When you break something, you want to break it right. If you snap a fly rod, you want to snap it on a big fish.
If you ruin a pair of waders, you want to croak them from overuse instead of ripping them open at the truck.
At least I’m trying to convince myself of that after discovering the dreaded inside wader seam blow out (it’s happening on the other leg too).
My left leg was soaked after Saturday’s McCloud trip, but in true writer fashion, I forgot about it entirely until this afternoon, when I went looking for what suddenly didn’t feel like a pinhole.
That’s no pinhole, nor is it repairable.
In the interest of tomorrow’s fishing, I’ve got to dig out my old (and sadly leaking) waders, which I haven’t seen since we moved.
The Upper Sacramento - overrun with wild blackberries and other thorny flora - is notoriously hard on waders, and this pair of old-style Orvis Pro-Guides suffered exactly one pinhole in a couple years of use.
Sadly, they also suffered from the fatal “inside seam” flaw, and Orvis clearly knows it, because they moved the seams on the updated version.
The good news, I suppose, is that I killed a pair of waders by using them instead of letting them rot in my garage.
The bad news is tomorrow’s trip is going to be a cold, wet one.
See you on the river, Tom Chandler.
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You know, a Real Man (= from Texas) wouldn’t let a little snag like that keep him from fishing, if he really wanted to do that sort of thing in the first place.
Suck it up, man! Where’s your machismo? Where’s your derring-do? Better yet, where’s your roll of Duct Tape?
Besides, I never let a little cold and wet slow ME down. I simply stay home where it’s warm and dry, and leave the cold and wet to the beer I lovingly guzzle…
Waders are specifically designed with materials which are attracted to sharp objects during autumn and winter. You should know better.
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_73161?cm_mmc=froogle-_-400-19-3-_–1-_-38-400-087-30&hvarAID=froogle&mr:trackingCode=941108D8-4FA4-DD11-B7E2-001422107090&mr:referralID=NA
Stop crying, it is totally repair able get a couple of the Goretex patch kits they dry quickly and work well. My waders are now practically made from them.
Being miserable to the point you start to enjoy it is half the fun Tom…
When I took off my waders last Saturday I noticed my ass was wet. I do hope it was due to leaky waders. In any event, on Sunday I applied Aquaseal to the problem area. If, in fact, the waders are the problem.
TC….if this is your way of conning a poor suspecting widow out of her late husbands brand new in the box Simms G4s (that he never got to fish before his untimely demise), forget it…….every women in that position has all ready been warned. So get on your knees and beg like the rest us and just maybe the L&T will have shamless pity on you and forgo her new curtains for the kitchen.
Nick: Would you like to point out the bit where I was “crying?” As for a repair, even with the patch kit provided with the Orvis waders, I’ve never had a seam patch hold up for any length of time - especially a seam that’s splitting out on both legs due to abrasion coupled with stress. Think I’ll pass on the repair and let Orvis figure it out.
I spent two winters on the river with leaky, pinholed waders, I’m not doing it again.
I sympathize. I hate it when you have a quality piece of gear that go sideways on you right when you need it the most. Being brand new to fly fishing, I do even own a pair of waders yet, but I still know how it must feel. It’s really too bad they can’t be repaired…
Uh, by the way, er, what size are those? If, uh, you decide you can’t fix them, um, perhaps you can send them down here and I’ll, uh, use them for watering the garden or something. Yeah, that’s it, I’ll patch them up using Seam Seal and large patches of coated nylon and use them for gardening. Yeah, gardening, you know how much I love gardening…
Aquaseal is amazing stuff. I’d try repairing before pronouncing those waders DOA. Check out this link for more on wader repair - http://www.wayupstream.com/2008/04/hole-story.html
So Tom, what’s it gonna be? The green, repair em till they rot off your legs and float away downstream, or the go for brand new, been working my tail off, I deserve a new pair of waders? Remember, global warming may be hanging in the balance here. (Or go the way of helping those less fortunate than you and send them to your poor, wet wading brother?)
Ha..had the same thing happen to me last week. Ripped a little hole in my waders the weekend before and instead of bring my good waders, I brought back the ones with a hole.
Makes for a unpleasant weekend :)
I know what you mean about breaking something in the right way or at the right time. I have broken a few rods on nice fish but I have also slammed the car door on a few over the years. I have stepped on rod or two as well.
I always have extra rods just in case but the waders, when they go it really can suck.
I was fishing a trout pond and decided to hike through the bush to another pond that was only about 15 minutes away. I stepped up on a downed tree to get over it rather than just walk around it.
I lost my balance so I grabbed a branch to balance myself, it broke and fell face first into the tree. I never got a scratch but both legs of my brand new waders were torn right at the knees.
I said a few things at that moment that, well I don’t say those kind of things very often.
But the day wasn’t a really cold day, just a wet one.