Thursday, May 5, 2011

Gear review....

    The Vibram soles that are on most of the quality wading shoes now, are great at stopping the spread of invasive aquatic spicies, but without cleats, they are not so great at gripping rocks on a slippery freestone river. All Simms boots are able to be cleated, and they provide several different styles of cleats to choose from.
    Today I installed the Simms Alumibite Star Cleats on my rivershead boots, and put them to the test on a full day of guiding on the Arkansas River.. The cleats provided a nice even feel to the foot bed of my boots, I didn't get the feel of pressure points, like I have on other smaller diameter cleats. The aluminum seemed to have a good soft grip, without the"skating" effect you get with hard carbide studs..
     All and all, I loved the cleats, But I do question the durability of the soft aluminum cleat.
The average angler will probably get long life out of the cleats, but for a guide that lives in his wading shoes???
I will let you know in a couple of weeks.
  

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