Studs

[midger]

Has anybody tried any of the aluminum hex head screws. I haven't but bet they'd work a lot better on those slick granite boulders. I'm tempted to order some and give them a try. I know the tungsten/steel screws work, but still the felt soles are slick on hard rocks--kind of like walking on ball bearings.

[acorad]

Midger, I'd bet they'd work pretty well. And if they wear out, simply s c r e w in some new ones.

Andy

PS: I just realized that this forum's software replaces the word "s c r e w" (if you write it normally, w/o spaces between the letters) with an asterisk (*).

[briansII]

Has anybody tried any of the aluminum hex head screws. I haven't but bet they'd work a lot better on those slick granite boulders. I'm tempted to order some and give them a try. I know the tungsten/steel screws work, but still the felt soles are slick on hard rocks--kind of like walking on ball bearings.

If you find a source with reasonable prices, let me know. I'd like to try them too. I read Home Depot or Lowes has them, but they are close to a buck apiece. Not good if you have to change them often.

briansII

[acorad]

briansll, these are less than $1/ea, but still not "cheap.": http://www.mcmaster.com/#tapping-screws/=qynas2

Go the link, go down the menu on the left hand side of the page to "Material" and click on "aluminum."

Aluminum
Lg. Pkg.
Qty. Pkg.
No. 6—#2 Drive
3/8" 50 93080A310 $9.88
1/2" 50 93080A330 17.93
1" 25 93080A390 9.72
No. 8—#2 Drive
3/8" 25 93080A420 14.27
1" 25 93080A480 9.74
1 1/2" 25 93080A520 12.53

Lg. Pkg
Qty. Pkg.
Aluminum
6-20—Drill Point #2
1/2" 10 98248A110 $6.28
8-18—Drill Point #2
1/2" 10 98248A220 6.80
3/4" 10 98248A250 7.50
1" 10 98248A270 7.55
10-16—Drill Point #2
1/2" 10 98248A430 7.74
5/8" 10 98248A450 8.06
3/4" 10 98248A470 8.77
1" 10 98248A490 10.22

[Baughb]

A lot of good info and I have and do use studs on my Simms BUT, the studs have been responsible for so many dry-rock-complete-loss-of-traction falls that I don't use them on freestones like the Kern and rarely miss them on the Sierra streams I fish.

I'll continue to play with the patterns of dispersion on the sole and hope to find a comfortable compromise.

Bob

[briansII]

briansll, these are less than $1/ea, but still not "cheap.": http://www.mcmaster.com/#tapping-screws/=qynas2

Go the link, go down the menu on the left hand side of the page to "Material" and click on "aluminum."

Aluminum
Lg. Pkg.
Qty. Pkg.
No. 6—#2 Drive
3/8" 50 93080A310 $9.88
1/2" 50 93080A330 17.93
1" 25 93080A390 9.72
No. 8—#2 Drive
3/8" 25 93080A420 14.27
1" 25 93080A480 9.74
1 1/2" 25 93080A520 12.53

Lg. Pkg
Qty. Pkg.
Aluminum
6-20—Drill Point #2
1/2" 10 98248A110 $6.28
8-18—Drill Point #2
1/2" 10 98248A220 6.80
3/4" 10 98248A250 7.50
1" 10 98248A270 7.55
10-16—Drill Point #2
1/2" 10 98248A430 7.74
5/8" 10 98248A450 8.06
3/4" 10 98248A470 8.77
1" 10 98248A490 10.22

Thanks. I checked out the site, and the aluminum screws. The size #10, 1/2" hex heads are what sound interesting, but at $7.74 for 10 screws, that's more than I'm willing to pay. Even the size #6 are too expensive. I might experiment with the aluminum bars on my old pair of boots.

briansII

[briansII]

A lot of good info and I have and do use studs on my Simms BUT, the studs have been responsible for so many dry-rock-complete-loss-of-traction falls that I don't use them on freestones like the Kern and rarely miss them on the Sierra streams I fish.

I'll continue to play with the patterns of dispersion on the sole and hope to find a comfortable compromise.

Bob

I found this site for a stud pattern. Not sure how useful it is, but I used the 14 stud pattern as a guide(not exactly the same) to putting studs in my new pair of boots.

http://waderstuds.com/placement_patterns.php



I'll add, that right now, I'm wading slick cobble, where more studs are probably better than less. I can see where I might add a couple more for better coverage. A short walk on dirt and scattered cobble is all I'm doing to get to the river. The above arrangement would probably not be my 1st choice if I was doing any kind of hiking on granite.

briansII

[Benny]

Went to Home Depot and did some price checking for a the things I would need. The aluminum bars and screws and hex screws, and the total is more than what the Patagonia aluminum replacement bars kit cost. So it's likely best to just go with the Patagonia kit. I'm still interested and I'm going to be ordering the kit. The aluminum could still be purchased for way cheaper, it was the hex nuts that were really pricey per pair.

[BrownBear]

One thing about those aluminum bars and similar traction devices including chains:

Never, ever step on your fly line.

Ask me how I know!

Longest cast I ever made. I bet the head of that weight forward line went about 200 feet with no running line behind it.

[Benny]

One thing about those aluminum bars and similar traction devices including chains:

Never, ever step on your fly line.

Ask me how I know!

Longest cast I ever made. I bet the head of that weight forward line went about 200 feet with no running line behind it.

I would have been wondering what the heck just happened

[BrownBear]

I would have been wondering what the heck just happened

I knew right away:

Back in the 60's it was the era of homemade lead core shooting heads with mono running lines for salmon and steelhead. A bunch of us (buncha reprobates actually!) used to chase fish up and down the coast from NorCal to SoWa, depending on run timing and which rivers were blown out.

If a bud upstream from you got lazy and quit coiling his running line while retrieving, the next guy downstream would end up with mono in his lap. Cutting it and saying nothing was standard. Yeah. Reprobates!

In any case we made some recordbreaking distance casts, and all of us learned to carry spare shooting heads and a spool of running line. If you never needed them yourself, sometimes you could sell them for enough to cover nightly beer tabs!

[meb]

I, too, have stepped on a fly line with cleats cutting it in half, and I was a long ways down a river without a spare. A friend and I scraped off the coating until we had exposed the core a few inches on each side and tied a blood knot in the line. I landed a couple steelhead with it holding my breath, but bought a new one as soon as I could. Nowadays with Aquaseal or a Loon product, you could probably make a pretty good patch.

MB

[briansII]

Just back from the river.

I put 15 Kold Kutter studs in a similar pattern as the picture above. My new pair have the Vibram/Stream Thread soles. I did very little wading around, but at the end of the session, I did a few short laps to get a feel for the new studs. I was pleased with the results. More grip than my old boots. The old pair had approximately 12 Simms studs, and Aquastealth soles. I say approximately because it looks like a couple studs fell out of my old pair. This reminds me to check my boots once and a while, and replace any studs that are missing.......I still have 200+, so I should be good for a while. I noticed that the Simms Hardbite studs look remarkably good for having close to 3 years of use. They still had the tiny carbide pellets in the top of the studs.

briansII

[briansII]

Just back from the river.

I put 15 Kold Kutter studs in a similar pattern as the picture above. My new pair have the Vibram/Stream Thread soles. I did very little wading around, but at the end of the session, I did a few short laps to get a feel for the new studs. I was pleased with the results. More grip than my old boots. The old pair had approximately 12 Simms studs, and Aquastealth soles. I say approximately because it looks like a couple studs fell out of my old pair. This reminds me to check my boots once and a while, and replace any studs that are missing.......I still have 200+, so I should be good for a while. I noticed that the Simms Hardbite studs look remarkably good for having close to 3 years of use. They still had the tiny carbide pellets in the top of the studs.

briansII

Update:

I'm still on the same set(since Mar.) of Kold Kutter studs, and traction is reasonably good. When brand new the Kold Kutters are very "sticky" on slick cobble, and I had to get used to all that traction. Now that they have worn down the sharp crown off the head, they are equal to what I'm used to with the Simms Hardbite studs. Now that the rivers are full of snot, I could use a couple more studs per boot, but it's ok with what I have now.



I'm on the river every week, but I do not do a lot of walking. Add in my weekend fishing trips, and I average maybe 2 days a week on my boots. At this rate the studs should last me 10 -12+ months. Not bad considering how much they cost. Also, so far I have not lost any studs. I had concerns since I used the shortest studs, but appears not to be a problem.

So far, so good.

briansII

[fflutterffly]

Brain I use a hex from home depot and it's great. Cheap and replaceable. Works perfectly. I have yet to loss any studs.