Vibram or Felt Soled Wading Boots

[Ryan]

Hi Everyone,

I'm in the process of buying new wading boots. I'm busy deciding between the Simms Freestones and Guide boots.

The other thing I'm deciding on is whether to go with vibram or felt soles. I currently have Freestones with felt and pretty damaged on the toe section. I have been considering trying to fix the toe section and keep them as my felt sile boots and then getting vibrams.

I have never used vibram soles, so I am seeking feedback from those who have used both. They would probably be used most often on the Cape streams.

Any feedback is appreciated!

Thanks,

Ryan

[Korrie]

Felt will give better grip.
Vibram will last longer with the walking.

[Andre]

I have been pleasantly surprised with the Vibram soles on the Simms boots. Every bit as good as the felt for grip .

Felt will give better grip.
Vibram will last longer with the walking.

[allsorts]

I have been pleasantly surprised with the Vibram soles on the Simms boots. Every bit as good as the felt for grip .

May be true for Cape streams with low nutrient loading, I found the Vibram pretty useless in the middle Bushmans in KZN - the rocks are slick with algae in some cases and without studs I had to be really careful. They work well on wet grass though - took many a slide (with felt) on wet grassy banks.

[white death]

My findings exactly - I hike in with light hiking shoes and change into felt soled Simms at the river and then back to my vehicle with the hiking shoes. Felt is the way to go whenever the rocks are covered in algae/slime. In the 70's we used our old running shoes in the Cape streams - the soles of the New Balance 320 was my favourite but come slimey rocks and you had to be super careful.

[Ryan]

Ok, so how about vibran with the addition of studs? How would this compare to felt? I think the Simms guide boot offer the option of studs. At this point I still seem swayed towards felt.

[Andre]

Studs are for walking on the grass alongside the river, and should not be used when you walk on the rocks... not a good idea to use studs while wading. Vibram does not slip on the wet grass, so no need for studs. Its only felt that needs studs for traction on grass.

Ok, so how about vibran with the addition of studs? How would this compare to felt? I think the Simms guide boot offer the option of studs. At this point I still seem swayed towards felt.

[NeilRowe]

Studs are for walking on the grass alongside the river, and should not be used when you walk on the rocks... not a good idea to use studs while wading. Vibram does not slip on the wet grass, so no need for studs. Its only felt that needs studs for traction on grass.

Andre

Hate to disagree with you but I have Simms Headwaters with Vibram and also a pair of Vision Loikka's with Gummi (their version of Vibram) with micro-studs. Have also used felt boots on the past.

I predominantly fish streams, as you know, and I often hike long distances to get to remote beats. My boots must therefore be good for hiking as well as functional on the stream.

The Vibram sole is ok on WC streams but not so good on slippery or hard rocks (Vaal, KZN Drakensberg etc). The Gummi plus micro-stud is much better. Best grip in stream was felt.

For hiking felt was a no-no for me. My felt soles did not last well after a few long hikes. Both Vibram and Gummi are great for hiking although the Simms is heavy and really heavy once wet (walk out from EP 4 or Witte 6 is not so much fun). The (much) lighter Loikkas are an absolute pleasure as a hiking/wading combo. Granted they will not last as long as the Simms.

Big studs, as Simms offer as a screw in addition, are not great on rocks. You literally walk on the points of the studs and I dislike this. However, microstuds allow the elastomeric sole to contact the rocks as well and offer a bit more bite than soles without.

I know there will be those that say the noise that studs makes will chase ever fish away for miles but I have found that I still catch the occasional fish:smile: and the supposed noise is nowhere near as much as a huge splash from an unintended slip and fall mid-stream:wink:

[Gerrit Viljoen]

Some useless info vibrams doesn't work on a marine ply floor with vynil coating i.e boat fishing saw my r's a few times!

[Jean Bence]

Studs are for walking on the grass alongside the river, and should not be used when you walk on the rocks... not a good idea to use studs while wading. Vibram does not slip on the wet grass, so no need for studs. Its only felt that needs studs for traction on grass.

Andre that makes no sense at all. Are you suggesting that the guys who added studs to felt soles did that to ensure walking to the water wasn't a problem, but that you have to remove them before actually starting to wade?

I don't think the studs have anything to do with walking on grass (although it would obviously help). My understanding is that studs assists felt soled boots when wading on rocks covered with slime etc and/or high water wading conditions. I wouldn't recommend the use of them for various reasons and especially not in the Cape waters, but for very different reasons though.