Waders sprung a leak. Buy expensive, buy cheap or try to fix?

Four year old Cabelas neoprenes finally cracked at the seam between boot and leg two weekends ago and filled up. Not going to lie, I don't really have the money to spend but I also don't want to miss out on spring goose. The way I see it, the Cabelas ones lasted multiple seasons so I got my money's worth out of them. The neoprenes kept me quite warm sitting deep in the water and I only had underwear and longjohns underneath them.

At the same time, slogging out to the marsh walking 1km was not my favourite part of it. Got plenty hot. So breathable is an option I'm looking at.

I look at the top end waders out there and I've bought cars less expensive than them. I am tempted to just get the same Cabelas waders knowing they'll give me another handful of seasons. What do you think?

I got 3 years out of a $70 pair from crappy tire. I now use a $300 pair from cabelas I got in the barging cave for $130.

I put my waders through a pile of abuse in the salt marsh and just can't bring myself to spend top dollar.

For what it's worth, I hunted with a guy this year that had a seam leak in his $700 waders that a year old. He was pretty pissed.

To each his own and I'm sure someone will use the "buy once cry once" line but when you are on a budget you get what you can afford

I would take them to a dive shop and see if they can repair them. Depending on the extent of the damage, there is also a product called seam seal you can buy. It is an iron on product.

I would try to repair with a neoprene glue like Aquaseal before buying a new pair

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Originally Posted by Mike_R

I would try to repair with a neoprene glue like Aquaseal before buying a new pair

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And failing that, try MarineGoop.

Gotcha.. I will try that first. Never tried to repair something like this before but there's some youtubes I've looked at already

I think a crack at the place you are talking is going to be hard to fuse together, even for a pro. I looked in to having some custom fabbing done for my son’s neoprenes as he outgrew the boot, but the cost and reliability of the fix meant I decided to buy new. If you go that route, I would stick with the Cabelas or similar. They work and they last, both features that matter in the marsh.

I will try the fix first.. if it lasts me the month of spring goose then it will tide me over until I can come up with some money for next fall .. failing that, will be on the look out for sales

Theres a product called e9000...dont know if they sell it anywhere else, but iv always found it at Walmart. I find it way more durable then goop and shoegoo.

Try a dive shop that repairs wet suits. They will either be able to fix them or not but at least you will have your answer.