JackM
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- Sep 9, 2006
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I bought a set of Simms Freestone Wading Boots about 3 years ago on eBay for about $75. The felts as shown in the picture had little permanent marker "dots" where you would expect studs. I thought I was buying a studded pair. When they arrived I noticed that the dots were not studs but rather were markings for where studs belonged. As a result, in order to have a studded felt boot, I put galvanized screws into the holes. The screwheads eventually wore away and many of the studs fell out. When the studs would wear down, they were difficult to remove in order to replace them.
In any case, I love the the boots because they were the first pair I had ever owned that did not split on the side seams at the widest part of my foot. Three years later the boot is in excellent condition, however, the felts had ground down to less than 1/8 of an inch. Not only did rocks begin to hurt the bottom of my foot, but there was no traction. Since I have been unable to get out much in the past month I decided to repair my equipment. I patched waders, cleaned rods, cleaned lines, cleaned and greased reels, and other such things.
I decided to take on repair of my Simms Freestone's in the manner that I recall Maurice once suggesting. I purchased a Frogg Toggs repair kit for $15. It had two tubes of glue inside. It recommended coating each surface and allowing that to dry for several hours and then re-coating for the final gluing process.
Because I wanted studded boots, I went to Lowe's and purchased 1 1/2" galvanized roofing nails. I purchased the longer nails because I knew that I would have to cut the shank to the correct size. I thought it would be better to cut more off than to try came to make a very small snip.
I measured the replacement soles against each boot and marked the location where I wanted each stud to be. The Freestone's do not have a separate heel however they do have a slight arch. I chose to use four nails in the “heel” section and five on the ball of the foot. I placed the studs only on that portion of the surfaces that would touch the stream bottom in most instances, that is, the heel and the toe.
After marking the area, I pounded the nails from the side of the felt that would be glued to the boot into the stud locations and pushed them through to the other side, making a pair of spiked felts.
As for of the old felt, I removed it by using a pair of pliers and a carpet knife. I used the carpet knife only to lift the edges as I put pressure and pulled on the felt. The felt was sewn to the bottom and so I removed all of the threads after having removed the felt. The Freestone's had a very thin plastic “plate", that probably provided a little additional protection from sharp rocks. However, the glue suggested that it did not work on “PVC" so I decided to remove the plate in case hard plastic was not a good surface for adherence. The glue suggested that it worked best on rubber. Under the very thin plate was approximately 1/4" of rubber.
At this point according to the instructions for the glue, I used a plastic knife and spread the glue on both the boot surfaces and over top the nail heads in the felts . I set both aside to dry and did wait several hours until they were quite hard but still slightly tacky on the surface. During this time, I used a bolt cutter to snip the nails as close as I could to the felt surface.
As it turns out, the two tubes all of glue provided with the felt replacements was not sufficient at this point to finish the job. I think I used 1 1/2 tubes just to coat the two boot surfaces and the felt surfaces. While these were curing, I had to make another trip to Lowe's to pick up two tubes of Shoe Goop, which I was assured was the exact same material as was in the replacement felt package. I finished the job with the Shoe Goop, making sure I coated both surfaces on each boot to the edges and then secured contact between the two surfaces with copious amounts of duct tape.
I left the boots to dry for a full 24 hours before carefully removing the duct tape so as not to stretch the edges. I then allowed the boots to dry another 24 hours without any disturbance. After 48 hours of curing I carefully tested the edges to see if they were solid or if they were prepared to separate. As they all seem to sound, I used the carpet knife to trim around the outline of the original boot. As you may guess, some of the studs are farther out than necessary. I then took a metal file and filed the nail shanks down so that they were as close to even with the surface of the felt as possible.
I plan to keep the boots out of the water for at least one more day (total of 72 hours) and I think I'm good to go. If this works it will be the best several hours and $25 I have ever spent acquiring wading boots.
In any case, I love the the boots because they were the first pair I had ever owned that did not split on the side seams at the widest part of my foot. Three years later the boot is in excellent condition, however, the felts had ground down to less than 1/8 of an inch. Not only did rocks begin to hurt the bottom of my foot, but there was no traction. Since I have been unable to get out much in the past month I decided to repair my equipment. I patched waders, cleaned rods, cleaned lines, cleaned and greased reels, and other such things.
I decided to take on repair of my Simms Freestone's in the manner that I recall Maurice once suggesting. I purchased a Frogg Toggs repair kit for $15. It had two tubes of glue inside. It recommended coating each surface and allowing that to dry for several hours and then re-coating for the final gluing process.
Because I wanted studded boots, I went to Lowe's and purchased 1 1/2" galvanized roofing nails. I purchased the longer nails because I knew that I would have to cut the shank to the correct size. I thought it would be better to cut more off than to try came to make a very small snip.
I measured the replacement soles against each boot and marked the location where I wanted each stud to be. The Freestone's do not have a separate heel however they do have a slight arch. I chose to use four nails in the “heel” section and five on the ball of the foot. I placed the studs only on that portion of the surfaces that would touch the stream bottom in most instances, that is, the heel and the toe.
After marking the area, I pounded the nails from the side of the felt that would be glued to the boot into the stud locations and pushed them through to the other side, making a pair of spiked felts.
As for of the old felt, I removed it by using a pair of pliers and a carpet knife. I used the carpet knife only to lift the edges as I put pressure and pulled on the felt. The felt was sewn to the bottom and so I removed all of the threads after having removed the felt. The Freestone's had a very thin plastic “plate", that probably provided a little additional protection from sharp rocks. However, the glue suggested that it did not work on “PVC" so I decided to remove the plate in case hard plastic was not a good surface for adherence. The glue suggested that it worked best on rubber. Under the very thin plate was approximately 1/4" of rubber.
At this point according to the instructions for the glue, I used a plastic knife and spread the glue on both the boot surfaces and over top the nail heads in the felts . I set both aside to dry and did wait several hours until they were quite hard but still slightly tacky on the surface. During this time, I used a bolt cutter to snip the nails as close as I could to the felt surface.
As it turns out, the two tubes all of glue provided with the felt replacements was not sufficient at this point to finish the job. I think I used 1 1/2 tubes just to coat the two boot surfaces and the felt surfaces. While these were curing, I had to make another trip to Lowe's to pick up two tubes of Shoe Goop, which I was assured was the exact same material as was in the replacement felt package. I finished the job with the Shoe Goop, making sure I coated both surfaces on each boot to the edges and then secured contact between the two surfaces with copious amounts of duct tape.
I left the boots to dry for a full 24 hours before carefully removing the duct tape so as not to stretch the edges. I then allowed the boots to dry another 24 hours without any disturbance. After 48 hours of curing I carefully tested the edges to see if they were solid or if they were prepared to separate. As they all seem to sound, I used the carpet knife to trim around the outline of the original boot. As you may guess, some of the studs are farther out than necessary. I then took a metal file and filed the nail shanks down so that they were as close to even with the surface of the felt as possible.
I plan to keep the boots out of the water for at least one more day (total of 72 hours) and I think I'm good to go. If this works it will be the best several hours and $25 I have ever spent acquiring wading boots.
