Wading Boots

[moon1284]

The Chota STLs probably lasted as long as any boots for me. I used mine hard for about 2 years but the studs kept falling out and the ice racing screws I bought fell out too. The boots themselves are still solid though. Patagonia rock grips with aluminum bars sucked IMO. I like weinbrenner borgers or danner river grippers but they are hard to find and the Chotas lasted just as long they were just clunky and heavy. I want boots that can be re-soled, for me the soles always go quicker than the boot (except the patagonias were totally shot after a year).

 

[krayfish2]

If you don't mind splashing the cash.... Patagonia / Danner foot tractor. They can be resoled or the uppers rebuilt. Saw article listening them as 'new for 2019'. The downside.....$450+. Ouch

 

[timbow]

One of the interesting things about the new danner/Patagonia boot is that the prices are set for what the re-sole and repairs will cost. I believe I heard that new soles will cost $100 and a complete rebuild of the boot is somewhere around &200 if I recall correctly. At first I thought the $450 cost was ludicrous, but even if you have to re-sole every couple years and these boots last 6-7 years, it may actually be a decent deal.

 

[RLeep2]

Another vote for Korkers.. I've been wearing them for about 5 seasons, used them hard and just lost my first sole to suction pull off two weeks ago on the Penobscot when I got mired in some knee deep clay muck . I can live with that kind of frequency.

The only downside to the Korkers, IMO, is that sole life could be somewhat better. I go through two sets of the studded felts a season. Then again, I cover a lot of territory walking in/out and covering water.

Like most all wading shoes, they're better than a sharp stick in the eye, but not by all that much. But I don't know of any wading shoe that isn't that way, except maybe the old Weinbrenners.