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[Jewelz]

I just bought a pair of waders with the neoprene booties and was wondering if its necessary for me to buy wading boots or can I just get away with wearing hiking boots or something to that effect? This is my first pair of waders and have never used waders before. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[mzmann]

necessity!......shoes or hikers will be terrible for durability/length of life as they are not made or designed for spending their lives in water......a good pair of wading boots will also help to prevent premature splitting/leaking in the boot area of the wader due to wear points and such...as well you will have much better grip with wading boots vs a pair of shoes or hikers. I would recommend taking your waders with you to get your boots as well so that you can have your waders on when fitting boots to ensure a proper fit.

Cheers,

[Jewelz]

Okay now that its a must that i get wading boots, now the question is Felt or Rubber?

[mzmann]

Personal choice but I (as most people as well I think) prefer the felt soles. Never used rubber soles myself so I cant really compare but I know I LOVE my felt boots and especially on the slippery surfaces!!.....word to the wise....studs are helpful in many area as well but never wear studded boots on a boat and also try not to walk on tiled or hard surfaced floors like most convenience store floors....they dont grip at all on them and effectively turn them into ice skates, lmao. 

[milo]

I just bought a pair of waders with the neoprene booties and was wondering if its necessary for me to buy wading boots or can I just get away with wearing hiking boots or something to that effect? This is my first pair of waders and have never used waders before. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

You can't fit your neoprene booties in your usual hiking boot. You need one or two sizes larger.
You wouldn't buy a pair of over-sized hiking boots to use exclusively as wading boots, would you

To answer your question - wading boots are a necessity. It's a safety issue first and a comfort issue second.

[typhoon]

As a poor student I used a pair of size 13 football cleats from K-Mart over my cheap neos for many seasons. They worked great on the Vedder - I never slipped once.
That being said, you can get a pair of Sedge boots at A&N for around $100. I recommend felt.

[Jewelz]

You wouldn't buy a pair of over-sized hiking boots to use exclusively as wading boots, would you

I have a pair of hiking boots already that are too big for me anyways, just thought I could get away with those instead of buying a pair of wading boots.

So felt eh... the only thing that kinda worries me about felt is I had a friend who wore his felt wading boots the last time we were on the vedder and he did fine with them when he was on the river, but slipped and slided when he was on the grass/mud that you have to walk thru in order to get to the river from the bank. But maybe you just have to be careful either way.

[BigFisher]

Felt!
Dont go and buy the cheapest boot either. Chotas may be cheap, but you wont find another boot that will fall apart faster.

[TheChumWhisperer]

If you fish mostly in the fall, then felt soles are all you need.  They have excellent grip on rocks and gravel, but have terrible grip on mud, grass, etc.  If you fish in the winter for steelhead, then you should look into rubber, vibram soles.  Also studs help with grip in the ice and snow. 

[norm_2]

Bigfisher, quite the photo.  On average, how long have you had the boots?

[TayC]

Felt!
Dont go and buy the cheapest boot either. Chotas may be cheap, but you wont find another boot that will fall apart faster.

x2 chotas suck like no other. ive had mine since feb27, 2011 and they are almost at this stage, not even a full year! and they tore my booties to crap.

[Dogbreath]

Grub Creek is another POS brand to be aware of.

[Nuggy]

You can modify any running shoe, hiking boot, rubber boot etc that fits over the neoprene booty comfortably as long as it won`t prematurely wear the neoprene.

When neoprene waders with neoprene stocking feet started becoming popular way back when it was common to use general purpose rubber boots over the neoprene feet with either felt or different carpets epoxied on to the bottom of the rubbers. When the carpet or felt wore out you simply epoxied some new stuff on and continued on.

Cheers
Nuggy

[Nuggy]

If you do end up purchasing some new wading boots wear a pair of socks over the neoprene booty, this will cut down on the booty wearing out rubbing on the inside of the boot.

Thanks for bringing this up FF. Wool socks were a big part of the setup I mentioned.

[cutthroat22]

I wore and old, worn pair of hiking boots with socks between for many years with my waders.  Only issue was the hiking boots took days to dry afterwords.

However I rarely waded past my knees and wouldn't think of walking on snotty rocks, slippery logs, or crossing a fast flow.