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Sims Guides where nice but too stiff for long walks (my poor aching feet) and only lasted a year and a half the same as the Headwaters which fell apart at the seams and opened up at the sides. Too darn much money for that. I got 2 years out of Korkers Devils Canyons but the entire master soles on both boots let go (a week apart) and failed resulting in a very long and uncomfortable walk over miles of freestone rocks to get back to the truck. Not an experience I want again. I've had it with these so-called top brands. My backup boots where Chota Abrams Creek,.That pair is now over 10 years old and still in good shape. The year before last my fishing buddy and I after lots of discussion and research picked up the Chota "STL" Plus Wading Boots. I have to say these are by far the most comfortable boots I have had. Don't even feel like I am wearing boots all day long. Another big plus is very easy to slip on at the start of the day and really easy to slip off at the close of the day. No more tugging and gyrations hopping around like a crazy fool trying to free yourself. Important factors for this old guy. Everyone's feet are different and your experience may not be the same, but I do curse the amount of money I've spent on high-end throwaway brands. Might as well have bought regular hiking boots and oiled the heck out of them. A great many years ago my first pair of leather lace-up Hodgeman wading boots. You needed to add waterproofing every 6 months to a year. But I had 18 years out of those boots.

X2 on the korkers. Had some metalheads a few years back and they didn’t even last a single summer. They felt flimsy and didn’t offer much support. With the old G3’s the problem was shrinkage of the nubuck material. I still ended up wearing a hole through it at the hinge point by the toes within 3ish seasons on both pairs I’ve owned. Felt was almost done by then anyways. I like the look of the all synthetic version they have now and I’ll probably give those a go next year. Last summer I got a pair of Simms headwaters with vibram For super cheap and put some Simms studs in them. Vibram is Definitely better for hiking but can be greasy on bow river snot—but better than I thought it would be. Only issue I’m having with them after 3/4 season is the soft cloth-like material on the sides is fraying and some of the triple stitching looks like it’s coming out. That being said, they weren’t full time use as I still cram into my old g3 felts for the boat. I don’t have an issue getting 3 seasons out of boots, as I like the feel of new ones and I do beat the piss out of them... don’t get me started on waders.

It’s been a while since I posted