Fish Pond’s Rio Grande Wader Belt – Part 2
Ready for a closer look at the Rio Grande which I got from Bears Den? Lets do it. Note, the “D” rings and the Jacquard accent webbing running down the center of the belt. Yes, many Fish Pond products have this webbing. In this case, however, there is something special going on. The webbing is removable via a clip. (See red arrow in photo below). This in turn allows you disconnect the webbing and thread objects onto it thereby securing them to the belt. Very, very useful.
Once I found this clip, the wheels started turning. I dug out a small Fish Pond pack my son gave me for Christmas. Bingo, I ran the webbing through it and mounted it to the belt. (See photo below) Nice. Obviously, in this same manner, one could add a sheath either for a plier, a knife, or a folding wade staff. Or who knows what? It’s up to you.
Of course I wanted to put the “D” rings to work too. As you’ll see in the next photo, using para-cord I secured my Boga Grip. (right red arrow) The stainless steel clip (left red arrow) I bought to connect a rope to my “Adios”. As I mentioned in the first post I’m going to tow it along behind me. ( I may end up reversing the position of the clip and the Boga)
All told the Rio Grande is proving to be a modular wading belt, one that is going to allow me to customize it to fit my fishing. Gotta love that. Naturally I’ll report back as time goes by and give you some updates. But so far I’m very impressed.
Lastly let me point out one important thing. My time is mainly spent in shallow water. So the belt will ride high and dry. If on the other hand you frequently wade waist deep, the Rio Grande is likely to be less useful. Everything aboard will get regularly soaked.
How do you get the wader belt to stay up when wading? Everytime I’ve worn it no matter how tight I put it on it slides down and usually at the worst time like when I have a fish on. I even took the clips off the front and ran the webbing through my waders but there is nothing to hold the back up.
Bill,
I can honestly say I have never experienced a problem keeping the wading belt up. I wade with it every time I’m on the water. And it stays firmly in place even with a boga and pliers dangling off it. So without seeing it on you, I haven’t a clue.
Regards,
Ed