Cabelas Ultralight wading boots

[outsider]

I wore these boots for 7 years and one blew out a few days ago. Can't complain about that. I planned to replace them with the same boots, but I see a common complaint in the reviews. The problem is with studs coming loose and falling out. Keep in mind, the customer has to install the studs, which I did 7 years ago and they never failed. Anyone have this experience with these boots?


They will probably have them on sale sometime for $59.99, and I do have back-up boots to wear in the mean time.

 

[RLeep2]

I put the studs in mine and never had any problem with them falling out. You just have to do it right and use enough torque. A good way to judge this is take a mirror (or a friend or family member) with you when you screw the studs in. Tighten each stud until you involuntarily make a face from the effort. Watch the mirror or friend to let you know when you've done this.
This almost always works.

In all seriousness, if the current generation of this Cabela's shoes are as good as the ones I had when they first came out, they are one of the best wading shoe bargains on the market..

 

[outsider]

RLeep2,

You are right about the grunting and grimacing when you install them properly. Made my fragile hands full of pain. I installed them on 3 pair: My old Cabelas leather Guide Boots. I still have them. Heavy but extremely durable. My ultralights, and my son's ultralights. I'm going to teach my son how to do it properly on my next pair.

 

[afishinado]

We did a lot of them in the shop.

The reason a lot of DIY guys have trouble with them falling out is they use a cordless power drill, over torque them, and strip them. You can use a power drill to start the studs, but finish them by hand and they should be fine.

 

[outsider]

Good advice afish. I just have trouble now controlling power tools.

 

[salvelinus]

A good cordless drill has torque settings that slip with a certain amount of resistance. I just set it to the minimum and have never had a problem with studs in my Chotas.

 

[outsider]

Thanks, I do have a good cordless drill and can set it very low. But I seemingly can screw up anything now. Besides, my son needs the exercise. He just doesn't know it yet.

 

[poopdeck]

I've had my current pair for 3 or 4 years and had another pair before that. No complaints whatsoever. Studs have never fallen out. For 59 bucks they are a steal and will be the only wading boot I spend my money on.

I take reviews with a grain of salt. I have never submitted a review in my life and I consider myself horribly average. So chances are good that those who write reviews are below average. Product reviews written by idiots are of no matter to me.

 

[outsider]

I kinda figured it was people who installed the studs improperly, but I thought I would ask the question if something changed about their boots recently.

 

[FiveWeight]

Don't stripe them out and use some type of thread lock. They will not come out until you want them to.