Are Breathable or Neoprene Waders Best? High 'N Dry Comparison

so what are the best waiters breathable or neoprene well having tested the best of both that is now a very easy question for me to answer [Music] this is George with the new Hunter's guide the YouTube channel and podcast helping new hunters get started and helping active hunters learn new things today I want to answer an often asked question what is better breathable or neoprene waders however the people that are answering this are often comparing apples to oranges they're looking at the best neoprene waders versus some of the worst breathable waders or vice versa very rarely is somebody really doing a good comparison and I have now finally been able to test and use and now for a few seasons what I believe are some of the best waiters on the market and those are high-end dries neoprene waders and high-end dries breathable laters now I have learned a lot of things after personally using these waders in the field for a couple of seasons and I do think high and dry makes some of if not the best waders on the market in the price category and I did reviews on on both the neoprene and the breathable waders I will go ahead and link to those at the end of this video I'm not going to get deep into that but I think they make a great product outstanding quality for both of them and which one is the best though is the question we're here to answer today and for me super easy question all right it comes down to one thing how are you using them all right I have both why because I want both and I use both and there's a day and a time and a place for both now I started with neoprene waders in fact about three years ago I was on the lookout to find a quality pair of waiters that would last a long time not leak and be durable and effective and keep me warm and I was just really sad with the results that I found of hours of research looking at hundreds of waiters the best stuff on the market had mediocre reviews and everything else had really bad reviews and unless you're gonna spend a thousand dollars for some situators I could not find anything that was well reviewed or highly spoken of in general which led me to look for commercial waiters which actually led me to high and dry because they designed find essentially a commercial waiter for the hunting industry and so I started with a pair of their neoprene waders because I was getting them mid-season it was getting cold and I was just terrified of going into the late season and being as cold as I had been with the garbage waders that I had been using so I got the neoprene waders and man let me tell you what neoprene is warm it is a super insulator almost nothing out there can match the qualities of neoprene when it comes to water resistance and warmth this stuff is fantastic they're five millimeters thick which I don't know that you could go any thicker and still be comfortable walking in them but they are very warm so neoprene is absolutely the best of the two for warmth if you need to be warm you need neoprene waders now there's lots of different situations and Circumstance is where you would want neoprene over breathables not just colder days all right there's more to it so number one of course cold days right the colder it is yeah number two if you are ice breaking all right if you're just heaving your foot up and you're trying to brush the ice and break through ice and make holes in the water for ducks to land and you're gonna be in cold Icy water neoprene is not just warmer it's also more durable alright so you're better suited for ice breaking and things like that if you're doing neoprene waders also if you've got a push through heavy brush or heavy underwater brush whether that's seaweed or rocks and sticks and Fallen trees again neoprene is just a little more durable it's thicker and you're able to push through more without putting as much abuse and damage onto your waders so there's a little bit more durability Factor when it comes to neoprene and another time that need prima's best is if you're going to be sitting or standing in a lot of water for a long time and that water is cold to moderately cold all right even if it's just 50 degree water if you're standing in 50 degree water Waist Deep for five hours all right hunting ducks one you're going to be tired but two you're going to be cold I don't care and neoprene is the single best insulative thing that you could do for long sits or stands when you are in moderate to deep water all right if it's any higher than your boots you want something very warm that's able to keep you and protect you from just the water that will suck the heat out of your body so neoprene shines in those conditions when it comes to breathable waders there are absolutely times when breathable waders are best first of all if it's warm if it's hot right that's the obvious one if it's hot outside you want breathable waders because they will keep you cool because they are not hot they're not insulated and of course they will let the sweat evaporate and Escape off of you so that's an obvious time two if you are walking long distances you don't want to do it in neoprene waders they're too thick they're too heavy they're too bulky I don't care what brand they are if they're five millimeter thick they're all gonna weigh about the same thing it's a static property it's just too much to cover a lot of distances and plus you'll just sweat and just be absolutely soaked in neoprene waders if you've got to walk a few miles it doesn't matter how cold it is outside breathables are better if you're going to be covering a lot of ground and covering a lot of distance and wearing them for a long time another time when breathable waders are best is if you have to pack them in all right this is my absolute favorite part of breathable waders I got the high and dry breathable waders just for this reason and that is I can stuff them in a backpack I can pack them in wherever I'm gonna go miles doesn't matter whether I'm go going in deep to do a setup far in the woods with decoys or if I'm jump hunting I can put them in a backpack just put a strap over the top to keep them from falling out it's perfectly fine that the boots spill over the top of the backpack and then bam I find something I shoot it I can pull these out of the backpack and have them on and be in the water within seconds that is utterly impossible with neoprene waders there is no possible way that you can do that all right they are big they are bulky they are thick they're heavy you know I'll throw them on my sled or whatever maybe I'll drape them over my shoulder to carry them a short distance they're awkward to carry though they're just so big neoprene takes up a lot of space that is just the nature of it so breathable waders can be so much more Compact and they're also a lot lighter but the size The Vault you can fold them up you can wrap them up you can do all kinds of things with breathables that you cannot do with neoprene you can also do really important things like hit the Thumbs Up Button because every time you like a video like this it helps it reach more people and you might as well go ahead and hit subscribe while you're at it now when it comes to which one's best for you I think the question is more a question of which one should you get first or which one should you get next right these things aren't cheap neither are super cheap if you want to get a quality pair of either so it's a matter of which one goes on the list first I bought the neoprene first because that suited the needs that I had more at the moment but it became apparent after another couple Seasons wow did I need some breathable waders because I did a lot of the early season hunting that I just told you guys about trying to pack deep into the woods covering a lot of ground jump hunting and just having breathables makes those things so much better and so much easier other times where you want to think about which one is better is personal preferences and qualities right if you are someone that always gets cold and you just find yourself cold all the time hard to wear enough layers neoprene may be better for you in times where breathables are better for other people because they just keep you extra warm and they've got that additional quality on the other hand if you're somebody that's always hot always sweating doesn't matter what the temperature is you probably are going to get more use out of breathable waders because they're just going to help keep you cooler right and so it depends on you know if you run hot or if you run cold those also can be big factors another one guys is your energy level all right if you are prone to getting tired quickly or running out of energy faster you may want to opt to wear the breathable waders more it takes more energy to walk and do stuff in neoprene waders and you can get worn out quicker so you may want to opt for breathables that's just a little bit lighter there's less bulk you can move easier you can walk easier you can cover ground easier so that is a very real factor to think about the other thing is how many days each season would you spend wearing each and when I did this analysis the results really surprised me all right I do absolutely need neoprene waders where I hunt and the way that I hunt and the climate that I'm in and the seven degree mornings that I somehow find myself going out in however when I did the total analysis of all the hunting that I do across the season I found that for me I actually would spend a lot more days in the breathable waders from the early season to the mid-season to even jump hunting late season probably two-thirds of my days in the woods are going to be with breathable waders because of how I hunt and because of where I hunt and there's a third of the time where you know neoprene is absolutely crucial and certainly the best option for me but guys this is going to change for every person for every area and for every hunting style so don't get locked down into one or the other I think the best way to go is both and of course another reason that I like high-end dry waders and have gone after them is because they last a long time now this video is not sponsored they're not paying me to say any of this but when I first contacted high and dry I asked them my big question all right and that was with the amount that I hunt and having a responsible use in care could their waiters last me five years or more that's what I want that was the gold standard that was the thing nobody else would dare answer and they they did not hesitate they said yep if you take good care of them if you wear them responsibly then they should absolutely last you five or more seasons and that was it I handed them my money and I've done three seasons now and they're going strong with no sign of coming apart or wearing out anytime in the near future so you may be investing you may be spending a bunch of money on waiters but if you buy quality waders they should last you for years so maybe one season you get a pair of breathables maybe another season you get a pair of neoprene or you wait a couple seasons whatever it is but they should last you for a while that said waiters are consumable Goods all right they're they're like a cell phone they only last for so long they just there's and there's a period of time whatever it is for a lot of Brands it's two or three seasons for high and dry they're we're looking at five six or seven seasons could be longer I don't know if we make it past seven seasons with the same set of waiters I'll do a video about it but they're just gonna wear out you're gonna wear them out you're gonna put too much abuse on them over the course of enough Seasons you're gonna just tear them so many times that you can't realistically patch them anymore you can only do so much so they're not gonna last forever but what I like to look at is the dollar per season all right how many dollars per season can I get out of a pair of waiters all right if I may spend more for a good pair of waders but if that pair of waiters last more seasons then my dollar per season cost is lower and so if you're maintaining two pairs of waders they've got to last longer to be worth it you've got to have more more than just a season or two or you're going to be bleeding money into waiters however if you do have as a waiters you're going to be spreading out that wear and tear across them so they should last longer because each is getting a little bit less use all right guys one last thing as I move out of the sun one last time I did a full feature length post on my blog addressing this subject which is best as well as reviewing both the high and dry breathable and neoprene waders and you can watch my video reviews of the neoprene and the breathable waders from high and dry right here again not sponsored just a fan I really appreciate you guys thank you so much for watching till next time God bless you and go get them in the woods

Channel: The New Hunters Guide

Views: 4,285

Keywords: Duck hunting, ducks, duck hunter, waterfowl, waterfowl hunting, new hunter, waders, neoprene waders, high n dry waders, wader review, neoprene wader review, high n dry wader review, high n dry, industrial waders, commercial waders, warm waders, insulated waders, thinsulate waders, rubber boots waders, hunting waders, good hunting waders, duck hunting wades, goose hunting waders, breathable waders, 5mm neoprene waders, best hunting waders, breathable vs. neoprene waders

Id: fM6XWdzSVFM

Length: 13min 43sec (823 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 15 2022