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3. Time for new Boots

Well I didn't want to but I think I need a new pair of boots ? Currently using " Simms Freestones, rubber vibram soles, full of " Goathead screws .
The quality is very good, these are the toughest boots I've ever had , you local Boys know how our Beaverkill and wemoc can be rocks, rocks and crevices , " Matt You know those areas I'm referring to ... the issue I'm having is they are like wearing concrete blocks , pretty heavy to , I spent all day yesterday on the Beaverkill , as well as hiking the woods and the banks and these things wore me out ? I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a new pair of the Simms Guide Boots from what I'm reading they are an all day comfort boot , still tough but lighter and more flex. I've had other brand boots and after time they just tend to weaken and fall apart,
Anyone have a pair of Simms guide boots ?

No Simms Guide Boots but four pairs of the Simms Freestones in 11, 12, and two 13's. Why four pairs? The #13 Vibrams with carbide cluster studs for Alaska and any other state that does not allow felt soles and for winter steelheading when there is snow on the ground. Snow adheres to the bottom of felt soles and makes it quite impossible to walk without a huge build-up of snow on the bottom of each sole.

The #11 for wet wading in very rocky rivers in the summer and the #12 for a pair of waist waders with thinner neoprene booties, I also have two pairs of Caddis wading shoes; one with Vibram soles for bonefishing and one with felt soles for my annual Montana trip. A pair of the Caddis canvas uppers and felt bottoms weighs less than one #13 Freestone wading boot and they pack smaller into my roller duffle.

Simms boots are very good , a tough durable boot

Matt,

I'm glad to hear you're wearing Freestones on-stream, I bought a pair with Vibram soles (sz 13's too) a couple weeks back when my Cabela's lightweights came apart during a wade in the Big Manistee. I'd stepped off the bank into what I thought was shallow silt and promptly sank to both knees deep, pulled my L leg out and the sole of the wading boot stayed in the ooze...no fun wading on on what remained of the boot afterward even if it was mostly sandy. Sole on the R boot was already getting loose and got glued a couple times so time to change things.

As to studs and the carbide clusters, do you ever wear these on the Delaware or your local streams? I'm considering the extra traction on rock-snot and such that's just starting to crank up on MI waters, it'll only get worse as the season goes on.

Anyway, I'm in full agreement with David on the increase in weight of the Simms but also the durability thus far, something I'm more than willing to trade off on.

Headed back to the Muskegon below Croton dam later on today, latest (reliable) reports say March Browns, Sulphurs, and Cinnamon Caddis are still coming off and Iso nymphs are starting to show up. May even stay later for any Drake spinner falls, see what happens...

tight lines, all,

Roguerat

'Less is more...'

Ludwig Mies Vande Rohe

Boots are important , as for the soles , on my Simms Freestone boots I have about 20 small screws in the rubber vibram sole, these screws are Remington goat head screws , I belieave 3/8" they come in a nice kit/w the driver included , in my experience these are a must for the Beaverkill as well as the west branch , they are very strong, and great on the rocks

I can't be of any help regarding Simms wading shoes. The only pair I ever had were the Freestones, not too long after they first came out, and they both blew out about midpoint of the sole/upper junction after roughly 100 hours of use. I canned them and wrote Simms off for future consideration for wading shoes. I probably shouldn't have and they may be much better now, but I tend to take disappointments that involve my money personally...

Right now, I'm pretty happy with my mid-range Korkers (Buckskins..). They are on their 3rd season of pretty frequent and rigorous use. That's a long time for me.. The only other shoes I've had that held up that well that long were my two pairs of Weinbrenners, which of course are no longer available.

The Korkers system has its flaws, but perhaps surprisingly, the detatchable soles are not one of them. I've never had one come off and I've put them through some pretty rough use, mostly hiking and fishing smaller rocky streams. Lotta sucking stream margin goop too where you'd think they wouldn't be able to handle it, but they do. The one thing I don't like about them is that the sole life, for the felts at least, is not as long as it should be, IMO anyway. But all in all, it is worth it to me to be able to change out the soles on a single pair of boots to meet conditions. I carry my spare soles in a little gym bag and and change from studded felt to studded Vibram to plain Vibram and back again in a jiffy. I like that.

Anyway, FWIW and as a suggestion thatthere is life beyond Simms..

Rleep wrote;



You must of had a lemon pair or got them in the early years on the market. They are arguably one of the most popular wading shoes I see wherever I fish and I get around.

Lee,

Interesting thread going here, as I had beau coup problems with my Korkers (pre-Cabela's) boots. I really liked the swap out ease for soles and used this feature often, but the sides of the boots tended to blow out after a couple seasons' wear. I did hear that the earliest issues of Freestones had a pretty short half-life and wasn't sure I was going to buy a pair but thought I'd give 'em a try. Time on the river will tell, so far so good though.

Nada action on the Muskegon today, the usual planter Browns and an 8" Steelhead smolt my daughter caught on an egg-sac Caddis...she was geeked, I was grinning and it was all good.

Roguerat

'Less is more...'

Ludwig Mies Vande Rohe

Simms guide boots are nice comfortable, the vapor boot is incredible if you do any amount of walking, and with studs they are as grippy as the Guide boot. if you are looking for comfort and traction, Patagonia River Tractor is absolutely the the best as far as traction goes. I'm in my boots over 150 days a year. The Patagonia boots are heavy, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in heavy water. I own and wear all three of the boots I mentioned, the Patagonia boots get the most use, mainly because of the difficult wading I encounter on the waters I fish the most.

There is my 2¢

+1 on the Simms Vapors

Great to hear guys , I'm leaning on the Simms again I've just been very happy/ w the quality of products from them , my waders keep me smiling , the boots ( freestones) are built for the apocalypse,lol. Very very tough in my opinion just clunky for me , I'll look at the vapors now also , I'm guessing both the " guide and vapor are more flexible and suited for the hikes ? Again thank you guys for you're help

>>You must of had a lemon pair or got them in the early years on the market. They are arguably one of the most popular wading shoes I see wherever I fish and I get around.>>

I wouldn't doubt the former, Matt and I'm pretty sure the latter was the case. Its been 10 years (give or take...) or so since my unhappy experience with the Freestone boots. As I said in my previous post, they may be (probably are) much better now. I think one of the things that may have kept me from trying Simms again was that for a while, they did not offer felt. I'm old fashioned and I have balance issues. I need studded felts even on smaller water.

>>Interesting thread going here, as I had beau coup problems with my Korkers (pre-Cabela's) boots. I really liked the swap out ease for soles and used this feature often, but the sides of the boots tended to blow out after a couple seasons' wear. I did hear that the earliest issues of Freestones had a pretty short half-life and wasn't sure I was going to buy a pair but thought I'd give 'em a try. Time on the river will tell, so far so good though.>>

Hi RR...

To be truthful, I had my doubts about the Korkers when I bought them, but I was attracted to the multi sole thing. It wouldn't have surprised me if they had turned out to be more of a gimmick than a durable boot. But so far, they've been a pleasant surprise. Heck, I'm even still on the original laces and I fish a lot. I think I remember you saying you had a satisfactory experience with the lower end Cabela's (Ultralight) shoes, for the price anyway. I did as well.. They outlasted my expectations and if I recall correctly, I was in my 3rd year with them before they finally became majority aquaseal/marine epoxy and gorilla glue by weight..:) Pretty good for $69.95 (at the time).

David, I wish you well with your new shoes once you pull the trigger and get them..

Lee,

Yeah, I liked the Cabela's for weight, wear, and price-point WITH the exception of having to glue the soles every other trip or so...and I went through Shoe Goo like I had stock in the company. Watching a sole float away (I did retrieve it, took a frantic effort) was the last straw for me and I went with the Simms. I would have stayed with Korkers, too, if the uppers hadn't had the annoying tendency to blow out. These are my first Simms, have a couple months on them and waiting for a long-term impression.

This is for another post or subject but I'm curious about Simms Freestones waders, they're entry-level for Simms but the price-point has me looking at a pair.

?

Roguerat

'Less is more...'

Ludwig Mies Vande Rohe

I've not owned any Simms waders, but everything I hear about them has been pretty positive. I fish almost exclusively in waist highs partially so I am not tempted to wade in past my center of gravity. My current waist highs are LLBean Kennebecs which have been the first waders I've ever owned that I could swear by rather than swear at.

But as with most products that I have owned and and come to really like, Bean's has discontinued the waist high Kennebecs. So, I'm giving serious consideration to the Simms Guide Pants next time around..

I like using waist highs in the summer , chest waders are just to warm somedays , I like them , pretty light weight and cooler

In Montana I wade wet with Supplex long pants, heavy socks, my Caddis wading shoes and neoprene gaiters to keep gravel from getting inside my wading shoes. I wade wet from early in the morning until about 2:00. Go back to the room and take a nap, have an early dinner, fish to dark wearing waders as it can get cool. Huge extremes; it can be 50 in the early mornings and go up to 100-104 during the day and then plummet when the sun goes down.

I skip waders entirely when summer gets warm, go with swim trunks, neoprene socks, and wading shoes (currently Redington but I have used Orvis in the past). The only issue is no protection from leeches! I got hit by one last year on the Pine and it bled for a half an hour. Didn't even know it had happened until I felt something wet and slimy on the back of my knee, and came up with a hand covered in blood. Then the area around the bite tried to look like poison-ivy, hit it with some Epsom salts and it dried up. I don't like leech bites.

The trick is to stay out of the slow waters when you are wading. This one happened because I was up on the bank when I hooked a nice rainbow, and jumped right into a silt bank when re-entering the stream to fight the fish...

I guess another disadvantage to wet-wading is less protection for the skin on your legs - having tripped over enough things to know this myself. But minor punctures in one's legs heal themselves, waders start leaking and then keeping all of the leaks patched becomes a nightmare!

Matt, your temperature extremes remind me of the Texas Star Party in the Davis Mountains of west TX. Well into the 90's during the day, down to 39 F at night while you're trying to sit still and stare through an eyepiece.

Jonathon

I recently purchased the orvis boa boots, Have used them about a dozen times so far this year. I like the ease of use and they are heads and shoulders far better than the cabelas I had, but I see about durability on the wire.
Mike.

Mike do those have that " Boa tying system ? It looks interesting but makes me nervous ? Out in the woods and snap ? I've heard other guys love it and it's pretty dependable , good luck/ w the new boots ,wear them in good health

David, yea its pretty neat, as with anything there are good points and bad, so far they have been dependable and my boots aren't coming untied all the time. I bought these along with silver sonic waders which I love.
Mike.