Wading boots, what to buy, how do they last?

[tomcatin]

I think you either go cheap or expensive (Simms/Orvis) ......... I had a pair of Greys budget boots that lasted me four years of hard abuse; I have just binned a pair of the latest Greys budget boots (Strata CT) which have lasted barely a season (the whole of the sole parted company from the boot in some mud). I won't shed a tear as they were the rubber soled version and other than on a grassy bank they were a nightmare.

Replaced them with the Orvis equivalents (Encounter felt) from Uttings for £79; they look better made and I suspect will be good for a season or two.

[Wildfisher]

A vote for Orvis from me. I just bought a pair of Access boots not cheap but i reckon with their after sales service Orvis are hard to beat.

I have these too Garry, bought them last season but I hardly fished at all last year. I  added studs to them They seem OK and pretty strong. They say they have been designed for guides so that would suggest they are tough.   Not cheap as you say at £175

http://www.orvis.co.uk/p/access-wading-boot-w/vibram/16fy

[corsican dave]

I think you either go cheap or expensive (Simms/Orvis) .........

precisely. mid-range is where you really waste your money with pretty much all outdoor kit. at either end of the scale you know what to expect

[alba]

cheers guys, to be frank I should have probably binned these boots 2 seasons ago (ill upload a pick tomorrow) but they were comfortable and stood the test, felt soles were unbeatable.

For some reason my waders and boots feel small this year, rubbing my toes, hope my feet are not growing at 32  :?:

[garryh]

http://www.orvis.co.uk/p/river-guard-ultralight-mens-wading-boot/2a98

if anyone out there is a size 11 . i have a pair of these that have been worn once .going for half price .i did a stupid thing, i bought a pair as i thought my current ones were about to give up but they lasted another season.when i went to use them eventually i found that they had sent a size 11 instead of a 10 . i thought a thick pair of socks might do the trick but they didnt. so worn once still with the box will take £80 which is half price.

Garry

[corsican dave]

For some reason my waders and boots feel small this year, rubbing my toes, hope my feet are not growing at 32  :?:

nope. not exactly. but it probably means that your feet have started to over-pronate which means they've started to lose some of the inherent ability of the ligaments  to support the foot in its natural arched shape. net result being that the foot effectively elongates under body weight causing footwear to feel smaller. without going into too much detail the thing to do is get your feet checked over by a podiatrist or someone who really knows what they're talking about in a specialist mountaineering or ski shop and get your feet accurately measured. anyone doing it properly will take a range of measurements both unweighted & weighted. any shop with a 'superfeet' chair (huge wooden contraption with a vacuum pump) will have a fully trained & experienced person, but note that not all shops that sell superfeet have a chair. that's a good clue.

an often linked condition is plantar fasciitis where you start to experience pain underfoot. you'll find any number of shops trying to sell you arch supports to cure this. check they can actually spell plantar fasciitis before giving them the time of day...

all manner of things cause feet to start to over-pronate. change in activity, increasing weight, injury, spinal or other issues elsewhere in the body causing you to change your gait or posture and, finally, good ol' anno domini; which usually leads to a combination of any/all of these issues eventually

obviously if you're not experiencing any other issues than your shoes feeling smaller you may not want to worry too much right now. but worth bearing in mind that it's symptomatic of a change in your body somewhere

[Bobfly]

Another problem not mentioned is the often too large flappy neoprene sock that then takes too much volume inside the wading boot. The best wader foot I have ever had is on my Snowbee waist waders where the "sock" was actually properly foot shaped and sized and made of the same stuff as the uppers of welly boots and not neoprene.

[johnny boy]

I have a 30 quid pair of cheap hiking boots and must say I have found them as good as any proper wading boots but maybe that's just a bit of luck.