While yomping down the the Kyle a few weeks back I walked straight into a piece of wire poking from the ground. Pretty sure it wasn't there before. There was a brief moment of panic while I checked my £600 Simms G4's for tears. Fortunately all was well. After recanting this to the missus she came up with a bonza idea. 'Why not get a cheap pair for your night fishing, then you can bu@@er out with out worrying about wasting even more money than you already do.' So taking that as permission to buy another pair of waders I was straight on Fleabay. Quite a few cheap breathables under £100. So a quick search of this forum and Bison seemed to be the ones to go for. I already have a Bison reel. Bought for £64 and delivered to my door two days later. I was a bit worried about the sizing as I'm a 48" chest, 32" inside leg and size eight feet. The only option was the large size which is 48" chest, 36" inside leg and 10-11 foot. I expected them to be miles to big in the foot and to gather around my knees with the 36" inside leg. I was right about the foot but geared up the legs looked fine. With my wading boots on the excess length in the foot doesn't bother me as much as I had feared.
They have a pouch in the front and hand warmer pocket along with a belt.
The test would of course be how they preformed. The following Friday night was warm and muggy and a good 500m hike to the waterside would provide the answer as to whether the material is indeed breathable. In the water there was no issue with them leaking, so it's definitely waterproof, but is it breathable? After four hours fishing, most of it stood in the water and a 500m hike back to the car I expected to find my jeans damp with perspiration. But the Bisons pasted the test. Bone dry so the waders are breathable too. Last night was a test for them too, with the water so high it was mooching about the bank time, with whin bushes and branches grating against my legs and at one point a brief encounter with a bramble bush. Hopping into the water at the end of the night to clean the mud off and no leaks to report.

So what did I get for my £600 Simms G4's that I didn't get form the £64 Bisons ? Waterproof pockets and a zip down the front. Oh and waders that fit like a glove everywhere. Simms have a dozen different sizes on offer and if you e-mail them they'll make them to your sizes. Bison your going to have to do what I did and settle for the next best size. Naturally the test of any low cost product is whether it stands the test of time, I can get nearly 10 pairs of Bisons for the cost of the Simms, will the Simms last ten times as long ? We shall see.

Bison chest waders: waterproof, breathable and stupidly cheap. Highly recommended.