Waders Danger question

"Scott Seidman" wrote in message
. 1.4...
"Sierra fisher" wrote in
:

Water in your waders increases your surface area, and the current will
have
an easier time pushing you around (including under water, if a current
wants to suck you down).

Yes, but there's no reason for your waders to be ballooning underwater, as
the pressure outside is equal to the pressure inside. Look at a plastic
grocery bag floating downstream: its usually collapsed, or just drifting
half-open. Its not ballooned out like a parachute. As long as you are making
some swimming efforts with your arms, you should have no problem steering
yourself and resisting undercurrents exactly as if you were floating without
waders. Like I said, I'm going to the pool with my waders this weekend to
get some real experience with this, but I've seen the videos and read the
writing.

Also, if you try to move a wader leg that's full
of water, it will be harder to move simply because you're moving more
weight. You lose agility at a time when you can least afford to lose it.

Again, since your leg isn't all ballooned full of water, there should be
very little extra water mass to move. Its when you get half OUT of the water
and your waders are full of whatever water came in that the
weight/maneuverability problems arise, which is why you crawl/roll/flounder
through the shallows to shore.


I find that water infiltrates my loose-fitting breathables more easily
than
a snugger-fitting neoprene.

I'm sorry to hear that you've had so much experience with this! :-)


Bottom line, wear a belt, consider a flotation device, and wade very
cautiously and conservatively if you're not a strong swimmer or if you
lean
toward panic when dunked.

None of those can hurt, thats for sure!

--riverman

When I was younger I was a maniac wader. My thinking was, if I would
make the effort to wade into places that other anglers avoided, I could
reach unfished water. It did work, but it also resulted in lots of dunkings
including some total immersions with a downstream drift. Didn't wear a
wading belt and never felt handicapped by the waders until I got a place
I could stand up. Then there were problems. This was especially true with
the latex waders that I used to buy before neoprene came out. The latex
waders were VERY stretchy and would hold a huge amount of water. It was
impossible to stand up with all the water weight and I took on the
appearance of The Michelin Man.

In addition to the age factor, I think a good part of it was that before
neoprene waders, it was close to impossible to keep waders
in a condition that would keep you totally dry (at least for me) . And if
you were already wet, getting a little more wet wasn't a big deal.
Now with improved waders, if it's cold enough (or the water is) to
wear waders, I no longer want to get wet and modern waders do a
good job of keeping you dry. So I use the built in wading belt on my
waders. I haven't gotten a total immersion in a longtime but I've taken
water over top of my waders and the wading belt does a fair job of
keeping the water out. You'll get some seepage, but not alot of
water.

Willi