Chota STL Wading Boots

[gibsygoldtop]

It's a shame when a product you like goes away.. Looking for a pair in either 13 or 14.

OR

If anyone from a shop is looking here that may have them in stock yet - let me know! Thanks!

 

[Bamboozle]

Well that really sucks...

They WERE my favorite wading shoes for a lot of reasons until they redesigned them a few years back with a wedge heel.

I have been looking for a size 12 with the old stacked heel for years with no luck. I'm using one relatively new pair and that's it...

Good luck in your search...

 

[mgmunson]

The same thing happened to me with a telemark ski boot I preferred (candy cane t-race for those fellow free heelers). I feel your pain. I recommend setting up an eBay alert. I scored a pair that way, well after I had given up hope.

 

[Bamboozle]

An eBay search has yielded nothing...

I even went as far as contacting Chota right after the change for a list of retailers that took orders of the old style shoe. That was a bust too...

That's why I always recommend to folks that when you find something you like and IF you can afford to, buy LOTS because sure as $#!+ in these days of outsourcing...

...it will disappear one day and not necessarily be replaced with something better...

...only something more expensive.

 

[gibsygoldtop]

I too reached out to Chota to ask about them (and to let them know I was disappointed that were discontinued). I have been through a few pairs, both styles. And yes, if you can, you should a get a few of something you like for a product you like and use regularly - I agree with you on that!

My response from Chota was that something was in the works that would make the STL boot crowd happy but it wouldn't hit the market for two years yet.

 

[Bamboozle]

I too reached out to Chota to ask about them (and to let them know I was disappointed that were discontinued). I have been through a few pairs, both styles. And yes, if you can, you should a get a few of something you like for a product you like and use regularly - I agree with you on that!

My response from Chota was that something was in the works that would make the STL boot crowd happy but it wouldn't hit the market for two years yet.

I have no idea if they will hold up, but I bought a pair of the Simms Tributary felt soles a while ago as a back-up.

Yea, I realize they have no stud posts like the Chota STL Plus, but quite frankly the latest iteration STL Plus shoes are built on a $#!++y soft foam midsole so the stud posts DON'T hold the studs as securely as the ORIGINAL Plus version that had a plastic midsole and subsequently plastic stud posts.

To be honest, the STL Plus has been going downhill in the last 20+ years.

How I long for the ORIGINAL STL shoe that actually had REPLACEABLE felt soles!! Chota sold the replacement felt soles WITH & WITHOUT holes for the studded STL Plus & the un-studded STL versions of the shoe.

I actually still have at least two sets of replacement soles WITH holes for the stud posts. I used to have my local shoemaker replace them, but once Chota went with the softer midsole around 15 years ago, you could no longer get the old felt sole off the shoe.

That's because the current felt soles are applied to the softer midsole while it is hot and almost in a liquid stage which bonds it to the midsole, versus being glued & stitched like the felt soles on the older plastic midsole version of the STL Plus.

As the grandson of a shoemaker and a kid who hung out in shoe repair shops, it drives me nuts throwing away something in that price range because it was made so it can't be repaired...

Quite frankly, I don't what shoe will be the permanent replacement once my last pair of STL Plus dies...

...but I doubt it will be something from Chota because I really think they've lost their way and have become just another "make it cheaper and sell it for more" company...