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Felt vs rubber wading boots

19K views 27 replies 25 participants last post by  Grady 300 
#1 ·
Have never worn anything but felt and need a new pair. Rubber seems to be taking over the world. What has been your experience for traction, comfort, etc for comparison. Any suggestions for under a $100?
 
#4 ·
I have Korkers as well and really like the versitility of the change out soles......

I use the rubber lug sole for most in-boat days but really like the felt/spike soles for those bank days. If I'm hiking into a spot I wear my rubber lug soles and carry/change out to the felt/spikes when I get to the water.
 
#8 ·
Currently Alaska, Maryland and Vermont have banned felt soles on waders. You can expect the trend to continue I would think because of invasive species, they beleive are being transported via felt soles.
I bought my first rubber sole waders in years in November since I fish Alaska I would suggest you have some type of non-slip attachment on them as I have nearly fallen several times this winter.
 
#14 ·
I have a pair of Simms Freestones that are a few years old now, and they're 100% felt soles with smaller metal studs. They grip like crazy on the rock ( where 90% of my fishing is done ) I've got buddies that have rubber soles, and they work great too, but I feel like I could run wind sprints in mine !!:twocents:
 
#17 · (Edited)
what I really don't understand and it boggles my mind is why anglers who fish from the bank and/or wade don't use spikes. I've took a handful of headers in my days with rubber or felt but ever since I switched to spikes 10 years ago I never taken a header the spikes grab and hold onto any thing you step on ice, mud, rock snot etc... can't count how many times in the past using felt or rubber did the deer on ice dance.
 
#19 ·
what I really don't understand and it boggles my mind is why anglers who fish from the bank and/or wade don't use spikes. I've took a handful of headers in my days with rubber or felt but ever since I switched to spikes 10 years ago I never taken a header the spikes grab and hold onto any thing you step on ice, mud, rock snot etc... can't count how many times in the past using felt or rubber did the deer on ice dance.
I've got a couple different pairs of spike/studs (on both rubber and felt soles) and while I agree they do have excellent traction overall on a wide variety of sandstone & basalt, mud, and logs, I'll give you 3 quick drawbacks:

1) as long as you're hiking/wading, great, but they're not welcome if you're riding in a boat in between stops, or stopping off at the store along the way without having to change.

2) they can be quite noisy; I can think of a few places where reaching my desired position to cast to a particular holding area requires sneaking out on a shallow bedrock shelf where the underwater 'crunching' sound is something I'd prefer to avoid.

3) they actually don't grab well on boulders that are really hard, round, and smooth (like polished granite) where they simply don't bite in, whereas something softer like rubber or felt provides a larger contact surface to stick to. Some rivers just don't have this type of geology, but others do.

So, there are a few cases where I'll choose something else besides my studded options.
 
#18 ·
I switched from felt soled Chota's to Simms boots with stream tread rubber soles. I also added the star bite cleats to grip our moss covered rocks and ledge rock of the North Umpqua. This setup works great for me. Never going back to the snow and mud stacking affect of felt. Rubber is also much lighter warmer when wet.
 
#20 ·
I've been a fan of the LLbean rivertread wading boots for a over a decade - been able to outperform anything else I or my buddies have tried.

If you act quick they have the last generation of studded (recommended!) or studless (I'm not recommending) for $38!!
 
#23 ·
I had some LL Bean boots about 10 years ago that I loved, with the metal studded, soft rubber soles. I can't think of the name of those boots (maybe "aqua stealth"?) but they were awesome in every way until the studs wore out. The rubber by itself, as you indicated in your recommendation, just doesn't get it done unless the rocks are very clean. The rubber also wore out pretty quick if you found yourself walking down a road to get in or out of the river.
 
#22 ·
My experience is in performing a lot of river restoration work. Had occasion to walk 5 miles of Rattlesnake Cr. (Off White River in Washington) in rubber soles one day and felt soles the next. This was more than 10 years ago. I have not worn rubber soled footwear in water since.

That being said, products have changed. I think I will try the later traction rubber/caulked soles on my Korkers (if they still fit the older boot) this coming season. I suspect the writing is on the wall for felt soles as noted above.

But then at my age, I don't know that I should be worrying about what is likely to occur in the next 15 or 20 years :doh:

StreamFixer
 
#25 ·
I have both studded felt boots for when I'm on the river I work and mostly fish on but I don't wear them anywhere else. I'm not allowed to for work (felt transports invasive critters). I bought some Simms with rubber soles and hated them until I installed their aluminum, star shaped cleats. They worked so well that I immediately preferred them over the studded felts (Chota). Only problem is they are very spendy (~$30) and wear out. They were a lot less effective after about 1 month of 2-3 full days per week on my feet in them.
 
#26 ·
Coming back from Alaska 2 yrs ago by plane to Seattle/Portland I sat next to a woman working for Alaska fish & Wildlife. She was headed to Seattle to deal with the felt sole ban. She said the biggest reason is Alaska is a big melting pot of fishing people from all over the world and they wanted to prevent invasive species being brought into Alaska . She said many suppliers were trying to develop a "non absorbing" felt but it could take some time to develop. She said the ban wasn't popular with the Alaskans. If it prevents a much larger problem then I'm for it.
 
#28 ·
I use straight felt soles no studs I also have some rubber booties you slip on over the entire boot like putting on a pair of house slippers. The have a 3/8" tall zig zag pattern of aluminum cleats on the bottom of them. They work 10 times better on slippery rocks than the studed felt soles. The only place I can now find them are at specialty fly shops or on line. Best thing out there easy to put on and off they last me at least three years of heavy fishing just don't ware then in the parking lot.
 
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