I've had for 2 years but always seem to go back to the Bare Blackwaters if I'm in a rush to get out fishing. 6-7 years and still going strong, if you look after your gear it should last a lot longer.

[180gall]

Thanks for all the imput.
I stopped in at Fred's today and pulled the trigger
on a set of Simms freestone.