Wading Boots

[dekkard2019]

I have a pair of Patagonia rockgrips with studs that are fading fast after a year of use and looking for a new pair. What boot do you guys like? I am not a fan of felt. I am thinking of just getting another pair of Patagonia boots but mine slide a bit on greasy rocks. Just looking for options. I like the look of some of the Simms boots like the Rivershed. I am mainly walking cutty streams, and walk and wade a lot.

[Jayhad]

I'm a huge fan of Chota's, I get a lot of time out them (over 250 days) at a fraction of the cost of other manufacturers. The boots are made out of leather, but they do have "felt" soles.... the soles are polypro and last forever plus you can put cleats in them.... they actually come with cleats.

 

http://chotaoutdoorgear.com/shop/%E2%80%9C...s-wading-boots/

[annagler]

I have a pair of Patagonia rockgrips with studs that are fading fast after a year of use and looking for a new pair. What boot do you guys like? I am not a fan of felt. I am thinking of just getting another pair of Patagonia boots but mine slide a bit on greasy rocks. Just looking for options. I like the look of some of the Simms boots like the Rivershed. I am mainly walking cutty streams, and walk and wade a lot.

 

 

I just got myself a pair of Simms Headwaters and they're great. Not a fan of felt either, and heard lots of mixed reviews about studs (they can be slippery on the rocks and no one will let you in their boat). I fish the same kind of streams and they've been working perfectly, my only complaint is the laces like to come undone, but that can be easily fixed by buying a new pair that aren't round.

 

http://www.simmsfishing.com/site/headwater...uasteath_.html#

[jasonvilly]

Enjoying my korkers so far. Replaceable bottoms which I have done once this summer (I put on a lot of miles) I find the vibram soles pretty good at gripping even the slippiest of rocks. And there is an option to buy a vibram sole with cleats if you need that added traction.

 

Have not had any of the soles falling off problem, like some people will undoubtably mention from the previous models.

 

I purchased the Redside edition. Cost $125 so pretty affordable. Replacement soles are about $30. Decent ankle support. Only thing I didnt like was the laces they put on them. They have this clip that would only go so big, which made it squishy when trying to stick your foot in with waders on. But this was resolved with a new pair of laces with out the clip thing.

 

J

[reevesr1]

I have a pair of Simms Riversheds. I've been through some of the brands mentioned above without much luck. Could be me instead of the boots, but every pair I owned fell apart prematurely, I thought. Finally bcube talked me into getting the rivershed's with vibram and studs. I've had them for this entire season and they are holding up great. No sign of wear so far, which I could not state for any of the other brands after the same amount of time. I've also been more than impressed with the vibram. I've been through winter, spring, and now summer with them with 0 issues. I fall down much less often than I did with another companies vibram and I would say pretty much as good as felt in the water, while far superior when hiking. Since I'm not getting any younger, I'm attributing that to the boots.

 

 

 

 

[dekkard2019]

Yep...leaning towards the riversheds so far. Lotta choices out there.

[FlyFishingEMT]

I've solved the problem. Buy Korkers and wear one felt studded sole and one rubber studded sole then you get the best of both worlds..

[ginger]

I have worn two sets of Simms non-felt soles(the Vibram and the earlier ones with the round nubs)almost smooth. The tops are still in ok shape. Then I discovered the screw in Simms starshaped aluminum lugs which are amazing on slimy rocks. Saved the other smooth pair for picky boat owners.

[Roast]

I have river walkers and love them. Simms were too wide for my foot, and they are pretty heavy. The river walkers are much lighter and Patagonia has a great warrant. If were looking for new boots I would look at their new aluminum bar boots. Link here

[FraserN]

I upgraded from my old style korkers, which were unsatisfactory, and fell apart fast with the heavy use I put on them on the Bow. The new korkers are a lot sturdier, and entirely adequate for the Bow, but not recommended for Cutty streams. I took two serious falls on the slippery rocks on the highwood this season and injured my left leg twice. The rubber soles were not up to such a fast flowing and slippery substrate. I would look for something with more grip for these type of streams.

[MikeL]

I currently have a pair of Korkers. They are very comfortable and have good ankle support but do not provide very good traction on slippery rocks. My previous boots were Chotas and they had much better traction (felt bottoms).

[ÜberFly]

Yeah if your pati's only lasted a year I'd talk to Patagonia as I had some stitching come apart on some river walkers a few years ago ( a year and a half old) and they gave me a full refund as they did not have my size available for exchange!!

 

P

 

I have river walkers and love them. Simms were too wide for my foot, and they are pretty heavy. The river walkers are much lighter and Patagonia has a great warrant. If were looking for new boots I would look at their new aluminum bar boots. Link here

[PAV]

The best traction I have found is the studded felts. I had them on my old Korker Guides but the boots

fell apart after 3 hard years. I have upgraded to the Korker Chrome's and have been using the stock

klingon soles that came with them. Boots are great but I need to change out the soles to the studded

felt as the klingon soles are not good. I'll be switching to the studded rubber when the snow fly's.

[beedhead]

I have a pair of Metal Heads Korkers and a pair of Redside Korkers... I have made many miles On the Redsides in the Last 18 months, And still nothing wrong with them at all.... Just bought the Metal Heads three weeks ago, so time will tell I guess.... I really like the fact you can change the soles, and have never had the soles fall off like the old style Korkers... The Rubber Studded soles are totally awesome for traction on Slippery rocks and ice.... Mind ya I have lost a few studs out of the soles, but hey 40 bucks for new soles is better than buying new boots... So far Im thinkin its the price, durability and changeable soles that are goin to keep me in Korkers for the next while....

 

Cheers... Jeff..

[halcyonsancta]

Have a pair of Simms rubber sole with studs and an old pair of Hodgman felts. Used felst most of my life and for some reason I still like them the most.

[Birddog]

Ive had good luck with my Korkers over the past 3 years, I just bought a new pair of Korkers and am very happy to this point, i GUESS IT ALL COME DOWN TO BUDGET AND WHAT TYPE OF WALKING YOU DO.

[Fishslayer74]

Yeah, I ended up getting the Simms Riversheds as well at the start of the season and absolutley love them. Great and stable for hiking as well. I ended up putting a pack of the Hardbite Cleats on the bottom and they stick to anything.

 

Worth every penny esspecially being on my feet all day fishing.

 

Hope this helps out.

 

Cheers.

[aaa]

Mike at Country Pleasures fitted me out with some new Riversheds as few weeks ago, and so far, two thumbs up. Wore them all last weekend on the the Dogpound and LRD, and gotta say, they are my new best friends. Lots of high ankle support, and I have the cleat kit standing by to put in if I encounter slime. So far have not needed the cleats, however. The super stiff sole took a bit to get used to.

 

One heads up I got from Mike, the 'StreamTread' sole on the Rivershed is soft Vibram. It's tough, but if your walking miles and miles on very hot pavement or asphalt, it could lead to premature wear. So avoid such use, walk on the sides of such pathways on really hot days.

[pipercub17]

SIMMS

[alan2]

The Streamtread soles on mine wore out in 23 days of walk and wade, none of it on asphalt either. I'll bet Mike remembers me going in and complaining too, about 18 months ago, at that point he certainly wouldn't admit they could wear out early. Soft vibram cannont be tough either, it's and oxymoron, yet for how soft they are, they slip in more conditions than they grip. And when you send to the Simms authorized cobbler in Vancouver, you'll find that with shipping, the sole replacement will cost about $150, more than entire new boots can cost. I'd avoid them if I could do it again. And I can. I use studded felts instead. I can even resole them myself, which I did twice so far, for about $30

[Taco]

I have 50-60 days plus @ about 6 to 18 k per trip on a pair of Simms vibram guide boots and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another pair. I may have to replace the shoe laces in this pair first though.

[shaps21]

The new Korkers KGB have a solid review

[Flyrod1970]

I hate the vibram soles!! They absolutely do not grip as well as felt soles. With studs in them they are alright, but I hate having studs in my boots when I am hiking long distances on some of the mountain streams I fish. The best boots I ever had were the leather gary borger boots with the studded felt soles, they gripped great in the river and were soft enough when hiking that the studs didn't bother me too much. Plus, the leather boot itself lasted forever and replacement felts were dirt cheap! I think the best solution is the new korkers, that way you can put on the hiking soles when hiking and then switch to studded soles or felt when wading. Like others have said, studded soles and boats don't go together very well.