Wading Boots

S

steve98

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Messages
268
Hello gang,

I am in need of a new pair of wading boots.
Must be made in U.S.A.!
Does such a pair even exist?
Money is no object.
I am a long time member of a UNION!.
Which some may not be on board with.
But that is beside the point.
In light of the recent pandemic.
And everyone urging to buy local. buy family owned ,buy made in USA!
Which I have been doing as OFTEN as I can because it is difficult.
And doing it for the last 33 or so years.
I didnt need a, Freaking pandemic to fall on my head to do what all should have been doing all along.
Again I know it is difficult and MOST times is hard to

Patagonia by Danner is the closest I can find.
Orvis boots made in Viet Nam
Simms made who knows where just says imported!
Korkers ?

Ty
Steve98
 
Just to say the sport of fly fishing is one thing ive been doing for 30 plus years and proud to say most of my gear IS made in U.S.A.

Rod: RL Winston, Reel, Galvin, Simms Waders,
Vest Filson, Used to own a pair of felt sole Gary Borger boots also made in U.S.A. St. Croix rod.

Again I know it can be expensive and I mean no disrespect to anyone on this forum who buys or owns foreign made products. MYSELF include!

But this is one rare sport where buying in U.S.A. has more options than most.

Steve98
 
steve98 wrote:
Hello gang,

I am in need of a new pair of wading boots.
Must be made in U.S.A.!
Does such a pair even exist?
Money is no object.
I am a long time member of a UNION!.
Which some may not be on board with.
But that is beside the point.
In light of the recent pandemic.
And everyone urging to buy local. buy family owned ,buy made in USA!
Which I have been doing as OFTEN as I can because it is difficult.
And doing it for the last 33 or so years.
I didnt need a, Freaking pandemic to fall on my head to do what all should have been doing all along.
Again I know it is difficult and MOST times is hard to

Patagonia by Danner is the closest I can find.
Orvis boots made in Viet Nam
Simms made who knows where just says imported!
Korkers ?

Ty
Steve98
Click to expand...

Patagonia Foot tractors made by Danner (I have the foreign-made ones and they are great with the aluminum plates)

Also the high-end Simms are USA made.

See the info on wading boots ratings here.

HTH.
 
I have the same boots afish does, I love them. I'd imagine the danner boot component would only make them better
 
As someone who recently spent well over $100 on a couple US made ball peen hammers; I can tell you assume NOTHING from what you see on websites and you BETTER ASK the manufacturer the country of origin (COO), and expect them to be evasive about giving you a straight answer.

Many times assembly may be in the US, but materials sourced overseas or only PART of something is made in the USA (like only the handles on the supposed “Made in the USA” ball peen hammers I found in Home Depot).

That being said, most if not all of the fancy wading shoes out there are NOT made in the USA or are made in the USA with NON-USA parts (Patagonia Foot Tractor & I am pretty sure Simms for example).

The ONLY 100% US made wading shoes I am aware of are Russell’s. They make (or used to make) a basic leather & Codura shoe that would be custom made to your feet but sole options are limited to pure wool felt (which grips 1000% better than any synthetic felt) or any rubber or other option YOU can provide to them. (Years ago they made me a pair of wading shoes with Five-Ten rubber soles that I sourced).

I can attest to the quality, as I own a couple pairs of their wading shoes, boots & shoes. The fit is fantastic and they will add any option you like. The wading shoes also have a real stacked heel that is 100 times better for grip than the wedge heels found on most shoes. They also resole & refurbish their footwear.

They don’t show them on their website but I have been told they will make them upon request. If you are interested you can try calling Russell Moccasin.
 
I wouldn't order anything from Patagonia after seeing their latest ads. They have lost all respect I ever had for them.
 
With Patagonia comes politics...

...A LOT of politics from a blowhard company that makes nothing or just about nothing in the USA, which matters to the OP.
 
afishinado wrote:
steve98 wrote:
Hello gang,

I am in need of a new pair of wading boots.
Must be made in U.S.A.!
Does such a pair even exist?
Money is no object.
I am a long time member of a UNION!.
Which some may not be on board with.
But that is beside the point.
In light of the recent pandemic.
And everyone urging to buy local. buy family owned ,buy made in USA!
Which I have been doing as OFTEN as I can because it is difficult.
And doing it for the last 33 or so years.
I didnt need a, Freaking pandemic to fall on my head to do what all should have been doing all along.
Again I know it is difficult and MOST times is hard to

Patagonia by Danner is the closest I can find.
Orvis boots made in Viet Nam
Simms made who knows where just says imported!
Korkers ?

Ty
Steve98
Click to expand...

Patagonia Foot tractors made by Danner (I have the foreign-made ones and they are great with the aluminum plates)

Also the high-end Simms are USA made.

See the info on wading boots ratings here.

HTH.
Click to expand...

That rating system of wading boots kind of made me laugh. I've had some terrible experiences with some of those brands. I use the higher end Korkers and couldn't be happier with that company. They might not be made in the USA but they are a USA based company with an excellent warranty program.
 
Here is what I use-


Waders and boots Patagonia- I could not be happier. Have tried a lot including top of line Simms. I have the Patagonia lightweight boots.

Rod-Winston

Reel Orvis

Vest-Filson

I do not pay much attention to USA made or not or to their politics. (maybe I should?) Just quality. Now I am going to research Patagonia and see where they are made.


 
I wouldn't order anything from Patagonia after seeing their latest ads. They have lost all respect I ever had for them.
Click to expand...

With you here. It is a good thing I own a lot of vintage gear that I don't need to buy much of anything.
 
Patagonia manufactures stuff overseas but so do a lot of companies. From what I see their advertising just has a bunch of environmental awareness, social conscious stuff thrown in. All I know is their products are first rate from what I have seen. They have a big statement on their website about how they do business overseas etc. Good luck finding all American made and it is certainly no guarantee of quality. Finding labor and sourcing material is apparently a bit of a problem here in the good old USA.
 
The Patagonia/danners are the only ones I know about that are made in usa. I have them and they are good boots.
 
From the Patagonia website:

...handcrafted in Portland, Oregon, with imported parts.

SO, basically, ASSEMBLED in America, sourced elsewhere...
 
I guess the leather, laces, or rubber came from somewhere else. The most expensive part of the boots is the labor.

Let me know when you find a rod with American cork.

For the record every rod I own (30+) was made in America (Scott, sage, tnt, Winston, etc.). And I'd be willing to bet the cork on all of them didn't come from the states.
 
You are splitting hairs as are many manufacturers who place "Made in the USA" labels on stuff only assembled here.

A cork grip which represents a small percentage of total rod components is sourced OUTSIDE of the USA for the same reason that Tonkin bamboo is.

That is a whole lot different than a company that uses 100% imported materials in their wading shoes not because they can't be obtained elsewhere, but because they are cheaper...

...and that same company charges an arm & a leg for those wading shoes.
 
Buying what you like isn't the issue...

The OP specifically stated he wanted wading boots "made in the USA."

How "made" is defined is the issue.

My point is the waters are extremely muddied and in most cases deliberately so.
 
I'll agree to disagree on this one. Making and assembling boots really isn't that different. The labor cost in making those boots far exceeds the cost of materials.

As far as a rod, if the blank is rolled in China and the guides are wrapped in USA, I agree its not made in usa. If a reel is machined in China and screwed together in USA, then it's not made in usa. In both of those cases the lions share of the cost comes from foreign entities.
 
I know a little about shoe making...

Making shoes from scratch means cutting components from raw materials like large hides, cutting mid-soles & soles from blank materials, installing eyelets or hooks and assembling it all on a last.

That is completely different than buying prefabricated components and assembling those on a last.

I have no idea if Patagonia buys bulk materials and cuts them in house which would beg the question...why?

Saving money also means saving time so I would almost guarantee they buy prefabricated components and assemble them in house.

How that fits into anyone's definition of "made" is up to them, but to me it is no different than your rod rolled in China example...
 
I know nothing about shoe making but now I understand where you're coming from.
 
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