New sticky rubber soled wading boot comparisons wanted
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 12:10
I'm looking to get a pair of boots with the new sticky rubber/vibram soles. Can anyone give me an honest comparison between the new Simms, Cloudveil and Patagonia boots as to how each one's sole performs on the stream? I've read about each brand but I haven't seen any head to head comparisons out there.
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i'd like to see a head to head as well, including other brands. if you haven't seen this yet, here's one about patagonia and the writer suggests he may be reviewing the simms for comparison soon:
http://troutunderground.com/20...gimpy/
ericfresno, ca.
Second "or third, as the case may be" that. Any user ratings will be much appreciated.
If you buy the boots you might want to buy a fishing helmet too!
The new passwords suck!
Quote, originally posted by cofly »
Idaho: Land of Horizontally Challenged Rocky Mountain Bonefish
Firstly, I need to state that I've been using Simms sticky rubber guide boots with carbine studs for the past 6 years. I absolutly beleive they are a better alternative to felt soled boots in 90% of my/our fishing conditions.
In October 2009 the New Zealand government banned the use of felt soled boots whilst fishing. As the owner of a specialist fishing lodge, I had 20 pair of Simms felt soled guide model boots that i needed to do something with.
Simms came to the rescue by selling the Vibram soles separately thereby allowing us to get our felt soled boots resoled with the newer Vibram soles.
So after almost an entire season using the Vibram soles - I think they offer significantly better grip than either the older sticky rubber or felt soled boots.
I need to add that I have screwed in several studs around the toes area and four studs around the heel area of the boots.
Hope this helps
Felix
Owen River Lodge
Murchison
South Island, New Zealand
http://www.OwenRiverLodge.co.nz
Quote, originally posted by OwenRiverLodge »
Is the better grip more attributable to the vibram or added studs? Does the vibram/studs alleviate or eliminate the didymo problem, since it is a diatom and thus very small organisms that may find niches in the studs or stitching, etc?
Korker's coming out with "Cling On" soles. Any reports?
Modified by rstrouts at 4:47 PM 3/26/2009
PUBLIC SHORELINE<==>PUBLIC SHORELINE FOOTBRIDGE ACCESS
I am comparing the:
Felt w/Carbine Studs,Sticky Rubber w/Carbine Studs,Vibram w/Carbine Studs,
In the case of the new Vibram sole, I am using Half the amount of studs as I have used on the Felt or older sticky rubber soles.
Nothing will eliminate the need to treat/dry your boots to stop the advance of Didymo.The process is easier with Vibram compared to felt.....
Modified by OwenRiverLodge at 4:01 PM 3/26/2009
Owen River Lodge
Murchison
South Island, New Zealand
http://www.OwenRiverLodge.co.nz
I agree been using simms rubber soles with studs. Love them wear well I don't slip even on very slippery rocks. I fish over 150 days a year.
John
Take a hard look at yourself, Might change the way you look at other people."
Quote, originally posted by Caddisman1 »
A couple questions come to mind, answers would be much appreciated. How much walking on dry land do you do? I am lucky enough to get out over 100 times a year also, and I find my felt soles wear down from all the walking on dry ground getting to and from the water? Currently with felts, and lots of Barge cement, I can replace my felt bottoms fairly easily during the course of a season, if need be. How hard is it to replace the new bottoms, or perhaps they don't wear down as much?
By the way, I feel this rush to move away from felt is somewhat overblown and not the answer in and of itself when it comes to didymo. From personal experience of fishing the East Branch of the Delaware River in the Catskills which has massive blooms of didymo I've seen anglers, swimmers, and especially canoeists effect this stuff on the bottom, freeing it causing it to drift. I've seen clusters of this stuff floating along the river's edge that birds will easily transport elsewhere. And after I get out of the river, I find pieces of this stuff on my flies, attached to my knotted leader, on my fly line, in my net, on my waders, all over me --- changing felt soles alone will not solve this problem. Probably will help, but is far from some silver bullet. Even eliminating humans from getting into these rivers is not enough, as nature will run its course IMHO.
Ed
Whether or not elimiating felt soles will be the entire solution to the problem, it may well be the solution that will be mandated. I have acquired boots from Chota, Cloudveil, Simms, L.L. Bean and Patagonia for review in my products column in Flyfishing & Tying Journal. I intend to do individual reviews in the summer and fall issues and then an article comparing all five in next winter's issue.
As I'm sure you can understand, this will be a time-consuming process, one important reason being that, at least here in the Northwest, the slipperiness of our stream bottoms varies considerably with algae growth which increases as summer and early fall water temperatures increase, so it will require testing over a period of time. My overall impression so far is that ,no, they are not as secure as felt soles, but they are a significant improvement over the earlier rubber soles that have been on the market for the last decade.
I was looking at the new Simms boots recently and will be getting a pair soon. They will be put to the ultimate test on the Boulder sometime next month.
I just want to get a relevant word in for all of my fellow guides who own a boat and especially rafts. If you will be going on a guided trip please be considerate of the boat owners and have a pair of non-studded boots for those days. Our boats are very expensive and the cumulative effect of hundreds of studded boots will damage our boats and rafts. I know of plenty of boat owners who will not allow anyone in their boat with studded boots.
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
Thomas Jefferson
Quote, originally posted by flybop »
The new Simms soles "Vibram" are sold only with removable studs/screws, aren't they? That's one of the many things that look appealing about them. I have a pair of wading boots with the "older" rubber soles "AquaStealth" that others are referring to here, with the permanent carbide studs. I love those for normal wear, but keep my old felt soled pair in my wading bag for those times when I wind up in a boat. If I had a pair with removable studs, I would think the only responsible thing to do would be to keep some sort of small screwdriver or multi-tool in my vest to remove them before climbing into someone's boat.
No, the new Vibram-soled Simms boots aren't sold "only" with removeable studs. in fact, I don't believe any boot is sold with studs intended for regular removal. The Chota rubber-soled boot has provisions for studs "regularly spaced lugs with pilot holes to accept studs, actually panhead sheet metal screws" and actually comes with a package of them, but I don't think the intention is to regularly add and remove them. Doing so would quickly "hog out" the hole and the studs would fall out.
I'm such a Korkers fan, I got in touch with them to check on their new sticky rubber soles, and they should be out the end of April, looks like they will have both a studded and unstudded version. So those of you who have Korkers"the new version" will be able to try these out without buying a new boot.
Quote, originally posted by PS »
The new passwords suck!
Quote, originally posted by PS »
PS,I used to have a pair of Simms LS "?" wading boots with Aquastealth soles that came with screw in studs and guide holes. I removed and reinserted them any number of times without the loss of a single one.
"There is nothing better than to be fishing and have enough time." Tom McGuane