Best felt wading shoes?

[wbranch]

I've decided to go with the Chota East Prong with felts and 14 studs per boot. Synthetic uppers with a poly fely sole for $90.00. They will be my Delaware and steelhead wading shoe. I have nice pair of Caddis felts for the drift boat w/o cleats. Thanks for all the comments.

 

[Bamboozle]

troutbert wrote:

Bamboozle wrote:
If you mean with studs already in the felt, that is an option with Korkers, Simms offers a pair and there are some other brands I am unfamiliar with (cheaper options) with studded felt.

Back in the 1990s I bought Simms wading shoes that had felt soles with lots of small spikes built into it.

These provided really good traction, and lasted a long time, even though I was doing a lot of long treks on mountain streams.

The spikes were small and there were lots of them. The studs commonly used today are larger and typically fewer are used.

I did some Google searches and didn't find anything similar. Maybe that type of sole just isn't made anymore.

If those soles are they type I am thinking about, they featured a tiny stud sticking out barely past the felt.

They and others like them utilized an aluminum shrouded, carbide tipped car tire stud that looks like a short fat nail that was inserted through the felt sole from the opposite side.

The problem with them was as the felt wore down, the aluminum shroud didn't, which created lots of little pressure points on the bottom of your foot because the "head" of the stud was large and right up against the mid sole of the shoe, meaning right against the bottom of your foot.

 

[bigjohn58]

Vaughn wrote:
My Wraptrs did not hold up. Fortunately Korkers warranty service was excellent. I was offered my choice of any boot in their lineup for replacement.

I had the K5 Bombers before the Wraptrs and the K5 Bombers fell apart. Korkers let me choose the Wraptrs. I've had an issue or two with the soles and every time Korkers has been extremely easy to deal with. Great warranty process that stands behind their product!

 

[pcray1231]

I've had Chota STL's in the past. Good boot.

My experience was that they were very comfortable. Fairly light, flexible, and roomy. Good grip with the studded felt, and as was mentioned, the studs didn't come out.

Negatives were a little light on ankle support and they did wear out in 2 seasons. But I was fishing a lot then.

 

[chromefinder]

wbranch, I agree with your opinion on the vibram sole wading boots. I might as well be wearing ice skates. I did try an alternative to studded felt and vibram for places that felt is banned also for winter fishing when there is snow on the ground - the Patagonia Rock Grip Aluminum Bar boot or whatever they call it now is a nice product.

 

[pcray1231]

Vibram is a company which makes a dozen or so varieties of rubber for shoes. Some are grippy on wet rocks, some not as much. Not all vibram soles perform equally.

The downfall is that the grippier ones tend to wear down faster.

 

[chromefinder]

pcray1231, my opinion on Vibram was about these specifically = Simms Freestone Vibram Streamtread pictured here: