The Toes Triumph As Does Simms About four years ago, having patched my original crinkly "garbage-bag" style waders so many times I was now putting patches on top of patches, I decided it was time to buy some good waders. Breathable waders were being raved about by sister anglers, and I chose a wonderful pair made by Simms. I wore them happily. In time I also decided it was time to give up the golfing shoes, which had served me well as wading boots. (I liked the cleats and had painted them green in case the fish might be spooked by the white. With time and wear, much of the green chipped off, making them pretty "spooky" to all of us.) Unfortunately I made the mistake of buying wading boots that were a little too small. In the end I turned to Simms again for purchase of their lightweight wading boot. I loved these boots, but only got to wear them briefly before the season was over.The next spring I discovered compression leaks at the toes in both neoprene booties of the breathable waders. No problem: just send them back to Simms for bootie replacement for the sum of $55. Of course, this was not ideal timing and it seemed like an eternity before I got the waders back in the mail. In fact, by the time I got them it was hot weather and I was fishing in my skin and kayaking shoes. So imagine my surprise the following fall when after two wearings, I had compression leaks at the toes again! This did provide a good opportunity to experiment with neoprene repair, since I was loath to part with my waders AGAIN while needing them most. The best repair turned out to be a resin stick, which is melted and dripped/daubed onto the leaking area. It cools and seals almost immediately and did keep the wet out until winter. I was telling my wader woes while visiting my friendly fly shop, and the proprietor asked if something was in my wading boots. Aha! As a matter of fact, there was something odd about them: lumpy protrusions along the top of the toe area. Simms was getting ready to charge another $55 for bootie replacement until I told them I suspected problems with the boots. They wanted me to send both the boots and the waders for their inspection. It was now winter and easy to part with the whole mess. Several weeks later they called to say they thought the wading boots had been a problem and that they were going to repair the waders free of charge. Winter wore on and spring was fast approaching. Just about the time I was beginning to feel uncomfortably-wader-less, my lovelies arrived. Whoopee, Winter be done! A few more weeks came and went when I realized I had no boots. They forgot to send back my boots! I really liked those boots and I intended to grind down all the pesky protrusions. When I called Simms I learned that they had not sent my boots because they were waiting for the latest version of their lightweight boot to be ready and then they were going to send a pair to me. |