99% of the time I am wearing waders, I am in a drift boat. They function as rain gear, keep me dry getting in and out, and we often pull to a bar and fish from there a while. So the unstudded rubber soles work best.

I do have felt and also rubber with studded soles and bring them along in my wader bag. Almost broke my neck on slipper gravel with plain rubber. I think rubber with studs doesn’t clump up with mud as much as felt. Ymmv.


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Most people in past discussions have liked the studded felt. I absolutely hate them though. I like regular plain felt. For me the spikes would slip and glide on big round boulders and I never felt secure standing on any rock with them. Not to mention the horrible grinding sound everytime they moved on a rock. The regular rubber, while good for walking trails in dont provide any traction on wet rock. I do good enough with plain felt on the banks and like the traction I get from it in the water. If you liked the felt I'd say stick with it.

 

I have never tried felt with studs for fear of what Shawn just described. I would second sticking with felt for how well it performs in the water. I have learned what type of mud, sticks, and leaves I need to go slower over.

 

Depends where I'm at. Usually it's plain felt, but when I go to the Deschutes, I rock the big spikes.

 

i would consider myself fairly nimble. but the regular rubber are down right dangerous. it is literally like walking on wet ice. i got them for the drift boat because i will often jump out to net a fish or take pics.

i now just put some mats in the boat. its studs for me

 

When I'm in my drift boat I wear my felts as there's some places I will get out and bank fish. If I'm banking it for the day I wear my felt/spikes all day. This combo works really well for me for the type of fishing I do.................

 

The options that look most interesting are the new Triple Threat soles that have either aluminum bars or carbide spikes. Does anyone have experience using either of these soles? Would like to know if either of these are worth trying.

I had a pair of Patagonia boots with aluminum bars - they were downright dangerous on dry rock! Fine in the water (a little heavy), but climbing around the banks was ridiculous!

I prefer studded felt most of the time. The studs really help if their's slime on the rocks. If you wade calm water, slower holes, I think regular felt is good and probably quieter. I wade aggressively to reach less-fished spots, mostly faster water for steelhead. I consider studded felt my most important tool for wading and good polarized glasses second.

 

I had a pair of Patagonia boots with aluminum bars - they were downright dangerous on dry rock! Fine in the water (a little heavy), but climbing around the banks was ridiculous!

I had a MUCH better experience with mine.

I recently put mine to the test in Alaska, wading the area around Kenai and Russian River confluence in unseasonably HIGH flows. All I can say about their grip on the slick rocky riverbottom is I have NEVER felt more fearless and invincible in strong current than I did wearing these boots. 100% ROCK SOLID TRACTION!

Fit is fantastic. Foot entry and exit... EFFORTLESS, best I've EVER had.

The downsides?

1) Laces. I've gotten used to the BOA system snowboarders use. But that's really just personal preference.

2) Poor drainage.... and unless inverted with open air circulation on a sunny day or mounted on a PEET Boot Dryer... they take a LONG time to dry.

...

Think about it.... NOTHING stickier on rocks than a bare aluminum driftboat bottom

Here's what they looked like after a 2-day break in period...





....

I wore them the rest of my Alaska season... wading the Nush swingin' the double hander with George Cook, then back to the lower Kenai for kings, sockeye, coho, and pinks. Not nearly as challenging for wading, but every step inriver was taken with supreme confidence.

I had some concerns about traction as well as wear/tear on the new diamond plate floor we put in our Kenai Predator, but apart from the extra noise of metal on metal, it was a non-issue.

 

I like studded felts for max grab in most situations, although it's true they aren't so great on a smooth rounded (granitic) boulder; but softer sandstone or irregular basalt they're fine, if noisy. For wet logs they're the absolute best, though, and they wear much better than plain felts if you also do much hiking or bushwhacking in between getting back into the water.

I've had some aluminum cleats before, and they grabbed quite well but the metal is simply too soft and wore out way too fast, not even a full season.

There's no one sole that's clearly the best in all situations, but if I had to pick only one I'd go w/ a rubber sole w/ screw-in carbide cleats. The cleats grab pretty well and wear better than felt (nor will they stack up w/ snow), and the cleats can be removed if you're planning to spend most of the day in a boat. The real answer, though, (and the whole point of the Korker's swapability) is to have more than 1 option; different tools for different jobs and all that...

 

Sounds like the spikes are the way to go whether they're with or without felt. My only worry is that I'm almost strictly a bankie and don't need to be slipping on rocks and getting a bunch of crud stuck in the spikes walking through the woods. Will probably just get regular old felt since I haven't had problems with that.

 

You won't get things stuck in the spikes........

I hike in my felt/spikes all the times without issues......

That's the nice thing about Korkers, you can be versatile......

 

Felt with spikes all way for me, all the time. Felts is just too slippery on big wet boulders and wet wood. No more cleaning than felt.

 

Patagonia felt soles with Simms carbide studs were a game changer for me when I waded the rogue and umpqua a lot. Nothing stickier.


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