JQT says: Good luck in your search for the old galoshes, RAS: boot technology has been thoroughly revolutionized in our lifetimes, has it not? From the plain old "Wellington Boot" or once-familiar 'Wellies' and their reliable rubber (which was difficult to obtain after WWII, but no longer any more than a toll-free phone call or a mouse-click away from purveyors such as L.L. Bean), to various synthetics backed with canvass and other more modern materials, and then it was on to Neoprene, and finally, even newer materials such as Thinsulate and Gore-Tex. When I was a young teen and just learning the 'ropes' of trout fishing, I could never afford a good (or even a mediocre) pair of boots or hip waders, so these had to be borrowed or otherwise somehow procured, begged, or scrounged, and of course these would never fit, and they always leaked; and nothing gets more awkward to 'schlep' back home along an old gravel and dirt highway after a long day of fishing than a useless pair of hip waders that have leaked all day in the stream and are then scorching in the hot, afternoon summer sun. After a few outings in which we exceeded ten-mile-plus all-day excursions in pursuit of Wild Trout (and this was before I was old enough to drive a car) with the likes of these awful boots, I discovered that 'wading wet' was a lot more comfortable, even in water that was often at or near 60 deg F, (i.e., Prime Trout Water) as it is only the first few minutes that are really uncomfortable. After wading all morning in a 62-deg F babbling brook, the numbness finally sets in, and then slowly, it passes, and most surprisingly is that even after a few hours of walking back along the road, it only takes a few seconds to re-acclimate and once again adapt upon re-entry later that afternoon or evening. Even the next day I would find it much easier to plunge back into "The Big Chill" in anticipation of once again fooling that Big Trout. Now, I have the latest technology in wading gear, and yet it sits in a dusty corner, unused due to the poor health of its owner. If you lived any closer to me, I would loan you this old man's boots. I think you could use my Steelhead Supreme 5mm Neoprene doubled-sided waders, so buoyant you can virtually float away in them!