Aquastealth/rubber vs. Felt
Andy,
Thanks again for the great day of tricos school a month or so back. It was a a great day…
My question is about wading boots: should I stay away from felt bottom soles?? I have heard of problems with risk of spreading unwanted plants/hitchhikers like zebra muscles. Any truth to this?? There aren’t a lot of non-felt options the places I have looked online.
Saul,
I have been on the Aquastealth soles since they came out about 7 or 8 years ago. Thought they were the best back then. Good on muddy trails, wet grass and winter snows. Felt is a poor choice for these applications. Eventually the felt options will dwindle because of the reasons you stated. Simms and Cloudveil both have rubber options but they are not cheap. I suspect this coming year you will see more options because of the newer, unfriendly light shed upon the felt options. Search Aquastealth and Vbram wadding boots, that should help.
10 users commented in " Ask Andy- Rubber vs Felt Wading Boots "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackKorkers (korkers.com) has also offered an Aquastealth/proprietary rubber sole option for some years now, and are a little bit less spendy than the Simms and Cloudveil options. The caveat of course is that you pay separately for the soles – but generally I’ve been very happy with their rubber options.
-joe
I suggest reading this article
http://singlebarbed.com/2009/08/10/singlebarbed-says-wheres-the-beef-in-the-absence-of-hard-science-are-we-being-railroaded-into-a-felt-sole-ban-that-may-be-negligible-factor/
Patagonia has been using sticky rubber since 2005 and we’re not dropping felt. Clean, dry and inspect is much more important than your sole choice. Invasives can attach to a myriad of other places on footwear besides the sole, responsible anglers should clean all their gear when moving between different rivers and watersheds.
Patagonia
Great info! Being a biologist, I’m on board with the info you have provided. I would rather get to the bottom of an issue than use knee jerk or scare tactics like the main stream media can report. It would be interesting to know who is really leading the push on this issue. I have been to NZ and have gone through the fumigation process and even had to scrub wading boots in the NZ airport to satisfy the customs folks. This was in the early 1990s so precautions there were already in place to stave off the transfer of undesirables back then.
I wear both felt and rubber depending on the terrain, snow and the rocks in the river. I find that each has its advantages, and if you can afford both, you can have the best footing in each situation. Thanks again for the link, the article and the input.
I have the Cloudveil rubber bottom boots, which are fine for anything around here (except the Brule). But these things were downright dangerous in Montana. I had to borrow a friends felt-soled boots for the more robust sections of the Gallatin. Had I worn my Cloudveils, I would have ended up in Bozeman.
The Gallatin does have some nasty bowling ball rocks in it. I feel the love of felt under those conditions.
One only has to look at Minnesota’s and Wisconsin’s problems with invasive species to understand the importance of this problem. Our rivers are vulnerable to mud snails, milfoil, and other problem organisms currently unknown.
Whirling disease was a big problem on the Madison in Montana a few years back. Whether it was spread by humans or birds remains a mystery. Even so, it is to all our benefit to reduce the chances of spreading invasive species.
I took my gear to a recent fishing trip to Montana and Idaho. There, the recommendation is to wash fishing gear with water at least 130 degrees with added salt or bleach. This should remove or kill any hitch hikers.
To the great amusement of my wife, I found an easy way to clean my boots between rivers. I simply put them on the bottom rack of our dishwasher and added some bleach. My felt bottom boots came out clean and none the worse for wear.
Even with felt, I did end up on my bottom on the Gallatin. Not sure if the rubber soles would have been better or worse. I do hope my actions prevented any Rush Creek life from being transfered to the Montana, or the other way around.
Best wishes,
John
Andy,
I have some Amazon bucks to spend and am thinking about a pair of rubber soled wading boots. I know you used to carry Korkers and Simms at Bentley’s. If you had the choice between Korkers Cross Current ($89), Korkers Streamborn ($139), or Simms Blackfoot ($100), which one would you choose. I would also consider buying Korkers Studded Kling-On Sticky Rubber Soles. I plan to use these boots early in the season while there is the possibility of walking through snow. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Regards,
Tom
Tom
I have not been a big fan of Korkers in the past. I wore the first removable models and sold them to my friends. The system failed for me when I had a long distance to walk out of the mountains. I was not happy. Eventually it failed for all the friends who I sold it to. This is not to say they have not improved their removable sole system. I understand they have. I am not familiar with their current models of boots and it sounds like they may have boots now with fixed soles, is that correct? Simms has always made fine products and I wear them most of the time. I do like the rubbers sole option no matter the brand, it is better than felt in snow hands down. In all cases though I would make comfort a high priority. Make sure you try the boots on with your waders and find the most comfortable fit for you. Hope that helps.
Thanks Andy. I appreciate your feedback. Simms it is and I’ll probably get studs to beef up the soles a bit.
Tom looks like the Simms Boot is a nice one. Here is a link to an American Angler Gear Review and some info from their article
The latest boot from Simms is a value model called the Blackfoot Boot. At $99 it offers a Vibram sole but not the StreamTread sole that will accept Simms new Hardbite Star Cleat ($39), a geometric metal lug that will retrofit to any Simms StreadTread boot for enhanced traction.
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