It's Time For Something Better Than Wiggy Waders

[Kevin Dill]

I ended up designing a foot-less 'wader gaiter' that works. Basically, think of Wiggy's without the bottom...cut off at the ankle. There are 2 cinch cords at the bottom to keep water from intruding inside and up the leg. Another cinch cord at the top along with a piece of webbing and buckle for attaching to the belt if desired. The idea is to pull them on over your waterproof boots. Tighten the 2 bottom cinch cords over the boots, then secure the top of the waders. They are definitely not for long, slow wades or standing in knee/thigh deep water, because eventually some water will work its way under the lower edge of the gaiters and past the cinch cords. They do a good job of keeping water out during a crossing lasting under a minute. Part of it depends on the boot of course. Once across the stream, yank them and shake off the water. I had them made from a stronger sil-poly fabric, so they stuff in a small bag.

 

[HighUintas]

I ended up designing a foot-less 'wader gaiter' that works. Basically, think of Wiggy's without the bottom...cut off at the ankle. There are 2 cinch cords at the bottom to keep water from intruding inside and up the leg. Another cinch cord at the top along with a piece of webbing and buckle for attaching to the belt if desired. The idea is to pull them on over your waterproof boots. Tighten the 2 bottom cinch cords over the boots, then secure the top of the waders. They are definitely not for long, slow wades or standing in knee/thigh deep water, because eventually some water will work its way under the lower edge of the gaiters and past the cinch cords. They do a good job of keeping water out during a crossing lasting under a minute. Part of it depends on the boot of course. Once across the stream, yank them and shake off the water. I had them made from a stronger sil-poly fabric, so they stuff in a small bag.

Can you post a picture? Who made them?

 

[Kevin Dill]

Can you post a picture? Who made them?

No pics because they are packed away in my gear stored in Alaska. I had a local person make them for me.

 

[Superdoo]

I like that idea @Kevin Dill. I wonder if you tried using a strip of neoprene on the bottom and cinched that with a pull strap and velcro... you might get them to be a little more watertight.
The strap would work similar to the wrist strap on a pair of gloves.

 

[HighUintas]

These are awesome ideas. I might have to try to make some myself! I think a neoprene strip that tightens over the cuff of the boot would work well and a Velcro attachment would be really easy to do at home

 

[Kevin Dill]

Whatever you do, keep in mind that the force of water flowing and pushing against your legs is also working to find its way under the lower edge of a gaiter. It's different than wading in standing water by far. Any wrinkles, folds or small gaps will be where water gets through. The idea is to get a tight seal (x 2) and thereby make it hard for the water to finally get past the gaiter and up to your boot top....before you exit the water. The neoprene/velcro band sounds nice, but you'll have to engineer it and see if it works.

 

[Mooseknuckle22]

I had goosefeet gear make me some hip waders that go over my boots for quick crossings. The cinches aren't strong enough alone to hold the waders up so I loop them around my belt and that works great. I had to seam seal them myself but they're pretty slick and lightweight. I haven't put them through their paces yet but they seem very durable especially with the rubber treads on the soles.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I had goosefeet gear make me some hip waders that go over my boots for quick crossings. The cinches aren't strong enough alone to hold the waders up so I loop them around my belt and that works great. I had to seam seal them myself but they're pretty slick and lightweight. I haven't put them through their paces yet but they seem very durable especially with the rubber treads on the soles. View attachment 402366View attachment 402367

Those look very interesting and I’d love to hear how they perform, do you know what they weigh after they’ve been sealed? Oh, and this is off topic but I have to ask, why did you change your user name and what does it mean?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AkRyan]

Better question how much did they cost?

 

[Mooseknuckle22]

Those look very interesting and I’d love to hear how they perform, do you know what they weigh after they’ve been sealed? Oh, and this is off topic but I have to ask, why did you change your user name and what does it mean?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I plan on testing them once it warms up a little so I'll report back with the verdict but they came out at 8.18oz on my kitchen scale this morning.

I don't know how you can see that I changed my username but I'm not 100% sure why I did it. When I first started trying to post here I had trouble logging in and replying to threads so I was either trying to troubleshoot that or I was bored of the old name but mooseknuckle is a reference to what happens when someone wears pants that are too much of an "athletic fit". Kind of like a cameltoe. It always made me laugh when I heard it used but there's no deeper meaning to it than that

 

[Mooseknuckle22]

Better question how much did they cost?

$140

 

[mtwarden]

Nice!

8-ish oz is very svelte

any details on the rubber bottoms? thickness? would there be any benefit for the rubber to come up a little higher (durability?)?

 

[Mooseknuckle22]

Nice!

8-ish oz is very svelte

any details on the rubber bottoms? thickness? would there be any benefit for the rubber to come up a little higher (durability?)?

These are based on goosefeet gear's waterproof booties with the toughtek soles. I'm not sure if he cuts the soles himself or buys them pre-cut but extending them over the toes atleast would probably be a good idea. They're the heaviest part of the waders though so that would be the trade off.

 

[mtwarden]

^ thanks

 

[Holmes]

I had goosefeet gear make me some hip waders that go over my boots for quick crossings.

This looks really great. Please report back!

 

[sewbadithurts]

I've been chewing around this basic problem for a couple of years but have a verrrry slow dev cycle. Here are some pictures of my current version which is all 1.1 silpoly. Sorry you'll have to scroll down a little ways

https://imgur.com/a/wnLs7hz

Those are straight stocking foot style for my extended death march jump shoots on the oxbow rivers that only occasionally need crossing. So they usually stay stuffed under the gaiters where they're not in the way and not causing overheating. And they're admirably light, just under 3oz for the pair. I bet an OTB model would be about 4oz mauve 5.
One of the problems with what you're proposing is that making a truly water tight seam is pretty difficult (mine weep a little and it is just one seam) and you're probably looking at at least two seams.

Suggestion for the sole material it is easy to find this stuff called grip not slip, which head a bit of a rubberized texture, commonly found on lumbar supports on backpacks. It probably wouldn't be okay to use without some wp fab underneath it

 

[shootnrun]

Thought I'd throw this back up top and see if anyone has come across a well functioning/semi durable/mostly lightweight product.

In my usual elk spots during late winter hunts the streams are deeper than my gaiters can handle. Only 2-6 crossings a day depending on route. The garbage bags kinda work... Don't want to waste money.

 

[chucko]

I have taken my Wiggies and painted the crap out of the foot area with Flex Seal it seems to work for me

 

[HighUintas]

I ended up using a really lightweight,slim pair of wp gaiters and used a Velcro strap around the ankle on the cuff of my boot below the top of the goretex membrane on my boot. The gaiters I used are kahtoola brand and they're lightweight waterproof running type gaiters. I only use them for water crossing. Anyway, with the Velcro strap I used, I was able to get it tight enough on the cuff of my boot that I could cross a 20yd wide river about 12" deep that was flowing very fast. I used it a few times. It worked very well.

 

[Superdoo]

I ended up using a really lightweight,slim pair of wp gaiters and used a Velcro strap around the ankle on the cuff of my boot below the top of the goretex membrane on my boot. The gaiters I used are kahtoola brand and they're lightweight waterproof running type gaiters. I only use them for water crossing. Anyway, with the Velcro strap I used, I was able to get it tight enough on the cuff of my boot that I could cross a 20yd wide river about 12" deep that was flowing very fast. I used it a few times. It worked very well.

That's a great idea!