Redington SonicDry Fly Wader Review

Redesigned and redeveloped, the Redington SonicDry Waders are up for review

At $499 retail, these waders are no joke and are nudging right up there in cost and performance to the rest of the entries in the super premium wader market.   Having worn and abused the previous edition of these waders, I was super interested to see what has changed.

In the interest of full disclosure, I had my issues with the previous edition.  Two zipper fails and one de-lamination,  my main interest here was to see if they had listened to what the fishing market was telling them with this new release

So without further avail, here's the top 5 things I was impressed with in my testing phase of these waders

1.  The Zipper

The full zipper front of these seem to finally have it figured out.  The previous wader's zipper was a big problem and it's been addressed by switching to a YKK Aquaseal Slim Zipper that is easier to slide long the tracks and doesnt feel like it's about to hang up.  Nice work there

2. Continued Pocket Proliferation

They're everywhere, and the continued use of solid waterproof zippers is awesome.

3.  The Little Things

It's the little attention to detail that I've noticed.   Ever had a pair of waders that straps are always falling off your shoulders?  It's horrible, and with these there's a continued detail with the ability to adjust your back straps in multiple places (see the above picture) and the simple red plastic triangle keeps everything locked in place.  Kudos to that

4.  Solid Construction

The touch and feel test tells me that they've put more beef into these babies.  Whether intended or not, I think they will be able to stand up to the beating I tend to give my waders for longer than most have in the past.   With that said, the rock solid warranty these come with give you assurance that spending the better portion of five hundred dollars will be a good investment

5.  Comfortable as hell

I spent a solid 4 days in a pontoon in these, and several other river trips in these bad boys and they fit so well,  even in XXL.  Us big guys know that correct fitting is so inconsistent in outdoor gear, that it's great to find something that does fit


There's a bunch of other factors that I could continue to rave about.  These waders a great....

but....here's the disclaimer.  A BIG one.

The initial release of these waders had one big change.  They completely redesigned the bootie to more of a "performance and athletic fit"

Meaning, they fit a hell of a lot tighter.  The previous edition had ample room for my size 14 to fit comfortably, along with up to many layers of socks (winter steelheading, duh) and it was never an issue

From the moment I put these ones on, I knew it was going to be an issue.  I know that my shoe size is an outlier,  and for 90% of the fishing public out there, this wont be a problem in the slightest.

I can at present get away with a light sock under these waders, but beyond that I cannot currently wear the socks that I will need for the upcoming fall and winter fishing seasons.

In speaking to Redington, their designers are aware of the issue and are working on a quickly coming out revision to the problem for the big footed folks out there

Again, the vast majority of people out there can consult their SIZING CHART and should find zero issue.

The best thing you can do is go to your local fly shop, try them on and buy them there.  If you're in Spokane check out The Silver Bow Fly Shop, as they carry the full line of Redington Waders   They'll take care of you there so you can see right away if they're going to work for you.

Foot issues aside, give these waders a look and hopefully they'll work for you as you get out there and get after it.  We will update this review as soon as the solution to the bootie issue has been resolved.