Vest or waders?

[Stoney]

A question for the experts (or at least for the very opinionated :) ):

If you have neither a vest nor waders but can afford to buy only one or the other for now, which would you choose?

[pvansch1]

Waders and a fishing shirt.

[Stoney]

"Fishing shirt"? Is that something in between a vest and a t-shirt?

[pvansch1]

No, most have a couple of big pockets on the front, vented back for cooling. Long sleeved have little tabs to hold rolled up sleeves up.
You can them at Dicks sometimes Marshalls, Kohls or Target. $20 or so.
Waders with an inside pocket, plus the shirt = enough cargo space for a day on the river.

[Adam Taylor]

pete is absolutely right....heck some of the new waders are making vests almost unneccessary with the pockets they have now.....

[waterworker]

Unless your not going to fish until june, and wade in your sneakers,I'd vote for waders!

[WhipFish]

This is a no brainer...Waders. Cabela's makes a pair with a built in removable chest pack and almost all of them have at least a chest pocket that velco's closed. Plus if you strap a wading belt around your waist, you can tuck a couple of fly boxes, a spare reel, and a drink bottle inside them without your gear slipping down your legs. I do that all the time. Pin a double retractor to one of the shoulder straps with clippers, line straightener, and forceps and you're good to go. Gear can be minimalized but you first have to be warm and dry.

[Stoney]

Thanks for the replies, and choosing waders is what I expected to hear.

I wasn't aware that waders have pockets nowadays, so that's good to know.

I've done most of my fishing in sneakers-and-shorts wet-wading weather, but that's been more a matter of not having waders than a preference for wet wading (although it does have its place in nasty hot weather and just for simplicity's sake.)

I have a $50 gift card to Cabelas burning a hole in my pocket, so maybe I'll put that towards some inexpensive waders.

Thanks again!