Wading trousers

[Paul Bullinger]

I wanted to ask Forum members their views on wading trousers (as opposed to chest waders)
I did search Forum History but the last post I could see about this subject was in 2017.
Does anyone use them and if so, are they any good? I have a pair of chest waders but I don't always need the fuller coverage they give.
Any advise would be gratefully received.

 

[Ian Woods]

I was trying to find a decent set of waist waders for years, I couldn't find a set worth a carrot!
For the majority of my wading I wear aigle rubber thight waders which are excellent. I fold em over when walking between swims but when its cold in winter I might leave them up.
I've had a set of greys breathable waders and felt soled boots for a good 12 or more years now and they are also excellent. I found if I get hot in summer and am wearing my breathable chesties that rolling the top half of them down to the belt they are fine and are basically a waist wader.
I recently got a set of wychwood gorge breathable chesties and they will be fine to roll the top down if I get warm.
The only drawback with the chesties is having to roll them down further when you want a slash, but I think you still have to do that with most waist waders anyhow as the zip feature is usually a fold of material below it.
No faffing about with the aigle rubber thigh wades when you need a slash, they do give lots of freedom.

I did find that the better looking sets of waistwaders were more expensive than a good set of chesties which seemed crazy, so I gave up on them and got the extra set of wychwood Gorges which are a cracking buy.

Here's a link to a review of them on youtube...

 

[Jim Brook]

I was considering getting the Patagonia wading trousers as I already have some of there packable chest waders which I rate highly if a little expensive though, I like the pack down size and think the trousers would be a good choice too, just put them inside your bag for longer walks