Hip boots for all my water trapping. They work for footholds with drowning rods or body grips for beaver which are set close to shore.

I do have a pair of hips made by Gator with brush guards and love’em for scouting when all I need to do is just get close to see. That being said though, I only wear waders (Adam Built Breathables or Gator Insulated) when I’m actually water trapping or on ice no matter the depth. I’ve gone through enough times to know I was gladIhad waders on because you NEVER go straight down when you break through ice!! A pretty darn good mink trapper told me years ago that if you’re not getting low down and looking to set up under the long grasses & overhangs, you’re not seriously wanting to trap mink! In order to do this you’ll fill your hips in knee deep water or get a wet butt squatting!

Back around 2000 during those years I worked for MSU we did a preliminary study of canines (coyotes, red, & grey fox) for Dioxin. All of the trapping was done during the respective seasons so I had to wear waders doing the mink trapping on the rivers, I sure as heck wasn’t going to change back & forth during the day from breathable waders to other footwear depending on what traps I was setting/checkingI was using Hodgeman breathables at that time and I found them very comfortable doing double duty throughout the days so I just continued using them after I was done working for MSU and as long as I ran combo lines of my own.