I worked on developing the Trout Unlimited policy recommending the elimination felt soles by 2011. It is true that felts are not the only piece of angling equipment that could transport AIS, but felt soles have been identified in several studies as the most likely candidate for transporting aquatic invasive species. In a study done at Montana State University, it was found that the average angler transports 22.10 grams of sediment on their wading boots. Riding along in this 22.10 grams is such stuff as whirling disease spores, NZ mud snails, Didymo, and various other critters, plants, and pathogens. The elimination of felt will not eliminate the risk of spreading aquatic invasive species, but this action will help reduce the risk, and risk reduction is what this is all about. The other part of this effort involves the cleaning of gear. The recommendaitons found in the Clean Angling Pledge at www.tu.org or www.cleanangling.org to inspect, clean, and dry gear will also help in this regard.

Heck, I can barly afford 100 dollar waiders, (Don't need felt here.) 200 dollars for just the boots? Insanity... Deeter, talk someone into doing a waider testing thing in the next F&S, and tell 'em I'm in.

Alex Pernice (Now signed AP, sick of typing my name over and over)

In response to this being a "marketing ploy," I would beg to differ. While it's true that properly cleaning your gear is the only means of preventing the spread of riverborne pathogens and is equally important regardless of the sole, the issue with felt is the difficulty of effectively cleaning it. It is quite literally a giant sponge on the bottom of your foot. Studies have shown that even soaking a felt soled boot in bleach for an hour (something that will drastically compromise the life span of the boot by the way) still may not remove all waterborne pathogens. Rubber soles are much easier to clean, which is why there is such a big push for manufacturers and fishermen alike. If you choose to use felt soles, that is fine as long as you are responsible enough to clean them extremely thoroughly. For my money, I'd rather have a reliable pair of rubber soled wading boots that I don't have to spend 2 hours cleaning to remove whatever creepy crawlies have made their way into the felt. Not to mention the money I'll save not having to buy new boots every season because the cleaning ritual has destroyed my felt soles.

Spend the money right, and you'll only have to spend it once.

Bravo to Simms for leading the way!

Cool boot tread, hopefully other manufacturers pick up on the idea.

I've only owned lug soled waders and boots, no felt, and found that the lugs give better traction in the mud and muck on the stream banks than felt ever could.

Let us know how you fare with the new boots.

Long time reader, first time writer. To be honest I think it completely irresponsible of Simms to put the idea in peoples heads that using these boots will do anything to reduce the spread on aquatic hitchhikers, especially didymo (which is a microscopic spore that can become lodged anywhere on a boot, laces, threads, etc). Whirling disease is also a microscopic parasite that can attach to anything. Instead of making a marketing push out of this to sell more boots maybe Simms should be spending some of those marketing dollars on making people aware that the only way to completely eliminate the threat of river nasties is to properly clean your equipment! Please don't get me wrong, Simms makes a great product and I own plenty of it myself, but Deeter on a public forum like this where people go for information, you need to make it clear that proper cleaning is the only way to gurantee we stop spreading the funk.

Those boots look like they are the real deal and they would be great for several different applications. The only thing that would scare me away at this time would be the price, I am all for saving the environment and preventing the transport of aquatic pests, but at that price I would not be able to afford them right now.

I always enjoy the gear reviews though, keeps me updated on the latest and greatest, also gives me something to add to my wish list for later in the year.

Top of my wish list is a new pair of wading boots. I'm definitely switching to sticky rubber soles. I, for one, would love to see reviews of as many of these boots as possible, either on this blog or in the pages of F&S. Things are changing for us wading anglers! Help us make the transition without wasting a bunch of hard earned cash!

yrs-
Evan!

So much to say, so little time...but here goes:
Kirk, thanks for the review I have been waiting on for about 5 months now. Someone I trust who has actually worn them in a real fishing situation. I talked to a Simms dealer at a fly show recently, but I don't really see that as an "unbiased" opinion. I think the idea is good, it is interesting to me that AquaStealth has been around for years but never REALLY took off. My problem is this: it shouldn't cost so much extra for me to do the right thing. I want to, I understand the science, but man, this ain't the time to be frivolous with the cash. There was no way to put together a simple boot with technology that was comparable to a standard felt boot? I do understand the need to recoup some R&D, and I am sure Vibram isn't giving away the material, but come on. It feels like someone is trying to make a buck off of the next "crisis". Oddly enough, similar opinion I have of Timmy's post on Global Climate Change. Take something that has genuine validity, stir in some hype, create an industry based on it.

I think they will last longer than a felt bottom so in the long run these boots may be less expensive. I'll try them out in our secret spots that are hike in and let you know how they hold up!

Look it all comes down to this, we are going in to their home so we need to keep it as clean as possible, same as you would expect from a guest coming into your home. So if it cost a little extra so that you kids may have a place to fish so be it, quit crying and do what is right. Go the extra mile and get the good stuff for the water, and yes clean your gear properly... besides you know that anything new is going to cost a lot in the begining.

as is these soles with screw in studs?