Re: Waders (My $.02)

[Ryan S. Petzold]

And God knows I have two cents when it comes to waders.  I nearly managed to get Simms pulled from the shop I worked at because I decided to 'pimp' Bailey's on VFS.   Anyways... All thought I fish in now are breathables.  I cant imagine every going back to neoprene, I have yet though, to find the magic cure for cold feet.  No matter what a try my feet get cold.  This summer I bought a new pair of boots and bought them two sizes bigger which should allow for extra room and thus extra 'air space.'  Hopefully this works.   My opinions on breathables.  I've dealt with Tailwaters (crap!!), Bare (decent), Simms and Baileys.   For the money the $199 Bailey's are the best wader on the market with a limited lifetime over the counter warranty, how can you beat 'em.  We've been selling these waders for about a year and a half now and have only had to send two pairs back (both within the past month, one after very very heavy use).  All that I did was hand the customer a new pair and send the decective ones back.  Both were leaking at the seam of the foot and the breathable material.   The $295 Bailey's are sorta the Guide Weight model with reinforced 7-ply around the entire legs and like the $199 model they have built in gravel guards and built in wading belts.  The so-called guide wieghts (XTH's is the official name) also come with a fleece handwarmer.  And like the $199 Bailey's they come with the same warranty.  I've been carry this model since they came out and have not had a single pair come back.  The biggest complaint I have found with the Bailey's is that they are not cut as well as the Simms.  I've had customers buy the Simms not because they though they were a better wader but because they fit much better.   The Lightweights Simms actually went down in price to compete with the $199 Bailey's.  They are an excellent wader as well and to tell you the truth I have never had a pair come back but since the Bailey's have the built in gravel guards and wading belt you get more bang for you buck.  But the Simms Lightwieghts are reinforced in the lower legs where the Bailey's just have a built in knee-pad.   I fish the Simms Guideweights and they are great waders but after 15 months of hard use they do have a couple leaks.  My biggest problem with the Simms have been their warranty policy which is why I sell the Bailey's because they have few problems and an excellent warranty.   But Simms has now changed their warranty policy due to some problems with some customers and be bad-mouthing them on VFS (the president of Simms wasnt too happy about that).  Effective imediatley Simms will warranty their product over the counter for 30 days and within the the first year of use the first repiar is on them.  Is this warranty as good as the Bailey's?  No, I can say that I have again regained confidence in Simms and do not have a problem selling them anymore.   This all took place in the last month and for probally the first time I had an excellent experience with Simms and their warranty policy.  I sent back a pair of heavily used '98 Bootfoots Guideweights.  They had actually been sent back a couple times before and there were charges both times.  But this time there was no charge and they were kind enough to refelt the bottoms of the boots for him.   Since that experience is has become a total tossup for me between the Bailey's and the Simms...we'll just have to see what happens when I said back my pair...   Sorry about the rant!! Ryan ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 4:41 PM Subject: Re: Waders Regarding the wader theme, I have found waist high, boot-foot neoprene waders tgo be very satisfactory for the saltwater use.  When in a boat, the wasit-high protects me from the wind, and makes launching and retrieving the boat very easy and comfortable.  I gort these years ago from Gander Mountain, a mail order outfit similar to Cabella's, but don't think they are still in business.  I do know that Cabella's has a similar product. For Freshwater use, float tubing, I did have neoprenes I used for years.  One model with knee patches cemented on were showing leaks at the fused knee patches within the fisrt month of use.  In the spring I guess I was using them about 5 days a month. After replacing them with a model without knee patches, I had no further problems.   No matter what brand I used, they seemed to be leak free for only about one and one-half seasons.  Then leaks galore. I was skeptical of gore-tex waders for quite awhile due to experience with early gore-tex rain jackets.  I did spring for a pair of Simms gore-tex waders, and have been extremely satisfied. No problems going into my fourth year.  I use them for float tubes, streams but not the salt water so far.  I was dubious about the price of these things at  first, but I would gladly buy them again as they are the only ones that have worked as well, and held up keeping me dry and happy. Paul