I have been involved in fly fishing for many years. During this time I met many anglers from Slovenia and abroad. With some of them, we became true friends, sharing fly fishing adventures and new experiences.
In recent years, I have noticed that we all face the same problem.
Fishing waders start to leak out after a while. This turns out to be the case with all waders brands, the only difference is that some leak earlier and other later.
Looking at the fly fishing tackle, we can say that some products are “consumables”: artificial flies, mono, fly lines. Unfortunately, this group also includes waders. But the boots are notably more expensive.
Three years ago, my friend Blaž and I started talking a lot about this problem and started looking for solutions. After many tests, we found that the main problem was seams and, in older waders, the porosity of the material (this is the condition when water passes over most of the fabric into the waders). To a lesser extent, defects resulting from mechanical damage were also shown, which represents a minor repair problem.
The main problem is the seams and their stretching in the case of dressing and undressing.
We have found a solution that extends the life of your waders by several seasons, or until the material is worn out and becomes porous. The solution is a general restoration of all the seams.
PROCESS
In the case of leaking waders, it is first necessary to determine their condition. We turn them upside down and pour water into them (to the knees area). All defects are marked and photographed, the leg is lifted and the waders are examined from the knee area to the hip area. Again, we mark and photograph the defects. This is also repeated on the other leg.
We then inform the owner about the findings. With his agreement, we estimate further procedures, costs and continue with the work. We dry the waders. If the customer does not decide to repair, we return them to the owner, otherwise, the waders are repaired. The repair process takes several days and various tests may be required, which results in an extension of the repair time. Replacement boots are given to the angler during repair time.
We found that a general repair pays off for all boots that cost € 150 or more if we extend their life span for at least one more year. The results so far showed that we extended the life span of the waders by two years or more. As we have already noticed, the boots will remain in use as long as the material lasts or until the fabric becomes porous.
I can also confirm this with the example of my waders, which are six years old. Four years ago, I fixed the first defects. Two years ago I restored them generally and the waders still hold.