01.31.23 Checked out the new Orvis Pro Waders.....

     Made my way to the Orvis Princeton store and chated it up with a visiting Andrew Hamilton. While there I checked out Orvis new Pro Zip Bootfoot waders. Below is the description right off the Orvis website...

The Story

The industry’s most durable breathable wader, now with a bootfoot of vulcanized rubber over 5mm neoprene with grid-fleece-insulation for boat-bound anglers, guides and the hearty souls that push through abysmally cold winter conditions. Twice as abrasion-resistant as comparable waders and with nearly 2x the puncture-resistance thanks to an exclusive 100% CORDURA® fabric with four layers in the upper and five layers in the lower. In another excusive partnership, the studdable Michelin® outsole provides best-in-class wet rubber traction. We’ve even tested the TIZIP® Masterseal zipper for more than 200 days to ensure failsafe waterproof performance alongside the zip wader’s easy on/off convenience. If you’re thinking these were designed specifically for those who require the height in season-after-season reliability, you’re definitely onto something. On the upper, we’ve included split, fleece-lined handwarmer pockets, two external storage pockets with YKK AquaGuard® coated zippers, and split Hypalon® daisy chain for tool docking. Inside are two internal storage pockets for fly boxes and accessories. Adjustable elastic suspenders with opposing buckles for waist-high conversion. The five-layer lower incorporates removable OrthoLite® X25 knee pads. The bootfoot sole also features the same Bloom™ technology outsole/midsole as our PRO Wading boot, which replaces petroleum-based foam with an algae-based formula and actually offsets 50 gallons of water waste per pair. Athletic Fit.

Nylon shell with polyurethane membrane. Nylon tricot liner. Imported.

22 sizes M-XL including short and long sizes, with boot sizes from 9-13. Boots fit true to size.

     There are only a few bootfoot manufacturers out there, with Simms most likely being the gold standard of the industry. Simms waders are listed for $899.95 cents, which if you don't know, is really $900. Orvis Pro Zip are offerred for $898, which is also $900. I know there are others, from LL Bean to Frogg Toggs, and ones in between. 

      So I was able to fit test the size 12 Large. I know I'm a size 11 and that the size 12's would be too large. As far as the waders are concerned, you can see I'm probably too big for a medium and too small for an extra large. The zipper down the front is a welcome addition. There are also internal removeable knee pads that can be removed. The boots are a little different, falling somewhere between the 

old Herman Munster Muck Boots and then later the Vibram soled Endura waders. You have to try these on for fit, in my opinion. They are more narrow than I have seen with boots in the in the past, but the support is there. I need to purchase a back-up pair for my Simms G3's, which have arrived at Bozeman for warranty repair. 

     While there I snooped around and found a brush offered by a company called FairFlies. The brush is called 5D Brush. For $10 I thought it might be worth a shot. I'm running out of black bucktail, the Squimpish materials to long for me, and I didn't grab a black Squimpish brush while at the show. These might be a good length to finish off the heads of my night time flies.