[Hunter (The 80's Man)]

I also tried similiar experiment as Jim in a pool, with both my bootie-footed waders and my rubber boot foot with steel lug hunting waders. I found with both I was neutrally bouyant when they were completely filled with water, even without my vest. I also found that it actually took a lot of work to get both set of waders completely full of water after taking the belt off. With the belt on, and snugged up, I had plenty of time to right my kayak and jump on it with barely a trickle of water running down my leg. I even experimented with squeezing the water back out and retightened the belt... takes some work, but you'd be surprised with how much water you can get back out. It's an experiment I'd recommend to anyone if for no other reason than to gain confidence/peace of mind.