[speyflyman]

I am looking for some much needed help. I just purchased this past Sept. a new pair of Simms Gore Tex # 14 wide Bootfoot Waders. I finally had my first chance to use them the first part of the week of Thanksgiving. Not good as my left foot being surgically fused caused me to have much problem getting my left foot in and more trouble getting it out at our take out. Carl was able to assist me and get my boot off. Finally today was able to get through to contact Simms Customer Service to see if a slit could be made at the front of the ankle to patch in some extra neoprene material to allow me to use my new waders. Looks like from what I was told by Customer Service since I had used the waders for one 6 hour float trip they could not be returned. Thus, I have bought the farm, the John Deere, and the goose. Was told that Simms could not alter the waders. Now, that said, does anyone know of someone or a good reputible business that might be able to to make a slit in the front of the ankle area about 6" long and inlay some extra material and then sew or glue seams? Next issue is the waders are XXL King and I still need some material applied to the back side of these waders to give me more girth in the waders. I was thinking of a cut from the base of the butt area up to top and inlay a triangular piece of Gore-Tex material and give me an additional 10" or so more room for winter layering. Any help and/or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks much, Stiver

 

[macspey]

Dive shop?

Hey Tom,
If there is a serious dive shop in your area that repairs or alters wetsuits, they may be able to help you with the ankle situation. 6 or 7 years ago, I bought a pair of bootfoot neoprenes that were perfect, except the inseam was about 5" too long. The local dive shop 'sectioned' out the 5", glued and taped them, worked out fine, in fact I still use them for extreme cold. The Goretex may have them scratching their heads, don't really know if they're used to dealing with the stuff///

good luck!

John

 

[JDJones]

Simms

Simms is pulling your leg. Really! Although what you are asking for will not be covered under warranty, they can easilly replace the booties. Don't know about custom sizes. But they have replaced the booties on my waders. I would suggest you talk to them again and have some measurements to refer to.

 

[speyflyman]

thanks for input

Thanks, guys, for your input. John, a very good thought about going to a dive shop. In fact there is one not too far from us here in Elkhart, IN. JD, also along your thoughts is the boots are fine(they are the very largest Simms offers), its that there is too little room in the front of the ankle area to "give" to allow me to get my left foot out and into the boot since I cannot straighten out my foot to put it in the same plane as my leg, getting in and out of waders. Once I'm in, they(the boots) fit fine as they were special ordered. JD, as I told the lady at Simms, "What good is any warranty if I can't use the boots?" I really don't care about a warranty now. All I want is a pair of waders that will fit me and allow me to have a couple years of use. Make any sense to you? Thanks very much, Stiver