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3. Hip Waders

Looking at the input, form others here a while back & a lot of other sites, there seems to be a growing number of anglers fed up, with the junk waders we are being sold now, for high prices & ever greater write ups, on how good they are. Made down to a low price over sea.

Had more models of hip stocking foot waders over the years. Have just become Num, to the crap, I have used, read about & seen, in the fly fishing industry. I only fish small streams, where the going is tough, on the body & the gear. Frost river packs & filson cloths ect, are the norm. Last for a long time, with the abuse these type of stream dish out. Never had to question if the items where able to take it or not. Built tough.
Has anyone ever made their own hip waders, with maybe a different material, then maybe glued this,onto a pair of neoprene socks, that orvis, simms ect all sell. Have been thinking along this way for a while now.

The waders on the market now are not fit, for fuction, for the sport of small stream fishing, maybe 20 years back, but no way today. As for wading boots, I,ll not go there today, same problems.

Has anyone else been thinking outside the normal ideas of waders, to make their own ?????

Thank you, for any response.

Hello Stevo,



I have had issues with chest waders but even in my most depressed times I have never considered making my own. There are some very good hip waders out on the market and while I haven't done any investigation some of them might even be made in America. Personally unless you never fish water deeper than 3' I would never consider a pair of hip boots. They are just so impractical. If you want to sit down anywhere on the bank your pants will at a minimum get dirty and often streamside grass is wet so you will wind up with a damp arse!

If you slip with hip boots you will likely get wet, if you don't know the water intimately you might step into a hole just inches over the hip boot and get wet. There are a few American wader companies that manufacture waist waders. I have a pair I bought (actually my wife bought as a b-day present) from LL Bean at least a dozen years ago. I'm quite tall so when I wear waist waders I can easily wade water 3.5' deep, They are breathable waist waders with neoprene booties and the gaiters are the same material as the wader legs. There are wide, 2" - 4", wader belt loops at the waist and they come with an adjustable nylon wader belt. My wife paid $90 for them 12 years ago, They are probably close to twice that much now. I believe Orvis and Cabelas's sells waist waders and maybe Simms makes them but am not sure about that.

Cabela's is having a sale on a pair right now for $97.49.

>> The waders on the market now are not fit, for fuction, for the sport of small stream fishing, maybe 20 years back, but no way today. As for wading boots, I,ll not go there today, same problems.>>

I'd agree for the most part, although there are a reasonable selection of quality wading shoes to be had. But it is also true that given the higher mileage and rougher use a small stream angler puts the shoes through, the lifespan of the shoes is decreased by probably half compared to what a bigger water angler would get.

But it really isn't true that there are some "really good hip waders on the market", not compared with say what was available in the 70's and 80's from Ranger, Red Ball, Hodgeman and others. Basically, what you have now are the two polarities in terms of quality/price with very few selections in the middle: LL Bean for example makes a traditional boot foot hipper that are durable and pleasant to wear, but they are $189 a pair. Then, you have the Pro-Lines and a few other brands at the other end. The big box sporting goods stores load up on them every spring. They run in the $45-60 range and can be hard to find in uninsulated models or with felt soles. They are probably durable, but they are often all rubber and they are heavy and clunky.

Its a problem for the smaller water guy, for sure...

I wear waist highs, but I could almost certainly get away with hippers for 80-90% of my trout fishing as it takes place in streams under 40 feet in width. I do a lot of bulldozing, brush busting log climbing and breathable waist highs are for the most part like toasters in this sort of environment. You don't figure on them lasting very long, and they don't.

If you are serious about making your own waders, here's a project I was always going to undertake but never got around to it. Cabela's markets under their Herter's brand a 400 denier nylon full length wader. The damned things are tough, but if you fished a full season in them you'd lose 50 pounds and would need to buy a whole new wardrobe. They don't breathe...

But, if you were to buy a pair of the full waders and then have a tailor or your local alterations lady convert them into waist highs by cutting them down and using the excess materials to make loops for a wading belt, you might have something worth fishing in. Its a thought.. They aren't very expensive and you might be able to get the waders and the conversion done for say, $100 US. Which is what you pay for a pair of the wimpy, low-end breathables anyway. Here they are:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/HERTERS-STOCKINGFOOT-WADER-REG/1833024.uts?searchPath=%2Fbrowse.cmd%3FcategoryId%3D734095080%26CQ_search%3Dherter%252527s%252520waders%26CQ_st%3Db

You'll note that these waders are also available in a bootfoot model in both waders and hippers. I would not recommend them because the felts are glued, not stitched and sometimes part company with the boot sole when you are walking in muck or goop Get the stockingfoot. With a little luck and a tube or two or Goop or Aquaseal, you could get 5 years out of them. That's a long time for a pair of boots for a small stream guy.

I did a quick Google search for "high quality hip boots" and found at least half a dozen manufacturers and a couple have a 4 star customer review. Here is one pair;

http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Company-Black-Bootfoot-Endura/dp/B003TWHPZO/ref=pd_sbs_200_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=31HGUclCkqL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1GCR6ZX2A0X0FT2MZV7H

Matt, those things are insulated and have a cleated rubber or pvc sole. Which is one of the things I was griping about in my previous post. I don't care how many stars they got or who gave the stars to them. They are not a good, all-season small/medium stream hipper and I don't know anybody who does a lot of this sort of fishing who would buy them, let alone rely upon them.

Your example additionally illustrates my point...

Since I am not a hip boot person I don't know very much about them. I responded to the thread because I thought a little research on my part might give me some insight into the product. I did have a nice pair of Red Ball Flyweight hippers that my Dad got for me over 25 years ago. They weren't breathable but they were nice and light. They lasted about ten years but mostly because of very modest use. I offered that link because they looked like a very durable, albeit ugly, hip boot. I saw they have cleated rubber soles. If someone does not like the cleats they can be ground down, or off, with a power sander and very coarse sanding discs. Then apply Barge cement to the smooth soles and felts and attach with Duct tape until dry.



Well Lah de dah, I enjoy reading customer reviews of fly fishing products. It helps me make informed decisions about products that I may want to buy. If 500 people write a favorable review about a fly fishing product and only 25 wrote an unfavorable review I would tend to believe the former think it is a good product.

Don't sugar coat it, tell us how you really feel.

Hahaha, hee, hee, You couldn't of put it any better. I respond with some ideas and all I get is somebody busting my attempts of being helpful. If you want to rag on me do it via a PM.