Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Breathable Waders for Moose Hunt

Is there a type or brand of breathable waders that you think work best in AK? I'm going on a moose/brown bear hunt in September and the outfitter has recommended using breathable chest waders with stocking foot that are used with wading boots (no felt soles). On my previous Brown Bear hunts I used the neoprene waders and they can get tore up pretty quick, so the breathable kind sound better. I know Cabela's sells several different types of breathables but I don't know much about them. I'd also like to get them in camo of some sort, but the stocking foot ones all seem to be the tan color. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

In hot weather they are all moving sweat boxes...

They all make more noise than soft fabric... Patagonia are the worst in that regard IME... Simms are the best. I would forget about the camo thing.

Filson makes waxed cotton chaps which, once broken in, will be much quieter in the brush. They will also protect your very expensive waders from the brush.

You get more layers of fabric as you move up in expense, but if you are only going to use them once you can forget about buying the very best. Cheap ones will not survive a week of heavy brush-busting... and that can be as little as climbing up to the look-out point each day.

The idea of using breathable waders on a moose hunt has some down side. When you are moving through sloppy areas and getting in and out of a raft all day waders is a must. All of the breathable ones I have seen have some serious durability issues and get snagged on willows and alders thus end up with rips.

What I have been using for years is Cabelas Brush Busters hip waders. I am willing to bet that they don't make them anymore. They are a neopream hip boot with a lug bottom. The neopream is tough but does get snagged but can be repaired with shoe goo. Mine are 10+ years old and have lots of shoe goo repairs but still do the job and they are warm for late season hunts. Last summer I found a pair of same type of boot but the upper is made out of canvas and they are the bomb! Not as warm as the neopream but just as tough.

The thing I like about the hip boots are they are easy on and easy off so you can switch to regular Danner Hunting boots fast. Chest waders are a pain in the ares to change out of and too hot.

Good luck.

Buy Some microtex camo pants and wear over the waders it'll save on wear, noise, and it'll be camo.

Like Art said, you don't need camo, the tans will work fine.

I've used the LaCrosse Big Chief hip waders (rubber) on many a moose hunt but they are noisey and you'll sweat like a pig in them when it's warm but they keep my feet and pants dry when walking through sopping wet brush and cross streams/rivers when applicable.

I've contemplated getting a set of the breathable hippers but I just couldn't bring myself to throw my Big Chiefs away, though I finally did this past fall.

I'd go with hippers, theres no way i'd spend a day walking around in any kind of chest waders.

Prezactamundo! Or you might even consider hunting where you don't need waders and wet feet is simply a given to be dealt with routinely. Where wet is concerned, I'd much rather have boots that wear well enough wet, than waders or boots intended to be dry but full of water anyway.

Walking around in wet boots all day leads to blisters, at least for me.

This year i'm going to try the knee high rubber/neoprene combo boots. My buds in moose camp been wearing them for years, they let me use a pair last year and they were the bomb. My only worry is when I'm riding the Foreman and getting to close to a hot motor with the neoprene section.

Hunt up high....beats hell out of butchering in a couple feet of water.

Thanks for the info and comments guys. Yes, I agree that hippers or no waders at all are preferable, but in the country we'll be hunting, waders are definitely a requirement and I've seen guys try it with the hip waders and be miserable for it. Often times there is very high water to cross where you're glad you have the chest waders. I appreciate the comments that camo isn't something to worry about. That will make my search a little easier. Thanks again.

thanks to working 40-60 days per season I've got to experience firsthand most of the stuff reco'ed here

what I've used the most is the Lacrosse Big Chiefs that AKMtnhntr mentioned.

but also have a pair of the old Cabela's bog busters that nwa mentioned

and while I do have chest waders, I never wore them hunting as some of the guys I worked with did.

the most I ever used for hunting was the waist high waders.

but I do think the chest waders are better for wearing hunting than the waist highs are. Reason being is you can take the belt off chest highs and thanks to the bib straps over your shoulders they stay up but ventilate a bit better (really subjective term there) than the waist high where the belt and elastic keep them tight against your waist with no where for sweat vapor to escape.

breathable is an over/misused term imo/e, if you're exerting enough to sweat, you're gonna get wet, just whether it's your warm sweat or cold rain, lake or stream water.


I'd be disinclined to disregard your outfitter's advice, but it wouldn't hurt to ask more questions.

i.e. the main reason guys I worked with used chest waders was for offloading gear and clients from amphib planes. Most of the rest of the time they would have gotten by fine in hippers.

but your outfitter may hunt some places where there's some deep stream or finger of lake crossings so he may indeed have a good reason for you to bring chest waders.

I wouldn't be quick to discount the advice of the guy that's taking you hunting to "his" spot.

but I'd want to know why, I don't enjoy wearing waist or chest waders for anything other than float hunting and even then I'll often wear hippers.

I've worn chest high waders many times hunting and many times it is by far the most comfortable way to do things. I would hesitate to question the guide too hard on the point...

Apologies to the OP in advance, but ol' Vern gets the prize of the day from this boy!!

as stated, I haven't but have worked and hunted with plenty of guys that have.

didn't preclude them from taking some nice animals. Prolly should have bolded my reference to "disregarding the advice of someone taking you to "his" spot to hunt"

you make a good point Art, I'd hate to see the guy show up without chest waders and end result he was gonna have to forego some possible opportunity or end up sopping wet to do so.


and yes ole Vern is living proof that old age and treachery will trump youth and skill every time!


Vernesto knows a lil sumpthin sumpthin about killing hog moose

Isn't one of the duties of the guide, or the assistant anyway, to be a personal "ferry" when needed? I really think some of you guys need to move away from the soft life and get with the program. Ain't that part of being so "overpaid" anyway?

Still waiting to meet my first "rich" guide that did so from guiding.

Why do you think so many guides could properly use DDS behind their names?

Don't tell me you are one of those "bottom line" type of book keepers!

True...some are so desperate they'll dig thru your rig looking for a joint.

cabelas


Are you looking at something like these? I was on a duck hunt where the host had a set of these (they hadn't been officially introduced to the market yet) and he said they were just like wearing a pair of pants. Don't know about their durability...

lol, Mark, as I said most of the guys I worked with went to chest waders for the sole purpose of changeover day, unloading a group of new clients and their gear and then loading the group that had just finished up.


most of our flying was done by Freshwater Adventures. Phil Bingham, his son Lester the pilots and Lester's wife Jill running the office and dispatch.

admittedly both guys accomplished bush pilots and they flew 2 Grumann Goose and sometimes a Widgeon

but the son Lester NEVER acquired the deft touch of landing near the beach that his dad Phil did.

if Phil did the flying, you could pretty well count on using hippers. If Lester did the flying, you could pretty well count on getting wet in hippers or having to get the airplane unstuck for him. Although admittedly we did have to get Phil unstuck as well at least once that I recall.

Lester was an ornery sob, but I liked him anyway.

it was common for us to piggy back the new clients to the beach, each of them were told to bring hip waders, but Lester would tell them in town, naaaah you don't need to put on your hip waders, just your boots, we'll get you close enough you won't get wet.

the batage, what he failed to tell them is the reason they wouldn't get wet is cause us sorry azzed guides would have to piggy back their fat azzes!

one particular load of new hunters we were piggy backing them to the beach and one of the guys I worked with stepped up to the plane door to offload the last hunter of our new group.

Lester waived him off and pointed at me, and directed me to come get the guy. Guy weighed 275 lbs. naked (according to him)

my pard's eyes got big and said "should we try and fireman carry him?" Nope I sez we'll all end up wet, hop on up here big boy and I'll try not to go so fast it blows your hat off!

oh that Lester took perversion making us work harder, but damn those were some fun times.

helluva site to see a rope tied to the tail of a Goose and 12-13 guys pulling on the rope up on the beach to get it turned so they could get outa there.


and Art is correct, if there's a guide out there that's gotten rich doing it, he's keeping it a damn good secret.

Hey, I know some guides who make a little money........working regular jobs, especially where Davis and Bacon hold court.

my outfitter always appreciated the fact that I could make more $$ in town running my biz than I could working for him.

some of the poor gents I worked alongside, counted on the cash they earned from guiding to get them through the winter.

don't know why he insisted upon paying me at the top of the pay scale, but I appreciated why he thought I was worth it to his outfit.

When the day comes that I need to be carried ashore to avoid getting wet setting out on a hunt is the day that earlier, my nuts got caught in the airplane's door hinge and ripped loose. YGBFKM.

Sadly, he is not...

That's what I was thinking. Well...maybe not "nuts ripped off", but something equally excruciating. The mental image of losing my nuts is strong, too strong to think of anything else at this moment.

just a running joke between the flight service and the guides Mark

mainly perpertrated by the son of the guy that owned the flying service.

he was heard to refrain that his proudest accomplishment was "getting all you guides outa those damn hip boots and into chest waders"

course we gave it right back to him "so daddy never could teach you how to park that Goose heh Lester"

hip waders were on their gear list, but Lester always told them in town, "naaaah you don't need any hip waders, we'll get you to the beach high and dry"

changeover day, was always a nice change of pace, hurried activity for awhile but then pretty easy, waving bye to the departing hunters, greeting the new bunch, getting them licensed and fed and housed in their nylon Hilton for the week. Plus mail delivery.

in the early pre sat days, always nice to get letters from home and the occasional care package

was all in good fun.....mostly

Were I king, I'd decree that any 'man' insisting on guides' assistance to terra firma to avoid getting wet be accommodated, but only by means of a special piece of gear. The guide will also inform the 'man' that he is required to be sucking his thumb while afloat.

A blow-up sheep would probably make most of them feel better climbing aboard...











There are a lot of Texans!

No exceptions. Your king has spoken!

Yeah, I get that part Randy, it was a joke, and pretty funny in concept.

It just boggles the mind that a guy that is supposedly a sportsman is getting piggy-back rides to shore from a float plane? It aint computing in my brain.
I'd be ashamed to admit I took a piggy-back ride to shore!
Take off the boots, put on the Crocs camp shoes and jump off the pontoon.

My response was mostly in response to kamo-gari's awful description.

Hope things are going well for you, your lovely wife and kids.

dang Leighton, wish I'd known you then! that woulda been a hoot, packs up small, no weight, easy to take one of those with!

opportunity lost

we had rafts blown up with motors on them, but the whole gig, was to keep the plane outa the air for minimum time possible.

looked like a Chinese fire drill, clambering up on the nose to unload the dry bags from it, making a chain to haul the gear to the beach and then the ole piggyback rides.

a giant rubber ducky, damn why didn't I think of that?

mark, thanks for asking

just got back from Anchorage for Tina's 3rd post treatment checkup

all systems go

we even took a couple of days to shop, wine and dine


man what a difference a year can make

those trips last year were no fun

I am grateful to my maker and all those prayers and good thoughts folks sent her way to have her healthy, happy and by my side.

I'm one lucky SOB (though truthfully, my mom is a very nice lady, grin)

You coulda just used the blow-up doll in the guides's tent...

Thats some good news for sure. Did you celebrate by smoking the CC at Cabelas while you were down?

did hit the new Cabelas

but took it pretty easy on the CC, bought a PFD (no not a dividend, personal flotation device, grin) they had a great sale on them, $30 cheaper than I'd ever seen.


I've pretty well hit that stage where I don't need or want for much of anything, other than a few big ticket items

and looking at moving from our house in the next few years has made me want less stuff not more

but man did Cabela's (amongst others) love me back in the day!

always a worry what kind of condition the lass might come back in

that cold lake water doesn't lend itself to a night of warm companionship

and drying em by the fire is risky bidness

Nothing quite like the voice of experience...

well I really enjoyed the voice of innocence, but it's been a loonnng time since I got to hear THAT