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[Spawn Sack]

So I'm in the market for new wading boots. Having a bit of trouble deciding on which soles I'll go with this round. Last couple pairs of boots I've bought Korkers. For soles on the Korkers I currently have:

-standard felt. This is what I wear most of the time. IMO for wet/slippery rocks, you just can't be good old felt. Down side is on slippery trails they don't grip worth a damn. Also in sub-zero temps they can freeze and build up snow.

-studded felt. honestly find these pretty useless. don't find they grip any better than regular felt. The (cheap) studs don't really bite into the rocks, I find they just slide and make a lot of awful noise. I imagine "proper" studs with carbide or whatever tips would be a lot better

-rubber. I like these for when I know I'll just be walking on dry trails, launching the boat, and so on. Less crap sticks to them than the felt, so I end up tracking less sand and mess into the boat. However, these soles are BRUTAL on slippery rocks.

-studded rubber. Like the studded felt I find these soles pretty useless. The studs don't bite into the rocks around here, just slide and make a lot of noise.

-tripple threat aluminum hex disc sole. These were expensive like 100 bucks CAD, but they are pretty awesome. These are my go to soles for winter fishing when felt is not desirable due to snow/ice. The soft metal discs actually bite into rock REALLY well. Maybe as good as felt. But I find them a bit noisy/clunky walking on rocks all day. Better traction on trails than felt.

I do really like the ability to swap out several different soles on the same pair of boots. Unfortunately, I just don't have a lot of faith in the durability/quality of Korkers. I think this time around I'll go back to Simms or maybe try Patagonia.

So, I am considering going rubber vibram sole this pair, and adding aluminum discs. Just curious what people recommend that will (hopefully) compete with the grip of felt on slippery rocks, while still performing decent on trails, snow, ice.

Or maybe I'll just buy a new felt pair and wear my sacked out Korkers with hex disc sole when we get winter weather that necessitates something other than felt. 

[Wiseguy]

I have two pairs of Simms boots. Felt for normal winter weather. Rubber for when it snows. I don’t wear felt in the snow. The snow sticks to the felt and makes for very difficult footing. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 

[stsfisher]

I like my Korkers. They get worked hard and are a great option for many situations.
Like most boats they do wear and tear and do need to be replaced at some point. Nothing lasts forever.

[ShaunO]

I have put hundreds of km's on my Simms boots with Vibram soles.  They've held up really well considering the abuse I give them.  The studs and hardbite plates are a nice add on, but I like to remove them when I don't need them.

On a related note, I've personally stopped using felt soles due to a higher risk of spreading invasive species between water bodies.  The felt is much more likely to hold seeds/spores, etc than vibram so yeah. I'm not trying to preach and its completely personal preference but I think it is worth talking about.