The future of felt at Simms…

[darrin terry]

Seeing as wading boot discussions arise from time to time, I though some of you would be interested in this:

http://www.midcurrent.com/news/2008/09/ ... t-sol.html

[midger]

Guess I best stock up on felt soled boots and felt replacements for my existing weinbrenners. Unless they make rapid advances, none of the existing "rubber" soles make adequate traction for my wading.

[RiverRat]

Wow...rubber and water don't mix. Just ask any tire!

RiverRat

[Flyjunkie]

Actually.... Aquastealth has been working just fine for a Number of Folks I associate with.. they'll never go back to Felt... The advantage that appeals to me is that you can actually hike in them and not risk the Chance of slippin' and fallin' on your Butt as you'd do with Felt...

I have Vibram soles on my Backpacking boots and they are the cat's meow... so I'll kick up a bit of Faith that this New Sole will work fine for Wading purposes...

New Zealand has banned Felt and I'll hazard a solid guess that various States will ban felt as well in the Near future.... Times they are a Changing and we'll have to change with them..

(which as Concerned Environmentalists We'll probably be very happy to go along with... )

[RiverRat]

Actually.... Aquastealth has been working just fine for a Number of Folks I associate with.. they'll never go back to Felt... The advantage that appeals to me is that you can actually hike in them and not risk the Chance of slippin' and fallin' on your Butt as you'd do with Felt...

I have Vibram soles on my Backpacking boots and they are the cat's meow... so I'll kick up a bit of Faith that this New Sole will work fine for Wading purposes...

New Zealand has banned Felt and I'll hazard a solid guess that various States will ban felt as well in the Near future.... Times they are a Changing and we'll have to change with them..

(which as Concerned Environmentalists We'll probably be very happy to go along with... )

Actually... I own both aquastealths and felt Korkers. Owned the AS for 15 years and fished all over the Pacific NW in them. Felt is way better in the water in warm climates like SOCAL. Aquastealths are superior out of the water, in snow, and in climate were the rocks don't get slimy. I guess since Simms is one of the best they have their tread pattern worked out. In my not so humble opinion

I guess it depend on the pattern''like tires
RiverRat

[anacrime]

sounds good to me!

i've heard good things about FiveTen's Stealth Rubber. i'm ordering a pair of their multisport amphibious shoes this week. my north face padda's just aren't durable enough.

[Eric]

I gave my new Aquastealth Simms boots a good workout this weekend on the Kern and I would have to say they passed the test with a A+. A great improvement on my old pair of simms studded felt soles.
Eric

[darrin terry]

I've two pairs of wading boots. Both are Simms. The first pair I got was last years Freestone felt soled. Those are great in slimy conditions. I keep studs in but will remove them for places like the Kern. The other pair is the Headwaters Aquastealths. I really like these. Easier to get on and off, lighter in that they don't absorb water like the felts do. Great for hiking in and out, though will never be as nice as hiking boots. I have not seen a rubber sole so far that grips as good as felt in the water on the Kings where there is so much slime.

On the other hand I do like the idea of reducing the possible spread of invasives and losing the felt helps do that.

[RiverRat]

I'm very interested in the new Simms Aquastealths. I have the original LL Bean Aquastealths and they just busted a seam after 15 years of heavy use. You get what you pay for in boots. They may have improved the the traction even more with an improved rubber formula. Nice to hear a report on the new ones.

thanks

RiverRat

[briansII]

I'm very interested in the new Simms Aquastealths. I have the original LL Bean Aquastealths and they just busted a seam after 15 years of heavy use. You get what you pay for in boots. They may have improved the the traction even more with an improved rubber formula. Nice to hear a report on the new ones.

thanks

RiverRat

Like Darrin, I have the new Simms Headwater boots in the updated Aquastealth soles. I _think_ Simms is coming out with an even newer version of rubber soles. The difference between the earlier version of the Aquastealth soles, and the current ones, is the new ones are "sipped". They have put little cuts in the sole. I can't tell the difference between the 2 versions, because most of the time i'm either on my butt, or treading water. By the way, I also own felt boots. They do grip better than the plain Aquastealth soles, but I still prefer studded Aquastealth for most of my fishing.

briansII

[darrin terry]

I don't have studded AS soled boots. I sense a new need coming on.

[RSetina]

AS is the the only thing I'll buy after having bought a pair some time ago. I still have my felt boots too and use them in the NZMS infected waters. But the AS are my preference in boot soles.

[Benny]

I have always used felt boots and have been very stable on the water for the most part. The new rubber soles would make me think twice before stepping where I would normally step with the felt soles. If I could get a pair of boots I could hike/back pack in & wade that would be great. It would cut about three or four pounds from my pack, esp. wading boots with felt. This might not be such a bad idea from Simms.