You may recall that during my last fishing excursion I discovered my nearly-new 5mm Ocean neoprene chest waders were leaking quite badly. No fun in Winter! I weighed up the pros and cons of getting them fixed by the legendary Diver Dave or just buying a new pair and eventually settled on the latter and ordered some 4mm Snowbee neoprenes from Uttings. Bit of a bargain at about £80 but when they arrived I discovered that despite going one size bigger than my shoe size they were a terrible fit. The forefoot was too tight and the heel was too wide so back they went. What next Corporal Hargreaves? Fuck it, time to revert to plan B and try this Diver Dave out so I contacted him for a quote and got my waders sent to him. With the special Repel coating added for good measure I think I spent about £65 to fix a pair of waders that cost me £100 when new but they fit me, and finding stuff that fits me is a struggle!
I got them back after a couple of weeks but have yet to test them – fingers crossed all is well. I also decided that they can no longer stay crumpled in the corner of the garage and splashed out on a Wychwood Wader bag, the new updated version no less. I excitedly unpacked my new purchase, driven wild by the heady smell of PVC and rubber and the presence of numerous zips and pockets. Keen to maximise enjoyment I revisited the description on the website to understand how you are meant to use the bag but became confused at When you arrive at home the wader bag is designed to be open up and hung using the eyelets in the cordura hangers, allowing air to flow through the large mesh panels drying your waders naturally which limits mould growth and prevents damage.
I could not find any cordura hangars. It drove me mad, thinking they must be hidden in a secret pocket somewhere and I was just being incredibly stupid. Eventually I emailed troutcatchers and asked them if they knew where I could find these cordura hangers. They had to get onto the Wychwood brand manager who finally explained that the description released to suppliers had not been updated for the new model WHICH DOESN’T HAVE ANY CORDURA HANGERS. Mystery solved! And here I am writing a blog post about it. It literally screams middle age man with nothing better to do but write a lengthy blog post about his wader bag drama. Terrifying, utterly terrifying. I feel an overpowering urge to buy some driving gloves and a pair of moleskin trousers. I keep re-reading this post and can’t understand how it came to this, how did I become this much of a cantankerous old bastard?!
I have found that it is not necessary to spend a great deal of money on waders as they don’t last that long anyway. I have had expensive Simms waders before and they only lasted five minutes. Never again.
Thank f*#k for that, I thought it was just me! Ultimately, it’s the little things that break you. Keep up the good work.
Waders, great topic for a wet stormy day. I was looking at my half created blogs and the last one started in lock down was “Ramblings of a fisherman with too much time on his hands ” it started with issues about what’s on the telly and moved on to boots & gaiters. There was then sub headings of hill camping, float tubing and other bollocks but nothing on waders.
I am a cheapskate and don’t like spending too much on something which only last one season but I liked the idea of waist waders as we/I walk long distances in these things and a full chest one is too much and you don’t need to go too deep if fishing lochs. Bison did a pair for £89 and one review reckoned his bum looked big in it (?) The fit is not attractive but I lost my cute arse about 20 years ago so doesn’t matter and never did. They are good but taken some strain as walk bloody miles in them the heel has gone but with a neoprene repair kit as good as new and tested & ready for 2022 salmon, sea trout and June Sutherland brown trouts. might get new ones for Iceland though saves hassle at customs in August.
Bob, I think you are getting old if you think you need a wader bag let alone buying one!
tight lines for 2022, I’m up in Assynt mid/late June and Forsinard early June