Recommendations for lightweight hiking/wading boots

"JR" wrote in message
...
Well, it looks like the calcs I made that led me to try an early
semi-retirement were, um, somewhat overly optimistic. AND the
only decent job in my field I've been able to find is all the way
across the country, in Washington DC (aka The Belly of the
Beast).

So, leaving aside for the moment at least the whole question of
life, as in having to work for a living, sucking big time....

...it appears there are a lot of small secluded Appalachian
mountain streams in my future, the sort it wouldn't be fun
getting to wearing my Simms Freestones.

Any recommendations for lightweight Aquastealth or (preferably)
studded Aquastealth hiking-boot-style wading boots?

In particular, any experiences with either Cabela's Ultralights
(http://tinyurl.com/yve7tg) or LL Bean's River Treads
(http://tinyurl.com/2zswg2)?

Some people on another site have suggested the Korker
Convertibles, but I wonder if they've solved the problem of the
soles coming loose....

I know some folks like to hike in using regular hiking boots,
carrying wading boots in a pack, but I'd like to keep things as
simple as possible. Being a klutz, I'm also not keen on the
notion of wading in normal hiking boots.

Observations on life sucking will of course be entertained, as
always.

Thanks,

JR


Well, I've never really bought high dollar boots so I have nothing to say,
so I will, say. . .

I've hiked the heck out of lower end Hodgemans' and had them go three
seasons with one more with gorilla glue....

Let me see...that's about $15 a season...

that's the way I look at it...

john

JR wrote:

Well, it looks like the calcs I made that led me to try an early
semi-retirement were, um, somewhat overly optimistic. AND the
only decent job in my field I've been able to find is all the way
across the country, in Washington DC (aka The Belly of the
Beast).

So, leaving aside for the moment at least the whole question of
life, as in having to work for a living, sucking big time....

...it appears there are a lot of small secluded Appalachian
mountain streams in my future, the sort it wouldn't be fun
getting to wearing my Simms Freestones.

Any recommendations for lightweight Aquastealth or (preferably)
studded Aquastealth hiking-boot-style wading boots?

In particular, any experiences with either Cabela's Ultralights
(http://tinyurl.com/yve7tg) or LL Bean's River Treads
(http://tinyurl.com/2zswg2)?

I've got the Bean's studded Aquastealth, and while they are OK for
some places (mud bottoms), and are great for hiking, I wouldn't
recommend them for the Appalachian streams I've been on.

I've been wearing the Chota Citico Creek boots, and I'm sold on
them. They are cheap (~$50), lightweight, and have removeable studs
(screws, actually). I don't fish as much as many on here, but they've
held up just fine in the 3+ years I've had them.

I wore them in the GSMNP, and I was hiking anywhere from 5-10 miles/
day (not counting fishing), and my feet felt fine at the end of the
day.


Chuck Vance (and Jeff M. has the un-studded version (Abrams
Creek?), and seems to be happy with them)

JR typed:
Well, it looks like the calcs I made that led me to try an early
semi-retirement were, um, somewhat overly optimistic. AND the
only decent job in my field I've been able to find is all the way
across the country, in Washington DC (aka The Belly of the
Beast).

So, leaving aside for the moment at least the whole question of
life, as in having to work for a living, sucking big time....

...it appears there are a lot of small secluded Appalachian
mountain streams in my future,
snip

From one West Coast transplant to another, it ain't all that bad. After you
get settled a bit, think about a nice retreat to New England. I'd love to
show you George, Gary, and Stan's favorite spots. ;-)

BTW, my lovely wife (of 32 years today) said just the other day, "You really
should think about going to that Penns thingy." Either she's very intuitive
or incessant whining works.
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Tim J. wrote:

From one West Coast transplant to another, it ain't all that bad. After you
get settled a bit, think about a nice retreat to New England. I'd love to
show you George, Gary, and Stan's favorite spots. ;-)

Well, there are those who hold that a resurrection follows the
end of the world... and if it takes stealing those boys' secret
spots to accomplish it, who am I to cavil...? g

BTW, my lovely wife (of 32 years today) said just the other day, "You really
should think about going to that Penns thingy." Either she's very intuitive
or incessant whining works.

Happy anniversary.

- JR

On May 31, 2:34 pm, JR wrote:

snippage

Any recommendations for lightweight Aquastealth or (preferably)
studded Aquastealth hiking-boot-style wading boots?

Some people on another site have suggested the Korker
Convertibles, but I wonder if they've solved the problem of the
soles coming loose....

snippage2

Observations on life sucking will of course be entertained, as
always.

Thanks,

JR


Well I gotta say that sucks. I've always appreciated your
contributions here and on Westfly. I moved out to the Pac NW to escape
just that to which you are headed. I certainly wish you well and
suspect you'll find plenty of fine places and things to enjoy once you
settle in out there. The Deschutes will still be here when you get
back!

The new Korkers. Saw them at the FF show here in Portland recently
and almost bought a pair. I really loved my old pair until the soles
started to come out regularly. The hiking soles were great and I could
slip the studs in and out as needed in my friend's "furniture grade"
wooden drift boat. They never seemed to strand me in the stream just
hiking from place to place. The new ones look _considerably_ better.
I'm gonna get a pair when my (yup, you guessed it) Simms Freestone's
wear out. I can't say from experience they solved the problems with
the old style had but I was pretty impressed with the attempt. I was
thinking about the guide boot:

http://korkers.com/product.php?recKey=38

because they have the cool lacing system. It's getting hard to get my
belly out of the way when I want to tie my shoes!

Good luck.

The other Jeff M.