Korkers Deal on STP

[Swattie87]

For all you Korkers guys, who aren’t fans of the BOA laces (like me)…

Korkers Terror Ridge

About as good of a deal as you’re going to find. My current pair are still in decent shape, but pulled the trigger anyway on their successor at this price. Get ‘em awhile they’re hot. (At the time of posting this, they had a good range of sizes in stock. Not just size 7 and 14 like is normal for STP.)

 

[ryansheehan]

That's a steal, love my Devils canyon with the boa though!!

 

[Tigereye]

Now you tell me. I had wifey get me a pair for Christmas. Santa already wrapped them.

 

[BruceC2C]

thank you for this post Swattie87.
STP has some buys that r really hard to ignore.

Begrudgingly, I bought my first pair of Boas, few years ago....
...primarily as better "on/off " option not to deal w frozen laces during winter.
DEF proven to be improvement with that specific task.
Fingers crossed...never had a problem.

That said...I still don't " trust" them. ( regardless of the " replacement kit")

 

[Swattie87]

I used to do a ton of my FFing/outdoor gear shopping on STP. They reorganized how they work their deals a few years ago, and that coupled with an overall reduction in the fishing gear they carried and often only having the typical “overstock” sizes of S and XXXL, but nothing in between, has resulted in me not buying anything from them since before Covid probably. So much so, that a $100 gift card I still had I was considering cutting up into toothpicks to get some kind of use out of it.

This worked out well. With the gift card, and free shipping, it was $16 out of pocket for a pair of Korkers.

As to the BOA’s, I’ve never personally owned a pair, but have been fishing with two different buddies who suffered a BOA failure. Fortunately both times it was on small streams, where wading wasn’t all that difficult, but it didn’t make for a fun day for those guys. It’d be a serious problem if you blow a BOA on any bigger water though. Probably a day ender, if you don’t have a replacement lace or pair of backup boots in your vehicle. If a traditional lace ever breaks you can always just tie a knot and finish the day like normal.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I agree with what is being said about the BOA systems. I had the previous model of Orvis Pro Boot (Pre-Michelin) with the BOA system and they did break. In one occurrence I was jumping around (probably trying to dislodge a fly from a branch) and it broke.

 

[jeffroey]

I have both. The Terror Ridge and Devil's Canyon. TR first.

Broke one black/orange cross strap on one of the TR boots while it was still in the warranty period. Their service was exceptional. They gave me the choice of replacing the TR or upgrading to another boot for the difference from list. That's when I opted into the DC with BOA. LOVE THEM - Much lighter than the TR IMO and I like the neoprene upper when hiking.

Really nice thing when dealing with Korkers service was they let me keep the TRs as long as I cut the tags out of the tongues and send pix. Did that, cut off the other cross strap and just thread my laces thru the cross strap slots. They're now my very good condition backup with all interchangeable soles!

 

[jeffroey]

P.S. for those of you concerned about the reliability of BOAs, Korkers sells a replacement BOA kit that includes the Allen driver for like 7 bucks. Never had a problem withy BOAs but I do have that kit in my pack.

 

[Swattie87]

P.S. for those of you concerned about the reliability of BOAs, Korkers sells a replacement BOA kit that includes the Allen driver for like 7 bucks. Never had a problem withy BOAs but I do have that kit in my pack.

Yeah, that’s a fair point. I don’t think the BOA system necessarily lasts any shorter than a pair of standard laces before failure, it’s just more difficult and a hassle to deal with streamside (if you’re not carrying a spare BOA kit) than traditional laces.

 

[Bamboozle]

P.S. for those of you concerned about the reliability of BOAs, Korkers sells a replacement BOA kit that includes the Allen driver for like 7 bucks. Never had a problem withy BOAs but I do have that kit in my pack.

I don't have BOA wading shoes but if I did I'd absolutely have that kit in my kit.

BTW - How many conventional lace users carry around an extra pair or wear a paracord bracelet like me just in case...? 😉

 

[Swattie87]

I don't have BOA wading shoes but if I did I'd absolutely have that kit in my kit.

BTW - How many conventional lace users carry around an extra pair or wear a paracord bracelet like me just in case...? 😉

I don’t. The couple times I’ve broken a lace, usually at the vehicle lacing up for the day, I’ve just tied a knot in the broken lace, and finished the day. Swapped out the laces when I got home. I will add that no wading boot other than Korkers had the seams last long enough for the boot to outlive the first pair of laces.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

BTW - How many conventional lace users carry around an extra pair or wear a paracord bracelet like me just in case...? 😉

I don't, but I've never experienced a broken lace and if I did I'd do the ghetto fix as Swattie does. A paracord bracelet would be a smart thing to carry and I know that Bam is essentially a walking Swiss Army knife when it comes to gear haha. If I was that concerned about laces breaking I'd swap the laces out with paracord to begin with.

On the topic of boot laces breaking I did have a pair of the current Orvis Pro boots I bought used. I tore the entire sole off of the bottom while fishing a particularly rocky stream while trying to best my personal fallfish record (please don't laugh!). That was an uncomfortable situation but I just fished on with a boot that had a falling off sole. Apparently ORVIS did have a QC issue with the adhesive they used to glue the sole to the boot being subpar. They alleviated that issue in later models.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Overall I don't think the BOA system is inferior/superior to laces, it's just not my thing and I think the complex repair for it is too complex for me and I don't really see an advantage with using BOA systems. I don't really see the purpose of BOA system boots as lace boots work just fine for me. I have felt with the one pair of BOA boots I've owned that the pressure applied by the BOA system was not as evenly distributed as conventional laces. I've heard that BOA systems can freeze too. Water expansion (due to freezing) sounds worse with mechanical parts than freezing nylon laces. I'll stick with conventional laces.

 

[Bamboozle]

Fortunately, I never had to choose...

That's because there isn't a single pair of wading boots with BOA laces out there or that I ever laid eyes on that I would want for many other reasons.

However I do recall on another thread someone saying that mobility issues made BOA laces easier for him so I guess that's something in their favor that I hope I never have to discover...

 

[Silent Ocelot]

That's because there isn't a single pair of wading boots with BOA laces out there or that I ever laid eyes on that I would want for many other reasons.

What are your many reasons for not wanting to go BOA? I am curious and I love your highly analytical thinking on these subjects. For me, it's simply I see no reason to get them as I am satisfied with the boots I already have and I don't see a performance advantage in the boot and there's added mechanical complexity that is avoided by just using conventional laces.

 

[jeffroey]

Laces are to copper like BOAs are to Pex. They both work well for their intended purpose and they both have their pros/cons. Personal decision - for me they're ultra convenient. Getting in and out of BOA boots are a quick twist of a knob (on) and pull of a button (off). I think that's why BOAs seem to be taking over the ski boot sector as well.

 

[stashe]

I don't have BOA wading shoes but if I did I'd absolutely have that kit in my kit.

BTW - How many conventional lace users carry around an extra pair or wear a paracord bracelet like me just in case...? 😉

I carry a spare shoe lace and my buddy carries a spare BOA after he had a long walk back to the truck and couldn't find a shop that sold them close by. He still loves them. To each his own.

 

[Bamboozle]

What are your many reasons for not wanting to go BOA? I am curious and I love your highly analytical thinking on these subjects. For me, it's simply I see no reason to get them as I am satisfied with the boots I already have and I don't see a performance advantage in the boot and there's added mechanical complexity that is avoided by just using conventional laces.

BOA is necessarily the deal breaker, it's the overall construction of the shoes.

I personally don't like stiff collar/sidewall boots that don't flex if you crouch or squat down and I also hate wedge heels that slip but don't grip and look like 1970's platform shoes.

I was a HUGE fan of the Chota STL's till they F'd them up with a cheap wedge heel and then discontinued them entirely.

Fortunately I have new & spare pair of the old version that will hold me for awhile....

 

[riverwhy]

Now you tell me. I had wifey get me a pair for Christmas. Santa already wrapped them.

My wife had them in the cart but was questioning why I wanted an 11. By the time I convinced her that I needed something bigger than my shoe size for the waders and heavy socks, I balked and told her not to get them. They look heavy and too high to be comfortable. I still might change my mind.

 

[ROVERT]

That's a good deal. I have to say I'm a BOA convert, though -no more tie, retie, tighten, retie, etc. It's not that those are major hindrances to fishing but it seems like an appreciable improvement to me. My Devil's Canyons are my favorite wading boots. I've had them a few years now and haven't had a failure. The boots themselves are holding up considerably better than previous boots I've owned.

I haven't felt the need to carry BOA repair parts but have thought about buying some just in case. I generally have an Israeli bandage with my gear and, while I haven't tried it, I'm pretty sure I could secure a boot with it in the event of a BOA failure.