Entry by Mike Loebl
When we first heard about Simms new Streamtread Vibram soles last October, all of us at MRO were a bit skeptical. Most of us have heard similar promises from Sticky Rubber or Aquastealth soled boots and spent enough time doing the cartoon run in the Madison River to know that nothing previously tried came close to felt without sticking a bunch of metal studs in it. While studs do make up for the deficiencies found in other wading boot soles, they are loud, can cut through a fly line in an instant, scrap the crap out of driftboats and are tough to get used to wearing if you have used felt soles for some time.
Despite our skepticism of the new soles, our Simms rep, Jon Yousko, just kept saying, “wait until you try it” and I finally took him up on it. I laced a pair of boots up one evening two weeks ago for a quick fish between Hebgen and Quake Lakes on the Madison, figuring that if I couldn’t stand them, at least I would be close to the truck. The first few steps across the road were nice and grippy, but having used Vibram hiking boots for years, I was not shocked. The first few steps down the steep grass bank that was wet from snow melt were also very grippy. My mind flashed back to several good slides and one spectacular tumble that I have taken in the same spot while wearing felt.”Hmm,” I thought, at least this stuff works better than felt along the banks. But performance outside of the river was not what I had come to test.
The first step into the Madison was a bit ginger, but my foot stuck right where I put it. I was in some slow water along the edges of the flow that tend to be really slippery, even when wearing felt, as there is seldom enough current to prevent moss from building up on the rocks. Each step was solid however. My friend came over and his felt clad feet would slide on the same rocks. I began to get a little more confident and after fishing the first run, decided to cross the river to get to some new water. Out in the current, the Vibram soles easily gripped the clean rock. The grip was as good if not better than felt soles on the Madison’s rock and gravel out in the middle of the river. In two more days of fishing in the boots, my experiences were repeated. The slimy rocks in the Madison below Varney Bridge were easy to wade on. The Gallatin was a bit more slick, but I felt just as comfortable in Vibram than I normally do in felt.
What I have found is that Vibram has huge advantages in felt for almost all situations out of the water. It grips wet grass, dry rock and pavement far better than felt. It is much lighter than felt after getting wet as it doesn’t absorb water, so the walk back to the truck gets a little easier. Walking on snow is 100 percent better in Vibram than in felt, as snow does not clump up and freeze to it like it does to a felt sole. Vibram will last far longer than felt. In situations that require studded boots, Vibram is much easier to screw studs into as the soles are pre drilled for them.
In the water Vibram more than holds its own with felt soles. There are some surfaces that are slick, such as algae covered slab rock, but the these same surfaces are just as slick with felt soles. Traction is equal or slightly greater on most surfaces I have waded on so far. The only plus with a felt sole is that a broken in pair of boots tends to wrap slightly around a rock where Vibram does not. However, this doesn’t seem to impact the amount of traction one gains on the surface.
The downside of Vibram boots is that in the Simms line, they are $30.00 more than felt soled boots. The cost is offset by the greatly increased wear over felt that one can expect from the Streamtread soles and by the decreased risk in transporting aquatic nuisance species.
We are excited to be stocking two Streamtread Vibram boots this season at Madison River Outfitters. The G-4 Guide Boot is Simms most technical and comfortable boot and the Headwaters Boot is the lightest boot in their line. If you are curious about the boots, we will have Streamtread boots available in our demo line for anglers to see for themselves how effective they are.