It's Time For Something Better Than Wiggy Waders

[TheAri]

Reviving this thread, it’s now 2025, the future is upon us. Do we have a viable solution yet?

 

[HighUintas]

I got a pair of wiggys last year and used them a couple of times. For deep river crossings, I think they're great, but could be lighter if I'm going to backpack with them. I haven't needed to yet.

I think it would be fairly easy to make up something similar to the goose feet gear waiders. Find whatever lightweight WP fabric, cut the pattern, weld the seams, and coat the foot with something durable. I'm thinking that Aquaseal could work. An alternative that would be really durable would be to coat the foot with anything layer of Aquaseal or barge cement and then mix up some of the same stuff with chipped tire and coat it with that on the bottom. I'm not sure if the actual name of the chipped tire stuff. I saw it in a video of a guy that made moccasins and coated the sole with that.

 

[JDBAK]

I’ve used Crocs with Katula micro spikes along with regular waders.

 

[z987k]

Reviving this thread, it’s now 2025, the future is upon us. Do we have a viable solution yet?

For moose hunting, the choata tundra hippies and a pair of wadding shoes with vibram soles works amazingly well.

 

[ezwy]

What if you had a pair of wiggys or something similar with a lightweight felt booty over it?

 

[z987k]

What if you had a pair of wiggys or something similar with a lightweight felt booty over it?

Felt soles are illegal.

 

[ezwy]

Felt soles are illegal.

maybe just a huge croc then.

 

[rustyN]

What if you had a pair of wiggys or something similar with a lightweight felt booty over it?

Not exactly what you said, but a two piece system is probably a great option.

ultralight waterproof hip wader with thin sole, then an "overboot" type thing with drawstring made out of a heavy duty and preferably waterproof material. If the overboot wears through, you can buy just it as a replacement. If you know you'll be somewhere without all the rocks, you can use the main ultralight piece without the over boot.

 

[z987k]

maybe just a huge croc then.

Maybe like a lightweight wadding shoe with a vibram sole? This exists.
And you could have something like a light hip wadder with neoprene feet and a drawstring that goes up and down real easy?
Like the tundra hippies?

 

[JayAdel]

It's crazy that there still isn't a good answer to this problem

 

[z987k]

It's crazy that there still isn't a good answer to this problem

The tundra hippies are the answer.
If you only need to cross once and otherwise are not around water, crocs are the answer.

 

[JayAdel]

The tundra hippies are the answer.
If you only need to cross once and otherwise are not around water, crocs are the answer.

Its close, but just not quite.

Say we are hunting at around 10-15 degrees. Wide shallow water that's knee high and need to move quick. The chotas are still going to get my legs wet. Crocs are okay, but now I need to strip down, take off my sock and shoes, pull my layers up, if I can, usually not, and I've blown 20 minutes.

 

[mtwarden]

If you’re going to be constantly in water, only a real wader is going to work.

BUT for a lot of folks, a simple (and lightweight) knee-ish high “wader” for fording streams would suffice.

The upper portion could be a very light waterproof fabric, the very lower section could be fairly light, but still durable enough to take some abrasion from the stream bed.

Except no one makes one—yet anyways.

 

[chancey]

the Wiggys work well for me but I agree on the durability issue. I take my boots off and put crocs on over the Wiggy foot to protect them which is time consuming.

 

[z987k]

Its close, but just not quite.

Say we are hunting at around 10-15 degrees. Wide shallow water that's knee high and need to move quick. The chotas are still going to get my legs wet. Crocs are okay, but now I need to strip down, take off my sock and shoes, pull my layers up, if I can, usually not, and I've blown 20 minutes.

Then you need a full chest wader. There's nothing about those that are light or quick. And you can't make them so without making them all but worthless.

With the hip length wadder, wide open knee deep creek, wear a quick drying pant with a DWR coating as your top layer, so when the bit of splash gets on your hips, it doesn't matter. Your legs would be dry because they cover all of your legs.