PATroutMan wrote:
How many years are you guys getting out of your waders?
It depends. The more you spend, the more life you get out of them generally, but in terms of life per dollar, it all works out about the same IMO. I fish mostly small streams, lots of hiking, and am tough on waders. My experience is that for roughly every $100 I spend, I get about 1 year of leak free use out of them for most pairs...Meaning until the seams start to fail. Through some proactive use of AS, I can extend that a little bit, and live with some slow leaks for a little while, especially if it's Summer. Little tears or pinholes are easy to fix, and the repairs on those generally will outlast the seams. It's the seams (or the seams on the booties) failing that render most pairs un-usable in the end.
I've been using LLBean Kennebecs ($250ish sticker price, though you can usually wait for one of Bean's 25% off everything sales, and get them for under $200) for a while now. I've been getting 2-3 years from those before the seams start to fail.
I've also had some cheapo Cabelas house line pairs, and some lower end Frog Toggs and Allen pairs. Generally bought on sale when I was in a pinch for a new pair on the quick. They were all about $100-ish, and I would generally get about a year out them.
One pair of Allens, I paid about $80 for on sale from STP. They're about to enter their 3rd season of use and are still going good, though they've split time with a pair of Kennebec's over that span. Low on features, but the Allens have been a good bargain so far, and have saved miles on my Kennebecs on the really brushy small streams.