Drake Wader Size Chart: How to Measure and Choose

Short answer: boot size first, then the chart for your model

Drake waders are mostly bootfoot, so the boot is built into the wader and your boot size is the anchor of the size chart. A retailer that reproduces Drake's wader charts lists them by fit: Regular, Short and Slim, Stout and King. Each fit has its own boot sizes and its own chest, outseam and inseam numbers. Regular and Stout cover the widest range of boot sizes there, and Short and Slim and King cover narrower ranges.

I am not copying any numbers onto this page. Drake's own Sizing Charts page links separate charts for men, waders, women, youth and gun dog, and those charts are published as images. Open the chart for your model on Drake's Sizing Charts page, and use this guide to get your own measurements ready.

What you need before opening the chart

Four numbers, taken with a soft tape.

1. Boot size. Use the size you wear in a hunting boot with your thickest sock. Drake's fit advice says the foot should sit flat in the boot with no toes pushed forward, and the boot should not shift on each step. A bootfoot pair cannot be adjusted, so a boot that is half a size off stays that way.
2. Chest. Around the fullest part of your chest, under the arms, over the layers you will wear. Keep the tape level and do not pull it tight.
3. Waist. Where the waders will sit. Drake says to measure the waist where the waders will sit, and to compare with the chart rather than your everyday clothing size.
4. Inseam. From crotch to floor along the inside of your leg, in socks. The inseam keeps the legs from pulling the upper section down when you squat in the blind or step over a log.

The layers matter more than most hunters expect. A chest measured over a T-shirt in the garage is a different chest over a fleece, a hoodie and a base layer in a boat. Drake's own page makes the same point: standard sizing does not always account for a larger frame, especially with insulation underneath. Our what to wear under waders guide lists the layers most hunters stack.

Reading the fit labels

The labels describe the build the pattern is cut for, not your height alone.

• Regular. The standard cut. Start here if your chest and waist measure in proportion.
• Short and Slim. A shorter, narrower cut, as the name suggests.
• Stout. Retail guides describe Stout as a fuller cut through the body at a similar height. Drake's Big and Tall page lists a stout insulated breathable model.
• King. The largest cut in the retailer's version of the charts, covering a narrower set of boot sizes than Regular.
• Tall. A leg-length option. Drake's Big and Tall category groups models such as the Guardian Elite, Vanguard, Hardline, Eqwader and BMF1600 Kevlar, but the page does not define the labels or list ranges. Which models come in Tall is something to confirm on the model page.

These labels are not defined on Drake's pages in the text I could read, so treat them as pointers and let the chart's numbers decide. Not every model is offered in every fit.

A fit check that works

Try the waders on with the layers you will wear in the field. Squat, sit, bend and step up onto something. Drake's guidance is that you should have full movement without bunching behind the knees or fabric hanging loose. Legs that are too short pull the shoulder straps and the upper body down when you bend. If the straps are at their limit or the crotch feels low, size up before the seam finds out. (The Seam keeps its own chart, and it starts at "one size too small.")

If you are between sizes, look at the other end of the day. I'd say hunters who sit still in cold water want more room for layers, and hunters who walk long distances want a closer cut that does not flap. Size for the day you will have most often.

Drake's range at a glance

On Amazon US we track Drake chest waders and a hip boot, mostly bootfoot breathable pairs plus a neoprene model, as covered on our Drake waders brand page. That page explains the model names (Guardian Elite, Hardline, BMF1600 and the rest), the insulation figures and the warranty terms, and it shows the Drake products we track with the maker's own numbers. The boot sizes and size ranges there come from Drake's product and size pages, and I have not read enough buyer feedback on Drake fit to summarise it.

Other makers and other waders

Do not use Drake's chart for another brand. Charts differ between makers and between models of the same maker. For the general measuring method and links to other makers' charts, see the wader size chart guide. If you are comparing waders for hunting, the duck hunting waders page lists pairs from several makers, and best duck hunting waders shows the ones that meet a fixed rule. Bootfoot pairs in particular are listed on the bootfoot waders page.

Kids and youth

Drake has a separate youth chart. Children grow, and I would not buy waders far too big for a child to wade in. Keep a child in shallow water with an adult close by and a life jacket on. See our youth wader size chart guide.