Wading Boots

[rainbow]

With the banning of felt soles in Mo streams I am looking for some new wading shoes. I have Orvis wader with the neoprene booties and would like to pair them with some new canvas lug sole wading shoes. Does anyone, I'm sure you do, have any opinions on different brands of wading shoes.

[hfdhoosier]

I just bought Simms Rivertek vibram soled boots and tried them out for 10 days ay Montauk and the Current river. I liked the comfortableness of them, they have lots of soft foam in them and they felt as comfortable as my tennis shoes. I loved the boa cable lacing system, very easy to get on and with a turn of the knob was tightened without having shoestrings to tie. I had Chota SLT felt before these and the vibram rubber was very close to the grip I had with felt. The only down side I noticed with them is the soft foam I mentioned before soaked up a lot of water and retained it making the boots heavier when walking from the stream to my truck. I did not notice the extra weight in the stream, and I think might have added to the grip of the vibram sole on the stream bed. They are pricey at $169, but I would rate them highly, I was very pleased with their performance.

[dpenrod]

Ditto on the rivertek boa boots. Solidly built and the boa lacing system is the bees knees.

[bferg]

The Simms are freaking awesome....just to throw out another option: I have a pair of Korkers CrossCurrent that I scored on Sierra Trading post for about $40 a few years ago and they are awesome. Soles are interchangeable and boots are super comfortable. I like them because they are the lightest wading boots I have ever put on and I don't feel like I am walking around in moon boots. Korkers also has the Predator boot with the boa system that my neighbor has and he loves them.

If you do not get the daily deal flier from Sierra Trading Post you should get on the list. They carry both Simms and Korkers as well as some other decent brands and Korkers, Columbia, and Redington items show up on discount all the time.

[et84]

I just picked up some Korkers Redside boots, they're great. They have interchangeable soles, and they come with both felt and rubber ones. I used the felts last week in AR, got the rubber "kling-on" soles for back home. They also sell metal studded versions of both, I believe. They are a bit cheaper than the SIMMS at $110, and after you wear out the soles you can buy new ones for $25-$30. I tried on some of the Korkers with the boa laces, and all I could think about was one of those small steel cables wearing through the loop in the boot itself, in which case you'd be screwed. I also felt like the Redsides (with traditional laces) felt more pliable and less stiff than the Metalheads or Chromes (with boa laces), just a better fit all-around. I suggest trying some on, as I was all about the boa system until I tried them. Not trying to discredit the boa laces, I have heard nothing but good things about them and have never heard of them breaking or wearing through as I described, they just weren't for me.

Tip- If you do order online, Korkers run REALLY small- I wear a 10-11 in shoes/ boots respectively and had to get my Korkers in a 12.