Felt or rubber with cleats

[hectortmc]

Is Pa. Going to do away with felt soles? Was wondering I'm thinking of buying new wading boots. Hope I'm not beating a dead horse.

 

[dryflyguy]

Well - the subject has been discussed often here.
Anyway, I haven't heard of any proposals to ban felt soles recently.
I still use them. And will continue to do so as long as they're legal

 

[hectortmc]

Thanks was curious I want to get some new simms and there is lots of sales on felt.

 

[Fishidiot]

hectortmc wrote:
Is Pa. Going to do away with felt soles? quote]

I doubt it - at least probably not during the near future (within the lifetime of a pair of wading boots).

Keep in mind that Maryland has the ban if you plan on fishing there.

 

[hectortmc]

Thanks Dave

 

[BREECHESANGLER]

I don't think they will ban them real soon but in the future I am sure they will. Like what Fishidiot said, within the lifetime of a pair of wading boots. I got a new pair of felts last year but I probably won't be buying another for pa fishing.

 

[afishinado]

I own both and have logged many hours and many miles with both felt and rubber/stud soled wading boots.

I prefer my rubber/stud boots since they perform well on the bank as well as in the water. I slip and slide on the bank with felt on mud and wet leaves while rubber/studs perform more like hiking boots.
Plus, rubber doesn't collect ice in the winter like felt soles do.

Also, rubber/stud boots are legal in all states. In the east, Maryland and Vermont have outlawed felt soles.

And last...yes I believe invasives are much less likely to be spread with rubber soled boots vs porous felt material which remains damp for weeks before drying.

 

[PennKev]

afishinado wrote:

I prefer my rubber/stud boots since they perform well on the bank as well as in the water. I slip and slide on the bank with felt on mud and wet leaves while rubber/studs perform more like hiking boots.
Plus, rubber doesn't collect ice in the winter like felt soles do.

^This.

The traction that rubber w/ studs give you while on land is well worth the slight loss of traction while in the water.

Furthermore, I believe that felt soles are only noticeably superior to rubber w/ studs when the soles are brand new. After felt gets worn in and dirty the traction advantage drops off considerably IMO.

That said, even if I had felt soles, I would want studs on my boots too.

 

[Cold]

While, as others have stated, rubber w/ studs has it's advantages on the shore, I tend to be of the opposite opinion to PennKev for my personal use. I spend far more of my fishing time and walking *in* the water, and on land I'm far more sure-footed anyway. I need the best traction available while I'm actually in the water, and for me, that means felt, every time.

I don't believe we'll see felt outlawed in PA ever...certainly not within the next decade or two, especially with many scientist now determining that felt soles (or the banning thereof) doesn't significantly impact the spread of invasives one way or another after all.

If through some turn of events, PA would outlaw felt, I'd still be using it for most of my 'out of the way' fishing. The PFBC isn't about to pay my medical bills if I slip and fall in the stream, so I'm not about to have them dictate to me that I can't wear what gives me the best traction.

 

[NPflychucker]

Personally I like felts, but I agree that over time, once they are worn down and dirty they do lose traction. What I do is just screw 1/8" sheet metal screws into the felt. I feel it really helps me on the bank and I can feel them gripping in the stream better as well. Just my to cents, Kind of a little of best of both worlds I guess

 

[krayfish2]

+1 for studded felts (if responsibly used).

Mine see one watershed and dry in the sun for severalweeks between outings (in case I hit a different watershed).

They aren't great for muddy banks but the traction 'in stream' makes up for it.

They COMPLETELY suck in the snow. Steelheading,I sitarted out at 5'9" walked around the car and was 6'8". LOL I have since solved this issue.....don't go steelheading.

 

[poopdeck]

Studded felt for me

 

[nimrod]

Studded felt here as well.

Tried un-studded rubber last year. Like walking on icy bowling balls in the water. They are now relegated to boat shoes.

 

[CRB]

You need Studs no mater which sole you go with.
Felts with studs are excellent traction in the water, they suck on land!
Rubber with studs excellent when there is snow on the banks! They are a trade off in the water. As a fisherman who lives in the NW corner of the state. I Steelhead fish from Sept- May. Studded rubber is for me. If I lived in warmer less snowy areas Felt with studs would be my choice.

 

[boychick]

Rubber with cleats. I know a lot of guys like the felt, but I'm not one of them. I like the Orvis posigrip cleats, best I've used.

 

[bikerfish]

studded rubber, once I tried them, I never used felt again, and never will.

 

[afishinado]

As I posted above, I own and fish with both. Just for the heck-of-it, one day I wore my felt/stud on one foot and rubber stud on the other. While wading, there wasn't much difference in traction; but if I were pressed to pick one over the other, I thought the rubber stud had slightly better traction in the water.

On the bank, no contest. I had to watch every step with my felts. The rubber stud had plenty of traction on rock, mud leaves, etc.

Also note that all brands of wading boots and the make-up of their soles are not equal, whether it be felt or rubber. So YMMV.

My theory is, many of the guys that think wearing felts makes you Spiderman in the water, are comparing them to and remembering the horrible hard rubber soles of the boots made back-in-the-day.

 

[Cold]

My theory is, many of the guys that think wearing felts makes you Spiderman in the water, are comparing them to and remembering the horrible hard rubber soles of the boots made back-in-the-day.

Those are worse than useless!

Have you used the Korkers version of sticky rubber? That's my only experience with the modern wading rubber soles, and I didn't realize how popular it was among anglers. If I come across the studded sticky rubber soles for my Korkers, I'll have to offer them up for sale here. I used mine one time, threw them back in the box, and put on the felts.

 

[Chaz]

No, probably not, especially now the the science behind the initial study turned out to be bad science.

 

[PennKev]

afishinado wrote:
As I posted above, I own and fish with both. Just for the heck-of-it, one day I wore my felt/stud on one foot and rubber stud on the other. While wading, there wasn't much difference in traction; but if I were pressed to pick one over the other, I thought the rubber stud had slightly better traction in the water.

Yeah whenever you add studs to a boot they become your primary source of traction. Studs tend to prevent contact t between the sole and the hard surfaces you are stepping on. So felt or rubber, neither see as much wear when you have a sufficient number ofnstuds on your boots.