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Three years ago I bought a spare pair of waders that I didn't really need. There was a sale...
So I got a spare pair of 5 mm neoprene from cabelas and left them in the box for three years. (that's a mistake)
Three weeks ago I decided to try out my "new" waders.

First complaint...they are 3 mm not 5. I still have my original receipt and am betting that cabelas will give me the blues over trying to get satisfaction.
Second complaint...they leak like crazy at the inseam at the crotch. I'm repairing them and that voids any warranty I may have thought I had.

Bottom line FUCK CABELAS.
I've heard nothing good about them in years.


BANDED is the next waders I get.
Talked to guys yesterday at the launch. Overheard them talking waders, what is good, and why.
They said that Banded had issues when they first started, solved the issues, and are making the best waders to get try and get their customers back.

And the some dick heads threw them in a fire bc they saw a mouse.

My cabelas waders suck ass. Leak like hell.

Was a time when I pretty much lived in stocking foot neoprene waders come Fall and Winter, and I ended up finding 3 (or 3.5?)mm preferable to 5mm. Warmth seemed much more dependent on what I wore under them, the thin ones were more lighter and comfortable, and they lasted longer. Seemed less apt to eventually give way at crease points than the 5mm.

Cabela's so called "breathables" (which, having multiple layers of "breathable" material that isn't, either, they are not) have since sent my neoprenes to the dump. Given decent long johns, much less heavy fleece, water doesn't get too cold to stand in with them, and they're infinitely more comfortable to wear than neoprene.

Am on my second pair, the first having developed a seep where uppers meet boot in its second season back before Cabela's abandoned their much abused "lifetime" policy. I'd rather they had air-bob or other traction type soles, but that's my only real complaint with the current ones after a few seasons of only occasional use.

Not that I'm not disappointed with Cabela's on other grounds.

Redid the seams inside by painting on layers of contact cement.
Let a can of it set out for a long time until it got thick too. It's ugly but don't leak. Nobody looks inside my waders anyway.

On exterior problems will use shoe goo. It dries real fast and cures overnight.
Got my waders, both pairs, to quit seeping by using contact cement. Sounds weird but it works.


Try gluing that little patch piece of neoprene they give you with your waders. Cut your little piece. Glue the edges on each piece where you cut it. Let dry...Stick back together and it holds. Contact cement is what they use on the seams, just not much of it.
Neoprene is like rubber.
The fabric...that is different. You can patch over with contact cement but it won't hold unless you let it cure for two days at least.

Have gotten to be really good at repairing and making waders last. My 5 mm are at least 7 yrs old (hunted hard) and the new ones...got them in 2014, worn a handful of times, repaired and will do fine.
Shoe goo and contact cement.

I just use "neoprene cement" sold for wet suits. Melts the neoprene edges and makes what amounts to a weld so quickly it's no hassle to hold the edges together while it works.

I'm on my 4th or 5th season of Cabela's 5mm waders. Just NOW starting to leak a little.

All waders leak it's the nature of trying to make pants out of neoprene. Learn to repair them or buy a new pair every year.