Custom waders & Neoprene Allergies

Over the years we have developed techniques to alter and customise waders, to make them fit you properly.

Its only really viable on sound waders, so new or perhaps a year old. If they are porous its just not sensible to spent a lot on them, and buying old waders on eBay that dont fit and leak all over the place makes no sense just to get a pair with an expensive brand name. If a pair is made in your size go far that, rather than have us alter a wader to make it fit and i can advise on this.

So what can we do? Well out normal alterations are simply changing the socks for a larger or smaller size, or lengthening or shortening the leg of breathable or neoprene stocking foots. Boot foots tend not to alter well, as the leg taper varies so much, and shortening them will make the waders look like plus fours. 

For our bigger customers we can take a big wader and make it wider in the body, so sitting down does not strain the seams. We can change the braces to make them longer or shorter, and if the body is too long then we can shorten the body. Not every wader is suitable for every alteration so it really has to be discussed with the team first. Seam positions, pockets and zips all effect this and i can advise on what will work.

I always like to have a set price for work, so a typical alteration is £45, and this obviously covers doing both feet, both legs or the body. We only alter waders if we do a full seamseal, so we guarantee the whole wader and not just a small part of it. A seamseal is £50 plus postage if required. New waders bought from us include a seamseal and postage, so it would be the price of the wader plus £35. 

Custom work is quite wide ranging, and we get many other requests, so i cannot list everything we do, it changes all the time, so contact us to discuss your needs. 

I get quite a few requests for help from anglers who want to use waders but are allergic to neoprene, or the solvents used in its manufacture. Obviously neoprene waders are out, but i understand they still have a bad reaction to neoprene socks or gravel guards.

 Neoprene Allergies

I have a couple of solutions to these problems. One is simply to cut off the sock and gravel guard and to fit a latex sock on, like many sailing dry suits have. These are quite delicate, but if used covered with a sock and with care these will last a season. The are also very stretchy, so care needs to be taken dressing and undressing. If stretched too much they will begin to come away at the join. This and pin holes in these are not covered in our warranty. You can use leather or plastic wading boots with these and as there will now be no neoprene in the wader you will not suffer any problems. I have a couple of anglers who have me replace the latex socks each year for them and this is a reasonably low cost answer to the problem. Expect to pay £25 - £35 to have the old sock removed, and the new sock supplies and fitted, plus any other works required.

We can also simply seal the whole neoprene sock on the inside with our sealant. Again this is working for a number of anglers who we have helped. If your allergy is not too bad this is the answer. It takes a little time to do, as we have to build up the coat in very thin layers and it really soaks in. But once done we will have an airtight glassy coat on the inside of the sock. Once completely sealed we will add a super thin coat of sealant and then will dust this with talc, so that the sock slips on easily. This is working very well for some of my customers and they are reporting long term success. This method has a number of advantages, you can use any wader, it is very long lasting, it is low cost at £10 plus any additional works required, and if you still get a reaction we can still go down the route of removing it and fitting the latex sock.

Worst case, if you are a very regular angler, ghillie or guide, we can make a sock for you from breathable fabric. This is slower, but for someone who has no alternative and uses waders daily it could be the only answer. 

  phone  07970041452 - Monday - Friday, between  0900 to 1700 only please,  email  out with these times 

dave@wader-repair.co.uk         or    dave@davegordon.co.uk