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3. Boot Fix

Lee's last wader post prompted this one. I've had good luck with Gorilla Glue to fix loose felts on wader shoes. Since it's activated by water and dries relatively quickly one doesn't have to dry the boot. I use a hose with a stream nozzle to blast out all the debris I can, apply the glue, use screws to hold it in place and scrape the excess as it expands and weeps out of the seams. The expansion helps force the glue into the felt, and the stuff seems to hold well on all the boots I've used it for. Careful with the screws, though. Be sure they're not going in far enough to dig holes in your wader foot. Or you can try removing them after the glue sets.

Does anyone else have any good tricks for boot repair? I've decided to try Aquastealth soles on my next pair to reduce the chance of hitchhikers, so I'm wondering about repairing them as well.

I’m on my third set of felt replacements, and amazingly, the boots are in exceptionally good shape. I haven’t tried Gorilla Glue, though it does sound like an excellent product, but I can attest to Pliobond Industrial Adhesive. I’ve never had the felt come loose, even at the edges; I’ve actually worn the felt through to the boot itself.

On the subject of Aquastealth I am interested to hear what others have to say. I purchased a pair when they first came out, on the recommendation of the salesperson; “as good as, if not better than, felt.” This guy said he was a fly fisherman and owned a pair himself. I thought how could a fellow fly fisherman steer me wrong? Beware of biased opinions when money is involved! I found them to be better than felt, on slippery muddy banks and snow, which I attribute to the slightly tread like pattern. However, on the slime and moss covered rock of freestones, I found them down right dangerous. I sent a letter to the manufacturer with my, field tested, opinion and never heard back. I used them that year, I think it was the first and only year I lost my footing and took a dive, then s#!t canned them and went back to felt. Anyway, I’m sure some of you swear by them and I would be interested to hear the feedback. Like I said, I tried them when they first came out so maybe they’ve made some improvement.

Louis: I hadn't thought about using screws with Gorilla Glue. That's one I'll have to ponder and perhaps try. I do know the only repair I tried with Gorilla Glue didn't go very well. But I was working with bad merchandise. I was unlucky enough to buy a pair of the Orvis studded rubber shoes when they first came out and the soles came all but off and most of the studs fell out in the first 20 hours of use. I tried to fix them with GG a couple times to no real avail. Orvis subsequently sent out rebates/or new shoes to everybody who bought this first generation of these shoes. They had the problem narrowed down to 2 bad PO lots that were ID'ed on the shoes.

But by then, I had a pair of Bean's studded Aquastealth, so I banked the rebate and never looked back.

Falsifly: I like my studded aquastealth shoes, but they aren't for everywhere. They're great on the Driftless creeks where you have to climb a lot of high banks to move in and out of the water and there are few rocks bigger than a Hamilton Beach steam iron. And they're also good on the sand creeks like the Mecan, White and Tomorrow in Central WI.

But I wouldn't take them for example, down to the Smokies or use them on my little freestones back home in PA or on any of the smallmouth waters I frequent in WI or PA. They don't grab like felt, especially studded felt. And if I want to end up on my arse in the creek, I'd just as soon pick the time and place rather than have my wading shoes dictate it to me.

So, I have a pair of studded felt Weinbrenners I use in these places.

Have you ever heard of Korkers? They have the solution you are looking for...interchangeable soles. You get the best of both worlds...felt and sticky rubber, but only have to pack one pr. of boots...
www.korkers.com Check'em out.

Funny, I just used Gorilla Glue this evening to fix my boat pulley, I love that stuff!

Cheers.