Gear Review: William Joseph Dry-namic Waders

[Phil Lilley]

Gear Review: William Joseph Dry-namic Waders

By Ken Morrow

When I heard that one of my favorite outdoor tech gear manufacturers, Vortex Outdoors, was getting into the breathable fishing wader market under their William Joseph brand name, I just had to have a pair. I have a lot of confidence based on decades of using Vortex products and years of using their hunting (Badlands) and fishing (William Joseph) lines in these brands. And the breathable wader game has always been a frustrating tug-o-war between cost-prohibitive models that offer great performance, durability, and comfort and affordable products that simply don’t. There just never has been much success in the middle. The best things going for the buck for years were the offerings from Redington. But a few years ago Redington got out of the wader and wading boot business, leaving a gaping hole where they had once stood. When Sage bought them, I asked their CEO if they would revive the Redington wader line and he said they had no intentions of doing so. They are a fly rod company. So we all had to just make do. Until now!

I’ve been wearing my William Joseph Dry-namic Waders now for several months and have put them through some pretty serious paces. I got them during the winter and have already had the chance to wear them on a two mile road hike from one fishing hole to another in temperatures in the upper seventies. I’ve busted brush in them, slid down embankments in them, spent plenty of time sitting and kneeling on streamside boulders and gravel, and snagged a few hooks in them. So I think I have a pretty good idea of how they stack up to the competition. I have tested and written extensively on economical breathable waders and on hunting waders over the years. I have a long history with Hodgman, Orvis, Simms, Cabela’s Dry Plus, Patagonia, White River/Redhead/Bone Dry waders from Bass Pro Shops, Red Ball, Dan Bailey’s, and LaCrosse waders and boots. And probably a few I don’t even recall. So I’m pretty confident in my overall experience with all types of waders from a wide array of manufacturers. I’ve found excellent neoprene waders in various weights for hunting and fishing. And there are a few really good breathable fishing waders out there for astronomical price tags and a very select few decent (but not stellar) more affordable breathable options. When it comes to breathable waders, the old mantra “you get what you pay for” has always been pretty much the rule, with Redington being the only notable exception. Until now!

I had read all about the new WJ waders before I received mine. I knew enough about their design and construction…as well as the design philosophy and history of William Joseph…that I expected a very heavy pair of breathable chest waders like a Simms Guide or G3. When I opened the typically edgily-designed box from WJ and lifted the waders out, I was surprised to feel how light they were. Next, I noticed the softness and flexibility of the three-layered Teflon-coated Supplex breathable fabric…four layers from the knees down. The contemporary good looks struck me next. Excellent neutral two-tone styling makes these waders a clear standout from a fashion perspective. My wife, who happened to be standing over my shoulder, exclaimed, “Wow! Those are the first good looking waders you’ve ever had!” She’s a well known artist and designer. So such things make an impression on her. Personally, I’ve never really cared what my waders looked like before as long as they weren’t pink, red, yellow, or orange. But I took note of the fact that it mattered to her. So looks bumped up my priority scale just a notch or two. I also noticed that the suspenders and wader belt were not as wide as I expected. Most high-end waders use 2” or 3” nylon web belt material that is actually pretty heavy and sometimes too wide to be completely comfortable during extended wear. They do so for the sake of durability. The WJ suspenders and wading belt are about 1 ½” wide and have a little stretchiness and a lot of suppleness to them. And they are extremely light.

Of course, the next thing I checked were those new fancy waterproof zippers and zippered pockets that are all the rage on high-end breathable waders these days. The “tech gear” phenomenon is having a noticeable impact on fly-fishing gear that has been apparent for the past few years now. And a lot more of this stuff is starting to actually make sense, and is being designed ergonomically with actual real-world uses in mind, instead of just slapped on to a product haphazardly to increase the list of cutting edge features for the catalogs. The zippers were smooth and had good holding power. The tabs would be easy enough to locate and pull with cold hands, in the dark, or while wearing gloves. That’s pretty typical for any Vortex Outdoors product. When the base of your experience comes from making expedition-grade backpacks and technical outerwear for climbers going up Everest or trekking across Antarctica, you get a lot of feedback about zipper failure and big pull tabs.

Well, my next test was to put them on and walk around a bit – maybe do some jumping jacks and deep knee bends and such. Get the heart rate up in the 70 degree indoor environment and see how well they actually breathed. Again, my wife complimented their looks. She even laughed and said, “Hmmmm. I’ve never seen a sexy fly-fisherman before.” Sexy? OK. Appearance of my waders was definitely moving up the hierarchy of needs! I found the waders as comfortable as a pair of pajamas. I’ve never donned a pair I could say that about before at any price. And after ten minutes of calisthenics, during which time my wife’s “sexy” comments seemed to turn to “goofy,” I was not any warmer than I would have been wearing gym shorts and a T-shirt. Now that’s what I call comfort!

So it was time to take these puppies to the stream and get them wet!

William Joseph puts every single pair of these waders through a five point performance test prior to shipping, including a pressure test to insure 100% water-tightness. The seams are all double taped, inside and out. And the construction was flawless. The Hypalon articulated stocking feet were a vast improvement over everything which had come before when you put them into wading boots. No bunching, no folds, no bulkiness of any kind was noticeable. And that is a huge advantage in terms of both comfort and durability.

So, in the dead of the Ozarks winter, I put on my fleece wader pants, a Polartec fleece sweatshirt over a cotton Henley, and a good pair of mid-weight 100% wool socks, rounded up by gear, and headed for a nearby stream. I was not disappointed. I’ve already told you about some of the paces I’ve put these waders through over the past few months. There’s no need to restate that now. Simply put, the William Joseph Dry-namic breathable waders exceeded all of my expectations. Warm weather or cold weather; hiking on a warm, sunny day; standing all day in sub-fifty degree water or wading a precariously slimy limestone warm water creek; picking my way through thorny brambles and post-ice storm tree falls; and having one or two missteps resulting in a fun slide down a twenty-or-so foot stream bank; these waders do it all.

William Joseph Dry-namic Waders retail for $279 to $299 dollars at many fine fly-fishing retailers worldwide. You can order them from Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shops. And they come with a fabulous two-tiered warranty. During the first year, if you don’t like them for any reason, just send them back to WJ and they will refund your purchase and cut you a check for $50 for your trouble. After that and for life, they will guarantee them unconditionally against manufacturer’s defects. I actually prefer them to Simms top-of-the-line waders because they are lighter and more comfortable, yet perform just as well for about $50-75 less. My wife prefers them because they make me look “sexy!” Hey, making me look sexy isn’t exactly easy! And what forty-year-old bald guy wouldn’t pay $279 to look sexy? I’m thinking about wearing my WJ waders the next time we go out dancing at the local nightclubs. Who knows? I might even start a new fashion trend. And if some drunk spills a drink on me, I’d have it covered with no worries! You can read all about the Dry-namic waders and see more photos and reviews at http://www.williamjosephfishing.net, http://www.cabelas.com, or http://www.basspro.com …just to name a few. And WJ also has another wader out for 2007 designed to offer similar performance at even a lower price point called the V-2 Wader. They will run you about one hundred dollars less than the Dry-namics, and would be well worth checking out at that price.