Waders...

[Salar]

As far as I can tell my leak is in the crotch seam. (Same location as Salar's)

Sorry to hear that Todd. Welcome to the leaky wader club. Still waiting on mine back from Orivs

[Todd B.]

Salar,

Yeah, I have my old Clearwaters but the one leg leaks from about the knee down. Get's a little squishy in the foot. LOL

I'll have to bring them back to Vince and see if they'll just replace them. If not it I'll definitely be venting my displeasure to the corporate HQ.

[JeanDorais]

Salar,

How long have you been waiting for now?

With the leaky PG3 wader club expanding, I'm not sure what I'll do for new waders next year. Sigh.

Jean

[Salar]

I sent out my Orvis ProGuide waders for repair on June 26. Still waiting

[Salar]

JeanDorais,

Just thought I'd share my experiences with the LLBean Waders. Early last year both my father and I started off with a lower end pair of LLBean Waders (I forget the name and they don't sell them anymore) for $199. Both pairs leaked on the very first day of wading. We took them back to the store and both bought a pair of Wicked tough. Same story again, both pairs leaked the very first day. I gave up but my father tried another pair of Wicked Toughs. Exact same story again, leaked the very first trip. I can understand one pair of leaky waders but 5 pairs, that's unacceptable.

I'm now convinced waders should be renamed to leakers since that's about all they're good for.

[Salar]

My waders showed up on my doorstep this morning. For a moment I was somewhat happy until I opened the box. In the box I found my old waders with some seam sealer on the crotch seam. If I had known I was going to wait a month and a half to get them back I would have done that myself . All I can say is that my next set of waders aren't going to be Orvis.

I'll test them out this afternoon and report back.

[Salar]

Tested out the waders (leakers) this afternoon. True to form they leak at the same spot. Way to go Orvis repair department!!

Called Orvis to find out what my options are. They're willing to replace them but currently do not have stock to replace them with. They won't have a new set of waders available for me till September 22nd.

My wader woes continue.......

[JeanDorais]

Oh man, that's no good Paul!!! Sorry to hear that Orvis customer disservice isn't able to help out- they may not have stock, but could you not go through Tony/Vince/Cam at Green Drake and get your new waders through them and have the store worry about getting stock from Orvis?

I may be keeping my Silver Label 2's into next year...was out again last night and the repairs I made held up without any problems.


Anyway, just a thought Paul.

Jean

[Hookup]

I would suggest writing a letter to orvis customer support. I would also suggest you reference this web-site & thread for them to review the public commentary that honestly puts them in a good light, up until today...

In the past, I have used a letter to great success with companies who are concerned about their corporate image and I am sure Orvis is. In once case a lure broke on the first day when it was cast into a rock. The email was sent as a polite complaint about the durability and a few weeks later a care package arrived with about 5 or 6 lures as a means of saying they were sorry for the quality issue...

Maybe Orvis will step way up and demonstrate that they have/had problems with the proguide 3's and make it right? it cannot hurt.

[Salar]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm planning on sending a letter to Orvis. It's been a tiresome and frustrating process so far. Since I bought my waders through Jones Outfitters in Lake Placid, it wouldn't help returning them to Green Drake.

It's been an expensive day for me, I ended up solving my problem by buying a set of Simms G3's this afternoon from Vince at Green Drake. I've waited long enough and I'm tired of wet wading this season. I'm hoping $500 will buy me dryness for more than a few months. I'll let you guys know how the Simms work out. With my track record with waders (leakers) I'm not too hopeful

If anyone wants a good deal on a set of ProGuide3's size large long, I'll give you a good deal on a brand new pair. You'll just have to wait till September 22nd

[Hookup]

I can tell you this, even though I have the PG3's, no leaks, playing the odds, there is a million to one chance that mine and your "new" pair are faulty...

I know Jean really wants a new pair and he will likely want to scoop these up.. However, if you cannot move them, I will take them as a back-up pair to my PG3s..

So consider them sold... just if anyone else wants them, go for it... I won't be upset...

[JeanDorais]

I'd take them off you Salar ( I'm bigger than Tim and could take him , but waiting until next year to purchase whatever new pair I'll be getting. Perhaps a PG3(b) will be out by then

Jean

[JeanDorais]

And now for some Simms waders ....

Popped into FP&F on Saturday to say hello and got talking with Greg...and talking led to my woes about waders and so on Simms seem to have figured out that people aren't all the same build for a given height - and they make waders in a LOT of different size combos. After getting measured, I now have a pair of Simms G3 Guides on order (a little more expensive than the Orvis Pro Guide 3's) and whenever they arrive, I'll hopefully have myself a new pair of really great waders.
I looked into the Simms G4 Guides, but at 700$ USD for a pair, they better come with a fish on the hook everytime garantee!!!!!

My Orvis Silver Label 2's have now been re-sewn on both inseams and at the waist to make them water-tight again. Good thing I know how to use a sewing machine or I'd still be waiting on Orvis to be making their first repairs

So, we'll see how the Simms fit and go from there.

Tight lines,

Jean

[Salar]

You'll love the fit of your Simms. So far they're the best fitting waders I've owned, much better fit than the Orvis Pro-Guides.

[Todd B.]

Well the Green Drake replaced my ProGuides at no cost. Now We'll just have to see how long these can last before they start to leak (Knock on wood).