# Wader Boot question



## Ecpk91 (Jun 13, 2018)

I found the responses below on the wader question helpful. My question though is about the rubber booting, I bought the frogg toggs zip out liner waders last season and they were awesome. I store my waders indoors, spray off after every hunt. I put them on this year and holy crap all along the crotch area pin hole leakes, and to top it off the rubber booting cracks and splits right about three inches down from the wader liner. I found this to be the problem with all my rubber boots on every brand I own. My cabelas breatheable, cabelas 5mm, frogg toggs. So now I am searching for a better rubber insulated boot. Has anyone else ran into this problem with the rubber boot cracking and splitting? Ive tried all kinds of patching to seal the cracks, aqua seal, t-rex water proof tape with aqua JB weld around the tape edges. Ticks me off that I can't seem to get three years out of a pair of waders before the boot cracks. Any suggestions on how to prevent this or any suggestions on which wader has the most durable rubber boot?


----------



## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

The rubber boots don't seem to last worth a crap. It's been this way since I started waterfowl hunting 31 years ago. Every boot has cracked on me, some within the first season of use, including my Frogg Toggs last year. 

I have had multiple Cabelas brand, Hodgmans, Lacrosse, Frogg Toggs and others that the boots have all cracked. The only pair of waders that the boots haven't cracked are the $99 waders many of us on this forum purchased 4 or 5 years ago. Those just leak everywhere else.:smile:


----------



## Ecpk91 (Jun 13, 2018)

Does anyone know of or suggest a great regular boot foot wader then? or know of any? I found an orvis brand sold out of course


----------



## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/122...ers-SR0&csp=a&searchTerm=hunting waders&pos=1

I've had great luck with these LL Bean breathables, I'm on my 5th season with them and no troubles at all so far. They are pricy but worth it in the long run IMO. No problems in the boots so far, I've gone back and forth on the best way to store them and I think just putting them loosely folded on the shelf, with no pressure on the boot/wader seam, seems to work best.


----------



## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

Pumpgunner said:


> https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/122...ers-SR0&csp=a&searchTerm=hunting waders&pos=1
> 
> I've had great luck with these LL Bean breathables, I'm on my 5th season with them and no troubles at all so far. They are pricy but worth it in the long run IMO. No problems in the boots so far, I've gone back and forth on the best way to store them and I think just putting them loosely folded on the shelf, with no pressure on the boot/wader seam, seems to work best.


I bought the LL Bean waders last year. They're nice, well made, good features. But the heel lift is terrible. My La Crosse Alpha Swampfox have a much better boot, the best I've ever had. Too bad they have a seam on the inside of the thighs. My Beans let me down big time yesterday, my foot came way up out of the boot, causing a fall. I said bad words.


----------



## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

paddler said:


> I bought the LL Bean waders last year. They're nice, well made, good features. But the heel lift is terrible. My La Crosse Alpha Swampfox have a much better boot, the best I've ever had. Too bad they have a seam on the inside of the thighs. My Beans let me down big time yesterday, my foot came way up out of the boot, causing a fall. I said bad words.


Sorry to hear that, hope you didn't end up with a gun full of mud! I haven't had a problem with heel lift on mine but everyone's foot is different. For a while Cabelas was making bootfoot waders that had a permanently attached exterior lace-up shoe, that seems like the best of both worlds to me but it doesn't seem to have caught on for some reason. Seems like it would be ideal for getting the benefits of both bootfoots and stockingfoots.


----------



## gander311 (Dec 23, 2008)

With how much walking away from my boats I do these days, I'm pretty sure I'm going to try stockingfoot waders and boots next time. Although I like most things about my current bootfoot breathable Frogg Toggs, it just seems like bootfoot waders keep getting more and more expensive, and lasting less and less time for me. I'm just not convinced that bootfoot breathables will ever last as long as equivalently priced stockingfoot breathables and boots. 

So when these Frogg Toggs give up the ghost(hopefully next season or after), I'm going to try it first hand and see which works better for me.


----------



## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

paddler said:


> My Beans let me down big time yesterday, my foot came way up out of the boot, causing a fall. I said bad words.


That reminds me of a soggy rainy afternoon. You took a face plant stepping out of a layout blind. I dropped my gun & totally submerged it in the water. We should have headed for the ramp. But no, we laid in the rain.


----------



## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

gander311 said:


> With how much walking away from my boats I do these days, I'm pretty sure I'm going to try stockingfoot waders and boots next time. Although I like most things about my current bootfoot breathable Frogg Toggs, it just seems like bootfoot waders keep getting more and more expensive, and lasting less and less time for me. I'm just not convinced that bootfoot breathables will ever last as long as equivalently priced stockingfoot breathables and boots.
> 
> So when these Frogg Toggs give up the ghost(hopefully next season or after), I'm going to try it first hand and see which works better for me.


I have been considering going back to stockingfoot waders with a good lace up boot too. I started out hunting in neoprene stocking foot waders in 1990. They have come a long way since that time. I find myself walking more and more these days and you just can't beat a lace up boot for that. 
It's hard to beat the price for stockingfoot waders too. It's always the boots that rot out on my waders, not the fabric material of the wader, so get a good pair of boots and stockingfoot waders and be set for years.8) Oh! Just make sure you get some good gravel guards to go with them.


----------



## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

JerryH said:


> That reminds me of a soggy rainy afternoon. You took a face plant stepping out of a layout blind. I dropped my gun & totally submerged it in the water. We should have headed for the ramp. But no, we laid in the rain.


I remember that day. We didn't shoot much, either. Still a nice day.


----------



## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

paddler said:


> JerryH said:
> 
> 
> > That reminds me of a soggy rainy afternoon. You took a face plant stepping out of a layout blind. I dropped my gun & totally submerged it in the water. We should have headed for the ramp. But no, we laid in the rain.
> ...


I've been on a number of hunts like that. Even if the animal count is down, the memories of those crappy days where you scratch your head and wonder "what the hell am I doing out here?", really stand out years later. To share in the misery with a hunting companion just adds to the experience!


----------



## Dave Adamson (Sep 13, 2007)

I just bought a new pair of the Elite insulated zip outs from Rogers and they have a new boot thats part neoprene and part rubber that looks like it will solve the cracking. I talked to one of the specialists there and he explained the whole process plus they are a 1200 thinsulate so not as bulky as the 1600 boot but he assured me they're every bit as warm. I've worn them twice and they are a lot more comfortable then the old boots. Here's a picture of the new versus old.


----------



## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

Dave Adamson said:


> I just bought a new pair of the Elite insulated zip outs from Rogers and they have a new boot thats part neoprene and part rubber that looks like it will solve the cracking.


They appear to be the same material as the Lacross Aero Elites I got. I have been extremely happy with them so far.


----------



## Axe (Oct 23, 2020)

Like everyone else I have tried several brands of waders and am yet to find one that lasts very long. I like the idea of the LL Bean, but there warranty is no longer what it used to be. I have tried hunting in stocking foot waders and have a real nice pair in my quiver of waders now. They are great for the walking part, but when the weather turns cold, I have never been able to keep my feet warm once I stop walking and start hunting. I am stongly considering the Sitka Waders. -O,-


----------

