Moose hunting hip-wader suggestions?

[Fr. Joe]

Greetings.

Looking to invest in a new set of hip waders which will be used on a moose hunt (among other things). They need to be fairly light-weight, rugged and, of course, I'm on a budget. Any suggestions?

God bless.
Fr. Joe

[AlaskaTrueAdventure]

hippers

LaCross Big Chief, Bob-Knob (?) Sole, ankle fit.
They are uncomfortable on hot days, but they keep you dry. Great hand warmers when on the spotting hill in the wind. Tough enough to hold up going through the Alders. Fold 'em down when hiking and you need to be cooler. Pull 'em up to cut the wind.
They routinely fit better than the Cabellas Hip Boot, made by LaCross.
Inner , additional soles, or felt soles can be helpful.
Pay for quality hippers.
Fat legged clients hate them, and may need a boot-puller to get the boots off.
Helps to stuff 'em with paper, like F$G Reg pages, at night to dry them out.
I'll let other posters object and make other suggestions.
Old faithful...LaCross hip boots.

Dennis
AK TAGS

[450HUNTER]

LaCross is the way to go and like mentioned above they can hard to get off at time but no blisters from foot moving around in them.

[HuntNBgame]

Lacross Big Chief 1st pick for me. A little heavy but well needed when moose hunting in the alders. I think they're around 10lbs a pair. But they are super warm and durable. Good luck

[AlaskaTrueAdventure]

other options...

...In addition to old faithful, LaCross, Big Chief ankle fit....

...guides and hunters occasionally wear neoprene hip boots, but they are too hot for me. Furthermore, the Cabellas neoprene just do not fit me correctly.

In addition, lately I have started seeing more Stockingfoot Waist High, breathable wader pants. They are not especially durable when crashing through alder brush. And I'm a mover-hiker type of guide, so they get hot even though they are breathable. Some guys wear regular hiking boots over the stockingfoot. But those boots will never dry out during a hunt. And late in the year, your boots will freeze at night, and it takes hours of being cold-footed before they warm up. If I could find a really high quality wading boot, one that I could really hike in, I would give this option a trail hunt, with my LaCross hippers ready if the test fails.

My LaCross Big Chief hip boots last me about two season of hard use.

Dennis
Alaska True Adventure Guide Service

[huntinelk]

I see they offer the LaCrosse in insulated and uninsulated, do most go with the insulated model? They are listed at 7 pounds per pair does this sound about right?

Thanks,
Gene

[Daveintheburbs]

I've had great luck over the last few years with these from Cabelas.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...set=ISO-8859-1

Other Cabela's model have not worked so well for others,

[dkwarthog]

Ummm...if your hunting for God, won't he let you just walk on top of the water ??

[Bitterroot]

Wadding pants

For what its worth I went on a moose float hunt last year and bought a pair of Dan Bailey waist high waders(pants) and they were way more useful than my buddies LaCrosse hip waders. They fit over my wool pants and were warm and comfortable to wear.

[jklingel]

waist highs

I like my waist high Cabela's hip pants (may be my term for them). I've walked quite a bit in them and not gotten too hot. They breathe, but they ain't naked skin, either. FAR more useful than hip boots. I almost can not walk in them deep enough to get water over the top. Hip boots? I ain't bright enough to keep them strapped up or not walk in "just two more steps and I'm across", then get water over the top. They are not budget items, but are cheap when you are sitting there giggling while your buddy is drying his clothes over a fire.

[AlaskaTrueAdventure]

wading pants....

Bitterroot, jklingel,
What type of boots or wading shoes/boots do you wear over the stockingfoot?
Could you walk, say, 6 or 8 straight miles in your boots.
Are your boots THE ANSWER.
Have you saw friends boots that are THE ANSWER
(And the question is...Is your breathable pants and boots combo more efficient for tundra hiking and hunting than the LaCrosse Hip Boots? (which are not perfect.)
Thanks for the info....
Dennis
AK TAGS

[jklingel]

ain't got it

THE ANSWER is like THE GIRLFRIEND. I don't have either one. I have walked for hours in my boot footed, not stocking, Cabela's pant boots, and have been pretty dry/comfy. They are NOT real quiet, either, but krinkle a little bit. I once climbed for hours in them on a spring bear hunt, a couple thousand feet up, w/ over-night gear. They did not tear my feet/legs apart, but they are "chubby" around the ankles. More comfy than hip boots? Dunno. I have not worn hip boots for years, and never did a one-leg-in-one, one-leg-in-other test. I DARE someone to try that.... : ) One nice feature, besides the depth of water and reasonable dryness, is sitting on your butt in the snow/wet veggies w/out getting wet. Waders stink for taking a leak. Hip boots are too short. THE ANSWER, if it were up to me, is taking a chopper ride in tennies, getting out and shooting, etc. I feel your pain; I am looking for THE ANSWER on a few issues myself, like how to protect the bottom of a fiberglass canoe.... Good luck. Life is a big experiment, that you eventually lose.

[Fr. Joe]

Ummm...if your hunting for God, won't he let you just walk on top of the water ??

I don't have that one down...(guess I'm not holy enough yet)...that's another reason I need some good waders!

Fr. Joe

[Vek]

Dan Bailey stockingfoot hippers made my hunt this year. I wore them in a pair of my old backpacking boots with the insoles removed. Boots are oldschool LLBean North Col wafflestompers, and even though they got and stayed wet, they provided way better support and traction for hiking than regular hippers. They were always plenty roomy fitting, so the neoprene foot worked fine when I removed the insole of the boot. They are VERY lightweight. They're also a bit "swishy" with brush. There are better, tougher, quieter options if you aren't moving around much.

[muskeg]

Where do you get Lacross with the Air Bob sole ?

All I can find is ones with the chevron sole ....

found some

http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7290875/c/48709.html