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Yesterday a 17 year old duck hunter drowned in lake seminole, coincidentally where we are headed tomorrow. He and two classmates were hunting and capsized and sank their boat, the other two boys made it out alive but the one guy lost his life, thoughts and prayers for his friends and family and the two boys who are in the hospital. The article can be found here.
http://m.walb.com/#!/newsDetail/24386562
Seminole is full of stumps and gators and has always been a dangerous spot, there have been quite a few duck hunters go over the dam, one guy was never found, we will be very careful out there this weekend.
So, with this being said, what do you do if you fall in? I know guys who don't put their waders on til they get to their hunting spot, which seems to be the most logical answer to this, but it's not always the case. What I've read is if you do happen to come in to this situation is not to panic, that's what causes you to go down.
A buddy of mines little brother told me that he tested it out in the swimming pool once and that his waders floated. Any input?

I tripped this morning on an under water stump while setting decoys. Luckily didn't get water in the waders but my decoy gloves full of duck weedy water.

Far as input, you could wear em for the boat ride but don't strap em on. Also if you take the open they will float. You can also, believe it or not, hold your shirt down with arm, put the neck over your mouth and blow air into it to stay afloat. Sorry to hear about the kid, tough situation for sure, thoughts and prayers to all involved.

FlintRiverFowler wrote:Yesterday a 17 year old duck hunter drowned in lake seminole, coincidentally where we are headed tomorrow. He and two classmates were hunting and capsized and sank their boat, the other two boys made it out alive but the one guy lost his life, thoughts and prayers for his friends and family and the two boys who are in the hospital. The article can be found here.
http://m.walb.com/#!/newsDetail/24386562
Seminole is full of stumps and gators and has always been a dangerous spot, there have been quite a few duck hunters go over the dam, one guy was never found, we will be very careful out there this weekend.
So, with this being said, what do you do if you fall in? I know guys who don't put their waders on til they get to their hunting spot, which seems to be the most logical answer to this, but it's not always the case. What I've read is if you do happen to come in to this situation is not to panic, that's what causes you to go down.
A buddy of mines little brother told me that he tested it out in the swimming pool once and that his waders floated. Any input?

From experience...

Neoprene waders are equa-buoyant, at worst. They should provide a little flotation until the inside fills with water, after that they hinder your movement and it becomes difficult to swim.

Best bet is wearing a good life jacket if you are going to wear your waders on a boat.

rebelp74 wrote:I tripped this morning on an under water stump while setting decoys. Luckily didn't get water in the waders but my decoy gloves full of duck weedy water.

One of the colder mornings this year I went out to grab a decoy that was floating away, got almost to the top of my waders and a little wave splashed down the back of them, it sucked. Water all the way down to my boots.

Neoprene waders do float. Pretty well, actually.

rebelp74 wrote:Far as input, you could wear em for the boat ride but don't strap em on.

Not going to help... the water compresses them and makes them impossible to take off while swimming. Trust me I have tried.

The straps on my waders come off very easily I think that's the first thing I would go for and then peeling them down from the top.

Wader belt, and a life jacket. No need for anything else.

Woody wrote:

rebelp74 wrote:Far as input, you could wear em for the boat ride but don't strap em on.

Not going to help... the water compresses them and makes them impossible to take off while swimming. Trust me I have tried.

It works, I've done it with waders and a mustang suit in water survival school.

rebelp74 wrote:

Woody wrote:

rebelp74 wrote:Far as input, you could wear em for the boat ride but don't strap em on.

Not going to help... the water compresses them and makes them impossible to take off while swimming. Trust me I have tried.

It works, I've done it with waders and a mustang suit in water survival school.

You must of had some special waders, because mine were not coming off.

What does the mustang suit have to do with it? Did you have that underneath?

assateague wrote:Neoprene waders do float. Pretty well, actually.

Of course the Mexican posts a video in Spanish

I understood him perfectly. Although there really should have been carnival music in the background. And I think it's Italian.

assateague wrote:I understood him perfectly. Although there really should have been carnival music in the background. And I think it's Italian.

'twas Spanish I believe lots of words i understood and hear every day, unless eyetalyun has some of the same words. Idk

FlintRiverFowler wrote:The straps on my waders come off very easily I think that's the first thing I would go for and then peeling them down from the top.

Unstrap your waders, but I wouldn't try to get out of them. You can't use your arms or legs to tread water while doing this. I would unstrap, but the waders would stay on while I used my arms to keep my head above water, then I would be looking for something to grab onto. Like a bag of decoys. If you can shimmy out of your waders without using your arms, then do that I guess.

Hunting in Georgia, odds are you just have athletic shorts on underneath your waders. Even up here all I have under my waders is polypropylene bottoms and tops and a light fleece. I'm very comfortable in the water, and I know I could keep myself from drowning in that setup.

Woody wrote:

rebelp74 wrote:

Woody wrote:

rebelp74 wrote:Far as input, you could wear em for the boat ride but don't strap em on.

Not going to help... the water compresses them and makes them impossible to take off while swimming. Trust me I have tried.

It works, I've done it with waders and a mustang suit in water survival school.

You must of had some special waders, because mine were not coming off.

What does the mustang suit have to do with it? Did you have that underneath?

They were neoprene boot foot waders. We had to kick them off and use them as a float. The mustang suit was something separate, a full body neoprene cold water survival suit, much harder to get off than waders while in the water.

rebelp74 wrote:

Woody wrote:

rebelp74 wrote:

Woody wrote:

rebelp74 wrote:Far as input, you could wear em for the boat ride but don't strap em on.

Not going to help... the water compresses them and makes them impossible to take off while swimming. Trust me I have tried.

It works, I've done it with waders and a mustang suit in water survival school.

You must of had some special waders, because mine were not coming off.

What does the mustang suit have to do with it? Did you have that underneath?

They were neoprene boot foot waders. We had to kick them off and use them as a float. The mustang suit was something separate, a full body neoprene cold water survival suit, much harder to get off than waders while in the water.

They must have wanted you dead if they told you to take off your survival suit

It was a class. They were teaching donning and removing different suits in water for various circumstances.

rebelp74 wrote:It was a class. They were teaching donning and removing different suits in water for various circumstances.

If that makes you feel better. Still sounds like they wanted you dead

OGblackcloud wrote:

rebelp74 wrote:It was a class. They were teaching donning and removing different suits in water for various circumstances.

If that makes you feel better. Still sounds like they wanted you dead

Yeah, I am a dick.

Was al cohal involved in the drowning?

Spanish. Not Italian.

I think it was Portugese.


And I'm amused at how many will still argue the fact, after watching two grown men float around pretty much as long as they wanted with waders on.

assateague wrote:I think it was Portugese.

x2, the accent sounds way different from Mexican spanish.

(MT)Montanafowler wrote:

assateague wrote:I think it was Portugese.

x2, the accent sounds way different from Mexican spanish.

Could be spanish Spanish , Mexicans are too poor to fly fish.

And there's no way there would only be two of them around a pool in a backyard like that.

FlintRiverFowler wrote:

(MT)Montanafowler wrote:

assateague wrote:I think it was Portugese.

x2, the accent sounds way different from Mexican spanish.

Could be spanish Spanish , Mexicans are too poor to fly fish.

you guys may think i'm bsing you, but my spanish teacher was portugese. said the two languages are very similar, but a few words don't translate straight across.

assateague wrote:And there's no way there would only be two of them around a pool in a backyard like that.

I lol'd at this.

assateague wrote:

And I'm amused at how many will still argue the fact, after watching two grown men float around pretty much as long as they wanted with waders on.

This

I think the whole drowning in your waders thing is from back when people used the hip waders more and, they were made of rubber or rubberized canvas. Simple fact, neoprene floats. If you are on a boat without a life jacket ...well....maybe you should rethink your strategy, especially when the boat is under power.