waders

Ive noticed a few people wearing neoprene chest waders on boats, is this any safer than wearing ordinary waders? they do seem to be a snuger fit , does the neoprene give a bit of bouyancey like a wet suite?
cheers steve

i never understood the "if you fall in wearing waders they will fill with water and you'll sink story"
you will only sink if you weigh more than the water that you displace, the water in your waders will weigh exactly the same as the same volume of water out side the waders therefore you will not sink!
a far more dangerous thing occurs it they do not fill with water..... the waders are now full of air, air is very light so your waders will float BUT this will cause you to float head down. THIS IS VERY BAD NEWS!!!

You fall in the water. Your waders fill with water. Harder now for you to climb/scramble back into the boat................. :(

i had a small job to do on my boat and being basically a lazy person rather than bring it in put it on the trailer do a 5 min job relaunch i stripped off jumped in and did the job, with being in the water and all the job took maybe 10 min but there was no way that my cold legs would allow me to climb back in (no ladder - i have one now!!!)i had to swim for it towing my punt behind me. the moral is that without assistance and a ladder it is virtually impossible to get back into a boat EVEN WITHOUT WADERS. this was a warm calm evening in the summer sea temp 13oC i shudder to think what your chances would be on a cold choppy day.

easier way to get back into a boat with an outboard is to swim around to the stern of the boat and put your foot onto the cavitation plate of your engine (small plate above propellor) you can use this as a makeshift step then haul yourself over the transom .

falling out of a boat and then swimming after it is very difficult. if you think about it, a person walks at an average of 4 mph and very few people can swim faster than someone walking beside them at a swimming pool never mind the sea with currents and wind etc. With a boat being taken by the drift and under the influence of the wind 9 times out of ten you will not catch up with the boat never mind climb into it. A ladder is certainly a much better thing to have anyway. My current boat has a ladder on the back and i find this very important. even when going to and from my boat on its moorings. My first boat did'nt. There is some difference i can tell you. I would recomend a ladder to all boaters if there is room for one on the back of your boat.