Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Spawn Sack on May 05, 2022, 06:29:12 PM
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What is everyone doing around Chilliwack for refelting wading boots? My Simms G3s are getting pretty low. In the past I took my boots to Express Reel to get refelting done, but Kevin is no longer in the business. I have never tried doing it myself, but I would. I have a decent selection of clamps and stuff, grinder to remove old felt, etc.
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I have the same situation. I’m goiing to throw them out and buy a new pair of Korkers wading boots. The bottoms are detachable. You can easily replace the felts on them when worn out or change to rubber soles depending on the conditions.
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Ahhh, Korkers. I just received I think my 7th warrantied pair in 6-7 years. Good news is their warranty is pretty good. As long as you have not just sacked them out from regular use. Mine keep blowing apart after a year or so of use. Korkers keeps sending me a new pair, so I can't really complain. The interchangeable soles are pretty hard to beat. If it were not for this feature, I would not buy them.
My Simms G3 boots are in every way thinkable a superior boot to Korkers. Comfort and support mainly. The materials and construction difference is night and day, and they are not a lot more $ than Korkers. However, when the felt soles wear out, ya, a pain to deal with. When Express Reel was in biz he did a nice tidy job refelting, but his felt was not nearly as durable as the factory felt. I think the OE felt is a blend of real felt and resin or similar. Very durable and still quite grippy.
Anyway, by all means give Korkers a go, but there is a reason several shops no longer carry them. Nothing but warranty claims. I just deal with them directly and have not had any issue.
And if anyone has any advice on refelting Simms I'm all ears.
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have you asked Fred's or Chilliwack Dart & Tackle? I know Michael and Young will pass on recommendations for felt replacement they've gotten.
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The korker felt is not durable, also it is thin. Easily worn out two pairs felt in a season in my case.
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If you look on my Instagram, I gave a step by step in the highlight stories under fishing tips. It's worked very well for me and I've refelted around 10 pairs of boots now. My username is outdooraddictionsbc.
Some side notes not included on that story:
- I simply just cut the felts in half now and leave a 1 inch gap in the middle of the boot. It has no effect whatsoever on grip or anything else that I've noticed
- you don't necessarily need to pack the boot, I rarely do it anymore
- coat the front of the felts in 1 or 2 thin coats of the same glue I recommended. It seems to hold the white layer to the gray layer better, and resulted in felts passing more than 50 trips this past winter
Hope that helps!
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Awesome, thanks Everyday! I do not have/use Instagram, but I will create one to view this.