better be close to the boat, cause you'll sink like a rock.

 

neoprene will float by itself. but it does not have much buoyancy per suface area.

by that i mean that it will float by itself, but it is not buoyant enough to support any weight.

 

neoprene will float by itself. but it does not have much buoyancy per suface area.

by that i mean that it will float by itself, but it is not buoyant enough to support any weight.

That's kind of what I was thinking. I think the water your clothes absorb will be enough to make you sink faster than you like.

 

When wearing chest waders, it is a good idea to wear a belt cinched around your waist. Without a belt, they will fill up with water and make swimming in deep water a real problem. If there is a strong current (river) or an undertow (surf) you can get into serious problems, even if wearing a life jacket. Neoprene waders fit more snugly than the big ol' rubber waders but.....

 

I dont know about you, but i dont plan on swimming in january :lol: :rofl: just kiddin. Actually with the winters we have been having down here, you probably could get away with it.

 

I dont know about you, but i dont plan on swimming in january :lol: :rofl: just kiddin. Actually with the winters we have been having down here, you probably could get away with it.

you are vbery correct on that one mauler. i took a dunk last season on teh way into a honey hole. i ended up jsut toughign it out. 50 degrees isnt too bad.

 

a with a wading belt you have a better chance of staying afloat. But a life jacket should always be worn when dealing with deep water! I lost my little brother(14 yr old) in a boating/hunting accident because he was not wearing his life jacket. His waders filled with water. A life jacket and wading belt would have saved his life!

 

a with a wading belt you have a better chance of staying afloat. But a life jacket should always be worn when dealing with deep water! I lost my little brother(14 yr old) in a boating/hunting accident because he was not wearing his life jacket. His waders filled with water. A life jacket and wading belt would have saved his life!

i totally agree with the statement. a life vest should be worn whenunder power at all times. and some sort of PFD shoudl be readily available ANYTIME you are in a boat.

i also agree that one should wear a wading belt in deep water. but as for myself, i dont wear one. i dont have to. my waders fit my lard butt so tight my farts dont even squeak out until i am back at the truck :lol:

 

While I do not recommend going without a life vest. I have gone swimming in a pair of canvas chest waders during the summer as an experiment with a life line and 2 friends watching. I did not drown nor need help. I never understood why people would think that waders would make you sink, especially neoprene. Once water fills a pair of waders, they are no worse or better than they would have been without you in them. If they naturally float, then they will help you float by the same amount of upward force that they have on themself. If they naturally sink they will try and pull you down by the same amount of force that they pull them self down. If you are calm and the water isn't rough and you aren't in danger of freezing to death, you can backstroke your way across a small pond, like I did. Like I said, I do not recommend this and I do think that anyone that doesn't wear a life vest when the time warrants you to is foolish. But I hate hearing people say neoprene waders pull you down when it isn't true. Say that they will make it very hard to use your legs to swim, say that you might freeze to death before you get to safety, say that your an idiot if you don't wear a PDF, say almost anything, but don't say neoprene will drag you under.

 

A good suggestion would be go to a calm body of water once things warm up..put your waders on and walk out in the water as far as you feel comfortable doing so with supervision "just in case" and fill the waders up and see what happens with your floatation abilities..
Don't forget to put the coat and gloves on too.

This is in my books once the water warms up a bit around here..

Good topic!!

 

I've tried it and the neoprene waders help you float. They are certainly not hydrodynamic and you won't be winning any swimming races, but they won't pull you down. The belt helps a ton. Likewise, if you just pull your feet up so they don't fill with water, you can float face up really easy.

Once on a walk-in hunt I lost a bird over a levee into some 12 foot deep water. I just cinched up my shell belt even tighter, took off my shirt and jacket, and swam over to it in my waders. Water was about 60 degrees. Cold but not a killer.

The problem is the drag and added mass. Like previously stated, if there is current, you're toast.

 

you are all forgetting the cloths and the cold temp in these tests . Not saying that extra cloths will drag you under but they will add a heck of alot of weight and the cold water is going to slow you down no matter how good of a swimmer.

 

I hunt with a small group of 3 crazy guys like myself. We use camo kayaks to reach those sweet spots away from everyone else alot. If the ice isnt stopping us we use them even on rivers in January. Well I brought up the fact we always wear our waders in the kayaks cause its wet and sometimes we just use them to get to a spot and wade. Well we all got together this spring to play at a local lake. I wore my waders and purposly rolled my kayak in about 7' of water. I had no waste belt and no pfd at the time and 2 other guys right there to assist if needed. I did not sink like a rock. The chilly springtime water knocked the wind out of me a bit, but not as bad as breaking through the ice, as i have done befor. well I didnt sink to the bottom and die. It filled quick but did not blow up like a balloon. I became somewhat neutraly boyant and doggy paddled my way to my kayak and kicked my way to shore.

I convinced myself that I wouldnt die immediatly if I rolled my kayak with waders, and I convinced the other guys to get PFD's. I would not try this with a baggy old pair of rubber waders without a pfd and a waste belt on.

 

I usually end up going in the drink once a year. This past year I did it twice. Once at the end of november, and once again in december. I've never sank like a rock (although I have lots of natural bouyancy), and have learned in fact, that the cold, upstate winters actually enable you to have superhuman feats of strength and speed in getting the hell out of the water. Current and undertow will drag you down when wearing waders, but it's more of a case of drag than the actual waders and what they're made of. They do get heavy trying to get up a bank or back into a boat when filled with water, but when they fill with water they can't have any less bouyancy than water. Therefore they will not cause you to sink. Also, both days I went in I continued to hunt for the rest of the day.

 

Current and undertow will drag you down when wearing waders, but it's more of a case of drag than the actual waders and what they're made of. They do get heavy trying to get up a bank or back into a boat when filled with water, but when they fill with water they can't have any less bouyancy than water.

That's the deal. They can be dangerous in strong currents and undertow. Not that you necessarily get pulled under, but you can wear yourself out trying to make it back to the boat or to shore. Also, if you're wearing a belt, the waders don't fill up so fast and you won't succumb to hypothermia as quickly.

 

Some on here have it correct! Waders weigh less in water than on land. Neoprene waders, being tight to the body by design, don't fill up as fast and actually help trap air- thus becoming a lower body life vest (similar to wearing a wader belt on canvas wders to prevent water from filling up the legs).

If one hits the water wearing either style, simple lay back allowing the legs to rise...they will entrap air and become bouyant. If they do fill up, relax, slow down and simply slide out of 'em- they WILL NOT drag you down as people think.

 

If I fell in deep water with any type of wader on, I would be shucking those waders as fast as possible and letting them sink, without me. I have neoprene wetsuits that will barely float on their own, but for a set of waders to fill with water with you in them, say hello to the bottom of the lake.

 

im just glad you asked and did do a lil "test" in december hahaha

 

+1

I have unintentionally swam in neoprene waders and wearing a hunting jacket while my life vest floated away.

They definately help you stay afloat.

btw.

If it rains all day, it's a good idead to empty the canoe before attempting to go home.

Some on here have it correct! Waders weigh less
in water than on land. Neoprene waders, being tight to the body by design, don't fill up as fast and actually help trap air- thus becoming a lower body life vest (similar to wearing a wader belt on canvas wders to prevent water from filling up the legs).

If one hits the water wearing either style, simple lay back allowing the legs to rise...they will entrap air and become bouyant. If they do fill up, relax, slow down and simply slide out of 'em- they WILL NOT drag you down as people think.

 

This keeps coming up, so here are some more sources.
My favorite quote though - everyone knows the water on the inside of your waders is heavier than the water outside! :rofl:

http://www.sexyloops.com/articles/killerwader.shtml

http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/ ... p?t=490085

http://www.outdoorcanada.ca/special/opi ... bate.shtml

Furthermore, I've used plenty of wetsuits - they may not float much, but they sure don't drag me down either. By all means - wear a PFD when in a boat or wading, its a good and safe idea. But please, can we let this myth die?
-Erik

 

someone PM Greenster, he did a test on this, he needs to get on this thread and share the knowledge he gained from his wader experiments

 

I also tried the "neoprean wader test" in a swimming pool and they actually seemed to help me float. i knew i wasn't goin to sink like many people think but i figured it would be hard to swim cause of the bulkyness....but once they filled up, it actually made my legs feel pretty light and i just simply backstroked all around the pool with no problemo.

Im still always goin to wear a life jacket while ridin to the hole. As for hunting in water that you know is borderline too deep to wade around without worrying about how far down your next step may go.....i would recommend a wader belt and a stearns camo float coat-kinda pricey but could save your life, so money well spent IMO.

 

I tested them durig duck season last year.

they float you the neopreen

what drags you down is your dang jacket with 10+ pounds of shells your 8 lbs gun,

the real myth or tuth to look at is will 2 dozen decoys strapped to your back help you float or plant you facedown in the water.

 

I took a swim in mine last October while hunting woodies. Unfortunately my belt came loose when I hit the water (about 8 or 9 feet deep. ) My waders actually floated me pretty well. To bad the guy I was hunting with was about half my weight and with waders full of water it was difficult at best to get on any dry surface. But I did not sink even with my waders full.

 

i very gracefully fell out of the boat in about 4 feet of water one time and the waders did float in fact the way that i fell out i couldn't get my feet under me and i couldn't reach the bottom with my hands either so there i am trying to keep my head above water and essentialy doggy paddling in 4 feet of water. it wasn't until the waders filled with water that i could finally get my feet under me. my buddy was crying he was laughing so hard. I am now alot better at getting out of the boat.