I don’t need to tell you all about the ins and outs of breathable chest waders (BCWs) because I went through all that the other day - see here. We are talking about an item of fishing tackle here which I can’t do about and which can cost a not insubstantial amount of money. Around £250 can buy you a very good lure rod and spinning reel setup, with potentially a bit of change left over to get some braid and lures as well. I told you the other day why BCWs are non-negotiables for me, so in my opinion, what does £250 buy you on the waders front?
As close to perfect as I am currently aware of, that’s what you are getting for your money here with a pair of these Vision Koski BCWs. There has to be the argument that a pair of BCWs which you can so easily damage if you fall over on sharp rocks or try vaulting a barbed-wire fence and get it wrong - don’t ask - cannot really be a perfect item of fishing tackle, but you can also very easily fall on your expensive length of carbon fibre or drown your shiny spinning reel and it never feels the same again. If I was back in my bait fishing days I would more than likely be taking two rods with two reels with me when I headed out, and during my winter cod fishing days especially I needed specialist clothing to keep me warm and dry. When I go lure fishing I take one rod and reel and I wear a pair of BCWs, and I am going to spend the necessary money to get me something that works properly.
For a number of years I wore the now discontinued Vision Ikon BCWs. Over a lot of time with them I came around to realising just how good they were, and just how much they offered me for the money when compared to some far more expensive Simms BCWs that had failed on me far too quickly for me to be remotely comfortable with how much they cost. In some respects it was all a learning curve and the Ikons became essentially my perfect mix of price versus longevity with the fishing I tend to do. Fishing tackle companies are regular businesses though, and product lineups need to be refreshed. On the one hand I was a bit gutted that the Ikons were being replaced, because the new Koski BCWs had a hell of a lot to live up to, and what if they weren’t as good and I hadn’t gone around buying up a few pairs of Ikons to keep me going?
But fear not because the Koski BCWs are bloody brilliant. It’s not up to me to try and justify what they cost, but from my point of view I will spend what it takes to use waders as good as these - and if that price is £250 then so be it and it’s a cost of me doing what I love. My girls are both into running and sailing and they need different running shoes for different terrains, and then different wetsuits for different times of year and so on. Outdoor activities usually require a certain amount of the right gear, and I need good BCWs. I can’t tell you that when I go out lure fishing I am finding it to be a vastly different experience in a pair of Koski BCWs compared to the previous generation Ikons, but my research leads me to understand that I am getting a better grade of wader for the price with these Koski BCWs when compared to what I got for my money with the Ikons. In the real fishing world all I can really tell you is that these Vision Koski BCWs have been essentially perfect via a lot of fishing and walking and wading and scrambling around in them now. I told you that I had to do a basic repair after an altercation with a barbed-wire fence last summer, but that was obviously my fault and what are now my go-to BCWs have never let in a drop of water or ever been remotely annoying to wear and move around in.
And that is a really big thing to me with BCWs. I want what a lightweight pair of waders offers me, but it bugs the hell out of me if you’re scrambling around across rocks and weed or up a cliff and the bloody things are catching you somewhere on your body and making the whole moving freely experience that bit less efficient. When I am fishing and moving around in these Vision Koski BCWs there is absolutely nothing about them that annoys me, and I mean nothing. They just work. Vision use really good, lightweight, elasticated shoulder straps, and they are easily adjustable. The supplied elasticated belt is good, I can’t recall a pair of neoprene socks on the bottom of a pair of Vision BCWs ever failing on me - bear in mind that I do wash sand and gravel out of my wading boots because that is one surefire way to put holes in neoprene wader socks - and the shape/cut of these Koski BCWs are great. For sure you can spend a lot more money and get a slightly more anatomical cut on a pair of waders, but it’s not as if we are on a fashion parade when we go out fishing. I am 100% used to wearing waders and I know when a pair really works.
You need to be aware that the front chest pocket is quoted as being “water resistant” on these waders, so whilst anything in there isn’t going to get wet when it rains or you get splashed (waterproof jacket or smock when it rains anyway?), what I mean is that I wouldn’t have a mobile phone or car keys etc. in that front pocket and then go deep-wading across a gully or something like that. It’s easy to keep stuff on the inside with how the supplied waterproof TPU pocket can be configured, and it’s some pretty deep wading if you are getting water up and over the height of the outside chest pocket anyway, but it’s worth knowing. When I first started using Vision BCWs I wasn’t really sure about how they make their gravel guards from the actual wader material with elasticated bottoms and that little “hook” which clips onto your boot, but again over a lot of time and their gravel guards holding up so well, I really like them. As far as gravel guards go with keeping a good amount of sand and gravel out of your wading boots, this design works easily as well as anything else I have come across. I also think that Vision are very good on their sizings. I am 6’ tall, and although my fitness-driven youngest girl tells me that everybody has got a six-pack in there somewhere, I personally believe that a bit of extra padding makes for a safer experience if you fall over on the rocks. I tend to take an XL in most things and a pair of these Vision Koski waders in XL Regular fit me perfectly, with no danger of not being able to fit my six-pack in there if I ever find it.
So there you have it. I can’t sit here and tell you what to spend on a pair of BCWs if you need them for your fishing, but I can tell you that I have worn these ones enough to know how good they are. I can say a great big phew that they are easily as good as the discontinued Ikons, and I can’t prove it but I have a feeling that the Koski BCWs are “breathing” a bit better again than the Ikons. £250 is a lot of money but it’s how much I need to spend to buy an item of fishing tackle which is vital for my fishing and which I know is as much as I can get for that money. You all please stay safe, have a good weekend, roll on the Six Nations but it’s not going to be the same without crowds, and England Test cricket in India is also without crowds but free to air on Channel 4 from 4am this morning when sure as hell I was up and watching it. We are going to get through this……………….
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