Durable Wading Boot Recommendations?

Coach Potter said:
What would you guys wear if you were going to do a 35 mile backpack trip… where your plan was to fish all 35 of those miles?
Salmo_g said:
Trail runners, preferably a model that one could add studs to. Liner sock and good wool sock over. Lukotape for the places that might become hotspots. Foot care is vitally important when you're hiking with wet feet all day.
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I have used a couple of Korkers products that have really seemed to help prevent blisters when hiking 2-3 miles with "wet feet" in my River Ops Boots, I talked about them in this thread.
Brian Miller

Post in thread 'Has anyone used the Korkers Stealth Sneakers....'

clarkman said:
Yep. Too heavy. Too hot. Especially for lots of hiking. I like my Simms Challengers but kinda want something with a little more support that's lightweight and still has relatively sticky rubber.
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What size to buy??? :unsure:
Is it a good idea to size up for waders?

I did a couple of trips during summer 2024 hiking a couple of miles and wet wading in River Ops boots sized to fit over waders. I discovered these two items worked together very well to take up the extra room in my boots and prevent blisters on wet skin. BTW the RO boots provided excellent foot and ankle...
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But that's not all day. I'd be inclined to try using trail runners with the snug fitting neoprene socks for the hiking, and as camp shoes (with merino socks), and carrying the wading boots on extended trail sections
 
Getting fairly close to needing to replace the aluminum bars on the Patagonia Foot Tractors for the second time this year. I've searched the internet but can't find good data or alternatives that might wear longer, so I figured maybe folks here who have/have had these boots before might know more: I'm replacing the bars every 80 (mixed river and beach) to (currently) 120ish (mostly beach) miles walked--is this just something I'm going to have to embrace? Am I being too quick to replace? I'm replacing them when the bars wear to even with the rubber tread.



Edit: Replace for the second time. Third set in total.
 
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You could probably keep 'em on a bit longer without too much loss of traction. I get a couple weeks of daily/near- daily use out of aluminum star cleats before they wear into uselessness, and they're typically a few mm below the tread at that point. There's still a bit of grip at that point but the "stickiness" security of the full aluminum contact is largely absent.
 
G_Smolt said:
You could probably keep 'em on a bit longer without too much loss of traction. I get a couple weeks of daily/near- daily use out of aluminum star cleats before they wear into uselessness, and they're typically a few mm below the tread at that point. There's still a bit of grip at that point but the "stickiness" security of the full aluminum contact is largely absent.
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Excellent, thanks! I kept the old ones in case I was being overly cautious. I'll hold off on buying another set for now.

Sounds like your cleats are experiencing about the same longevity as my bars. Less than I'd hoped for, but if I can use the bars for longer than I'd thought it only works out to be about $50 every other month. Far cheaper than many other habits and hobbies I could have.
 
Forgot to update yesterday when I hit the milestone: 202.22 miles over 294.75 hours (rounded down to the nearest 15 minutes each day) in a mixture of salt and freshwater.

Aside from having to replace/rotate out the aluminum bars every month or so, and replacing one shoelace, they're going strong and don't show any signs of dying. By far the most durable wading boots footwear I've ever had, and I'm glad for the purchase. Yeah, $400 + $40 (3rd set of aluminum bars) is quite a bit up front, but it's already amortized out to $2/mile or $3.52/day and will only improve from there. Cheaper than a cup of coffee at $bucks. The best part is that when they eventually die it's looking like it'll only be about 1/2 that to completely revamp them.



Edit: Forgot to mention that one thing I've done from the beginning was to wrap some zinc wire around the bottom of each boot's lace. Not sure if they're actually functioning as sacrificial anodes on the boots, but I've noticed no corrosion on the boots but have seen it on the wire (which I've been replacing).
 
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Matt B said:
100% this on the Pata-Danner foot tractors. Love the traction and stability, super durable, and super heavy. After a lot of use, and only a modicum of care, one dropped the felt sole. I looked into the repair process, and it would’ve been fine if I had backups to use during the month + that the rebuild would’ve taken, but I didn’t have that time or backups, so I took them to the downtown seattle retail store and they shipped me a brand new pair in 2 days.
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+1

They are so sick. I’ve fished in everything Patagonia and Simms have had to offer over the last 20 years and those foot tractors are the best by far and away.
 
This morning I hit session 290 for the Patagonia boots, and a little under 400 miles. I was going to wait for day 300 to post, but with winter break in three days I don’t know that I’ll get 10 sessions between now and the 31st.

I have been through three sets of aluminum bars, and am considering installing my 4th set.

I have gone through two sets of laces and just treated myself to a new pair of oem ones.

Zero corrosion on the metal despite over 200 of the sessions being in saltwater.

Only upkeep has been a weekly treatment of Otterbox conditioner/salve/wax.
 
J Watrous said:
Thanks for the suggestion. Orvis isn't usually on my radar because none of my local shops carry them (except the Orvis store in Seattle...which I haven't gone to because Seattle sucks) but I'll check them out. How are they holding up after 200 days? That's about the point where my Simms start to crap out and either get sent off to "repair" or get demoted to beach use.

As for being on the heavy side, how are the Patagonias in the water? Sometimes for me what seems heavy on the foot on dryland is a benefit and becomes fairly unnoticeable when wading.


EDIT: Forgot a few words in the middle of a sentence.
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The Orvis store in Seattle closed its doors this past March.
 
J Watrous said:
Probably the last pairs of wading boots we’ll ever buy, too. Lifetime warranty and repair.
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if you even need it.

those Danner/Patagucci's are awesome! I have a pair of just felt, mainly for when I'm not having to hike a long ways...(Orvis ultralights for that).

and they're SO. DAMN. COMFORTABLE....just a touch heavy for long hiking trips.
 
I have a pair of just the rubber soles right now, I figured I'd try them and see if I wanted to buy the cleats or not (spoiler, they came with the cleats) Now I have to decide if I want to stick the cleats in and buy another pair for boat use. When I put them on the first time I was honestly shocked about how good they felt.
 
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