You've Entered, The No Felt Zone....

Okay, I have been inspired to write something about the debate on rubber versus felt wading boots, since I hear this discourse quite often in my trade. I realize this has been intellectually massaged many times before, but much has recently come to light. This all came about because of a recent 3-day trip to the mecca of wading products, Bozeman Montana and the Simms factory. And I have to say, those hallowed halls of fishing research and technology revealed a lot! More than I can discuss in this forum.

Simms will be the first to tell you that their 4-year R&D relationship with Vibram was for one reason... to make a sole product that was as good as felt, NOT better. When we hear the fly fishing public out there debating which is "better", the real conversation should be, does Vibram rubber perform as well? That was Simms goal for the most part. The future may reveal more successful revisions and product versions, which might take it beyond felt. But for the time being, it is my opinion that they accomplished exactly what they set out to do.

Some personal insight...
I previously used the Simms G3 Guide Boot, which if you know the boot, was a nice leather upper over felt soles. Lots of boot volume (not always good), great fit, tons of support, fairly grippy, but still required the security of studs because of my variety of fishing locales. Not one river does a good consistent sticky sole make. Anyway, the felts were good, sometimes slippery, as all felts can be, but I was relatively happy with the performance, especially with river studs on.

But, since rubber is going to change the face of the wading boot scene, especially in the coming year, I decided to give in to progress and purchase new boots. Simms set me up with the awesome Guide boot with Vibram rubber on a float trip on the Madison. They requested we all try one boot with felt and the other with rubber (un-studded on each) to test performance side-by-side. A great test, I must say! They both work about the same in the water. Sometimes they slipped, most times they didn't. I found that on larger bowling ball rocks, wet or dry, the Vibram rubber worked slightly better, though nothing significant. I also found that walking anywhere on dirt trails or anywhere there was an uneven grade, the rubber soles with their sole pattern worked decidedly better. Yay, finally, trail worthy wading boots!

Next, I tried studded versions of felt and rubber for each foot. This is where the rubber meets the road! Sorry, I digress. The studded rubber performed flawlessly. The felts were good too, but there are some distinct differences where rubber out performs felt. Here's where the benefits come noticeably into play. The felt accentuated the feel of the studs because the felt material compresses when walking or wading. It feels like you are walking on little pebbles under your feet. The Vibram rubber? You could barely feel the studs (especially with the newer star cleats, which I'll get to in a moment). The feeling was more secure. And, now walking anywhere out of the water was comfortable and more secure.

Some other Vibram rubber benefits; they dry faster, period! You can drive your car easier without the heavy, watered down felts packed with mud and debris drizzling all over your car mats and carpet. Even the uppers seemed to dry quicker? ANS issues are reduced. Easier and more secure to resole than felt ($60). Lots of inconsistencies with felt in resoling. Snow? Yep, snow. Ever walked around in snow lined rivers with felts and built up frozen Herman Munster platform boots just waiting to send you ass over tea kettle? Mostly eliminated now with rubber soles.

Since getting them, I have been happily using my new Guide boots with Vibram rubber and studs on different tough river situations, and I have to say that I am convinced that rubber is as good in performance as felt. But, the ancillary benefits as described far out weigh felt, and that makes them better in my opinion.

Oh, yeah, the "star cleats". This is a new product from Simms which I've been testing on my Guides lately. Simply put, they are awesome for Simms Vibram rubber soles! Each "cleat" is a three star design that sets perfectly into the sole pattern on Simm's Vibram soles. They use stacked hard carbide steel on each end of the star, very low profile and grippy as all hell! Very hard to lose, once mounted and easy to install. They seem to stay put. Also, it's hard to feel them under your boots even when walking on solid ground. Nice! They are designed as proprietary to Simms sole depth and plastic plate between the sole and boot material, and come eighteen star cleats to a pack, so plenty to secure your Vibram boots.

But, as most river boat guides will tell you, no studs in my boat! So if you are one to hire guides and boats, get the Vibram studs pack with the little key chain tool that removes them and installs fairly quickly.

Hopefully this long description helps some of you out there that are still discussing and debating which is better, felt or rubber. As stated, the benefits are what make that decision easier.

Tight lines all....