I've noticed that it's gotten really, really hard to find a good pair of hip waders lately. Used to be available in a pretty wide variety, rubber, canvas, neoprene etc., but all I can ever seem to find locally now are the super cheap almost disposable rubber ones.
I really like them for saving wear and tear on my more expensive chest waders. My preference has always been for the canvas duck kind, they seem to hold up the best.