Neoprene free waders?

[WadeK]

For the last several years my allergies to Neoprene have been getting worse. It all started after being told to use 409 to kill the NZMS on my gear after fishing the LO when I was going to fish other waters that weren't infected the day after. I rinsed them as best I could, but wound up having enough 409 soaked into the neoprene that I lost a bunch of skin to chemical burns the next day when I wore them. Ever since then, if I get even a little dampness in any of my waders I break out and/or loose skin no matter how many layers are between me and the neoprene.
So basically I want to find out if anyone makes waders w/o neoprene that are good quality at a reasonabl price.
Fall is coming on and I don't want to forgoe waders or fishing just to save my skin - literally.
2ndly I want to repeat the warning not to use 409 or any other cleaner on anything that will sit on your skin.

[NorcalBob]

Firstly, I don't recommend chemical treatment for AIS prevention. IMNSHO, chemicals should only be used as a last resort, when no other method is practical. Chemical use causes a whole host of problems as you found out, not the least of which is damage to your gear and skin, and proper disposal of the chemicals after use. My mantra is Clean, Inspect, and Dry. Clean your gear after use by flushing with tap water. Inspect them completely to remove any debris still present (especially around studs) and then flush them again with tap water. I use a high pressure hose attachment. Lay your stuff out to dry completely. If you can completely dry your gear out between use for at least 48 hours, that is a very good mechanism for killing off any AIS. If you are staying within the same watershed, it is not that important to completely dry between use. I always have two complete sets of wading gear with me when I'm crossing over into different watershed and can not dry for at least 48 hours.

[briansII]

First off. These waders come with a warning. You'll need a stick to keep all the hot women off you.



I'm a bit confused by your description. Is it actually the neoprene material that is causing a allergic reaction, or is the moisture built up from neo booties causing the problem.

I remember seeing waders without neoprene booties. They used the same material in the body, for the bootie section. Not sure anyone still does that, but I could not find one on a short search. Maybe the style waders that have built in wading boots attached. Not sure that would solve your moisture issue though. Patagonia has waders with "breathable", neoprene booties. Problem is, not sure any waders are going to breath moisture away when your feet are underwater.

briansII

[WadeK]

According to my and my doctors research; dry Neoprene outgasses relatively little of the 6 known reaction causing chemicals. Get it wet and atleast 4 of the chemicals run easily. 1 of the chemicals is Formaldahyde, which I know gives me headaches from HS Biology. My Dr. said the 409 probably increased the outgassing and is itself responsible for skin reactions. When I lost my skin the 1st time, it was bad. To be on the safe side I tossed those waders and bought new ones. Over the years I've used 2 other pairs and all have given me varying degrees of rashes that seem to get progressively worse over time. This means I sensitized myself the 1st time and each exposure after that just makes things worse. I only get the rash where the neoprene is and last year I found out I couldn't even wear the noeprene gloves I used to without getting a bad rash.

[NorcalBob]

WOW, that really sucks. Unfortunately I don't know of any wader makers who don't have neoprene/hypalon booties on stocking foot waders. The old Red Ball non-breathables had a solid foot, but those haven't been available for years. Maybe a boot foot wader might work????

[WadeK]

Boot foot- hate them, but not as much as either not wading or loosing skin.

[meb]

This is kind of a hard site to navigate, but I believe they have waders that do not have neoprene booties.

http://www.ossystems.com/

Mark

[WadeK]

I'll contact them at lunch.