Welcome. This is the first post, so let me tell you what this place is.
This is a place for my life in waders — bog walks, atmospheric mornings out, and the everyday done fully kitted out. I love the gear, I won’t pretend otherwise, but what I want to share here is where it takes me: sometimes deep into a bog, mud to the chest, washing off in the river afterwards; sometimes just pulling on a pair of chest waders to do something completely ordinary, and seeing how the day goes.
You won’t see my face here. That’s rather the point — full-coverage gear is total presence and zero identity, and I like it that way.
Today is, by all accounts, the hottest day of the year. Which is exactly the sort of day you’d think waders would stay in the cupboard. They didn’t.
4:30 in the morning
I’m up at 4:30 every morning. It’s the best part of the day — quiet, cool, completely still, and the only time I get properly focused. It’s also, conveniently, the only sensible window to put on chest waders when the afternoon is going to be brutal. So that’s what I did: a bit of focused work, and a cool, peaceful early start in full kit before the heat arrived.
Setting up shop on the hottest day
There’s a certain irony to it: I registered lifeinwaders.com and got the hosting set up today, of all days — the hottest day of the year. Call it fate. The site will run on WordPress, and this post is the very first thing on it.
I’m down in Cornwall, which means it’s a touch cooler here than most of the country right now — but only a touch. It’s still going to be a hot one.
This morning’s gear
I reached for my go-to pair: a well-worn set of Vass safety chest waders. They’re the older style — dark olive green with bright yellow straps and proper industrial safety boots. By a long way my favourite pair. I’ve worn them so much I’m honestly not sure I’d trust them in deep water anymore; I suspect there are a few holes by now. But the material is lovely — flexible, properly hard-wearing, and they just feel right to wear. Years ago I put a set of fairly expensive insoles in them, and they’ve held up beautifully.
Underneath, just thermal leggings — which sounds mad in this heat, but it’s actually a fairly cool combination, and it’s what works for me.
Staying cool in waders when it’s 30 degrees
Wearing chest waders on a day like today is, I won’t pretend otherwise, a bit of a struggle. But there’s a trick: spray them down with a bit of water and the whole thing cools right off. I’m planning to try exactly that later, once the day really heats up — I’ll report back on how well it holds.
That’s the idea of this place, really: the days out — the ordinary ones and the muddy ones — and sharing how they actually go. There’s a lot more coming — clips, photos, and plenty more mornings like this one.
Stick around.
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