Greys Tital and Kinetic X5 breathable chest waders initial impressions - both can be found for well under £200
Breathable chest waders (BCWs) remain an essential part of my fishing and working in fishing, and whilst nothing has changed about how much I like the very good £250+ Vision Koski BCWs, I’d be daft not to register a good bit of interest in some new BCWs which are retailing for well under the £200 mark. I hesitate to call an item of fishing tackle around this price as cheap, but I can’t function without BCWs and I am going to spend what it takes to keep fishing in them. Yep, all BCWs are going to fail at some point via saltwater use especially so I accept that in some respects they are a disposable item and the cost needs to be built into your fishing as such, but I look after my BCWs and some last better than others. If I can get a good bit of life from a pair of BCWs AND they cost me under £200? I’m all in…………..
The Greys Tital BCWs
Have a good look around for these waders if you are interested, there are a whole bunch of different sizes. If it helps, I am 6’ tall and thinner than I was, but I will always be your typical XL when it comes to most clothing. Both these BCWs fit me well in an XL size. If you are inclined towards my affiliate links - thank you as always - then check them out below, it looks like different sizes are currently in stock in different places:
Greys Tital - Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore (Glasgow Angling Centre)
Kinetic X5 - Veals Mail Order or Fishing Megastore (Glasgow Angling Centre)
Greys Tital BCWs specs, from the Greys website:
Articulated cutting path with improved mobility
Stockingfoot version with 4.5mm neoprene sock
Large front pocket for storing fly boxes
Adjustable suspenders
Flip-out pocket
20,000mm membrane
Includes neoprene belt
Kinetic X5 BCWs specs, from the Kinetic website:
Light and very durable 5-Layer fabric
PROxTEX membrane
Waterproof +40.000mm
Breathability +6.000MVP
Fully taped Japanese seams
Neoprene edge for nice comfort
Gravel guards
High-density CR neoprene stocking feet
Water resistant inner pocket
Two water resistant chest pocket
Fleece lined hand warmer pocket
Attached belt straps and strong wading belt
Adjustable suspenders
Please note that this post is very much an initial impressions thing and not a full blown review. I can’t sit here and tell you that these new Greys Tital or Kinetic X5 BCWs are the best things in the world because I haven’t used either of them for long enough yet, but so far they are both seriously impressing me. I have always been really pleased if I can get a year out of a pair of BCWs - barbed-wire etc. notwithstanding - so I will report back after a much longer period of abuse of these BCWs. What I can tell you about is what I think of both waders so far and how they are slightly different to each other and therefore offer different options depending on what your fishing needs are.
The first thing that surprises me about both pairs of BCWs is how well they are cut, and by that I mean how good they are to move around in. It seems that gone are the days of “budget” BCWs being these somewhat voluminous things just because they are cheaper. The best cut waders I have ever worn were the high-end offerings from Simms, but damn they are expensive, and I didn’t get a longer life out of them in a saltwater environment.
The Kinetic X5 BCWs
I have got both these BCWs we are talking about here in an XL size and both fit me well. These Greys Tital waders are seriously good to move around in and they don’t feel like they are restricting me at all when I am scrambling up and down cliffs and so on. The Kinetic X5 waders are also cut well, but because a lot of the actual wader is made from heavier/potentially tougher material - more to come on this - they naturally feel a smidgen more restrictive when you move around. Nothing remotely bugs me I might add, but it’s interesting to be able to compare two pairs of BCWs around the same price.
The shoulder straps on both pairs of BCWs are also much better than I expected them to be for the price, and both also come with decent belts to tighten up around the waist. They each have slightly different front pocket designs - I can easily live with either - and the inbuilt gravel guards on both BCWs are fine with regular wading boots which tend to have a higher cut to them. For shorter boots like the Dunlops, the red colour Bestards, or the Adidas Terrex Hydro Lace boots which continue to grow on me, you might want to invest in a simple pair of neoprene gravel guards from the likes of Vision if you fish in areas where there’s a lot of sand or fine grit.
Greys Tital
The Kinetic X5 BCWs are heavier duty for sure - slightly thicker legs and bottom half - whereas the Greys Tital BCWs are lighter weight and a touch easier to wear and move around in as a result. Logic says that the more robust Kinetic X5 might withstand a bit more rock fishing abuse especially, but I have used the Greys Tital plenty on rocks and there are no issues so far. No waders will withstand barbed-wire or slipping on sharp rocks anyway, but I have worn both BCWs a good bit now and I am perfectly happy with either pair. We had a couple of very warm days in Canada and I found no issues with covering a good bit of ground in the Greys Tital BCWs, and likewise I have been perfectly comfortable moving around a lot in the Kinetic X5 ones. I do wonder if the Greys Tital BCWs are perhaps best suited from say spring through to late autumn UK or Ireland based fishing, whereas the slightly thicker material on a lot of the Kinetic X5 BCWs might make them a year round thing? Again, time will tell.
I have worn both pairs of BCWs a fair bit now here at home and in Ireland when I went in May, plus I took the Greys Tital ones with me to Canada, and I wore the Kinetic X5 ones most of the time on my recent Ireland guiding trip. Coming from somebody who has been using and abusing BCWs for 25+ years for work and play, I reckon I am pretty qualified to talk about these things. Occasionally I have tried a pair of BCWs which have sprung a random leak for no logical reason, or barbed-wire reaches out and grabs you, or the neoprene socks have been too thin on the soles and over a lot of wading time I get what I call “neoprene compression” - water starts to slowly seep through - but for the most part when these things fail I can put it down to wear and tear in an environment where it could be argued they are not specifically meant for. I would politely suggest that if you end up getting wet feet when wearing BCWs, the reason is mostly because you’re not washing out your wading boots after use so any sand or grit left in them then acts like sandpaper on the neoprene socks.
Kinetic X5
So whilst I can’t yet tell you that either the Greys Tital or Kinetic X5 BCWs are going to last me what I think is a decent length of time, what we do have are two very much sub-£200 BCWs which - currently - I think are really rather good. I have used really high-end BCWs over the years and in a saltwater environment I didn’t get a longer life out of them, and I have also tried some really cheap and not particularly well made BCWs which were more like wearing a tent to move around in - hence my serious interest in waders like these two here. Are we now at the stage where we can buy really good quality BCWs for a price which makes them somewhat more accessible to us? Hopes are high but watch this space………..
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