If Paul Harvey were still alive that is what he would say about our wader experiences. When we went to Alaska, the neoprene waders were great, but in NC where the weather is mild, they are so uncomfortable. The breathable lite weight waders that I bought last year were super lite and cool and I loved them. Tha breathable membrane is a marvelous technology that hardly seems possible, but it really does work. They breathe by letting the small vapor droplets wick out, while not letting the larger water drops penetrate. However, my grandson borrowed them to fish in a huge North Carolina ravine and when he brought them back, they were shredded beyond repair. (I am not sure; I may have put some of those leaks in them myself.) The breathable waders simply do not hold up to the NC underbrush!
This year, we bought the refurbished Orvis Tailwaters XT waders at the Orvis Warehouse Sale in Charlotte, NC for $38 which is about 10 cents on the dollar. I was not totally convinced they would provide a level of comfort while still being strong enough for North Carolina, but since I was getting less than one season out of a pair of waders, I decided to risk only $76 to try them out. My son and I took them out Saturday to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and they were great. As we crawled thru the underbrush to approach the wild trout, or as we slid down the ravines, they did not even get a scratch. So, for the NC mountains, you might consider purchasing the Orvis Tailwaters XT waders from Orvis.