Quote:
Originally Posted by numbskull
Vibram soles are vibram soles. I use wearbars in the cheaper/lighter (Freestone?) Simms boot and have had some stud loss but not enough to be dis-satisfied. The ball of the foot and toe area is the problem. Supposedly studs hold better in felt and I plan to try option that the next time I buy boots.
Also, be careful with the higher end Simms Boots. I have the G4's and when they get wet they pick up a LOT of weight. The Freestones are bare minimum boots but weigh much less and offer enough support without a lot of padding.
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I really like the freestones. Good to know that the felt holds the wearbars better than the vibram....it saves me for wasting time on
them. I have both the felt and a pair of the vibram.
I experimented with the felt freestones last fall and part of this
season. The first outing I lost 4 spike on each boot. Pretty much
followed the instructions on that thread that was bouncing
around....on the how to install wearbars....except instead of the
cabelas boots I was using and older pair of the freestones.
Went back to the drawing board. It seemed as if, once the felt was
getting wet it would soften up and eventually the wearbars would
work their way out. So...instead of epoxy...I started using gorilla
glue. Which is sort of convenient if there is any residual moisture in
the felt. I screw the suckers in...then back them out...fill the hole
with the gorilla glue then drive them back in and stop when they
stop making progress. I use 3/4" washers that have a hole the same
diameter as the screw...seemed to be much more stable. This setup
seemed to last the longest. The glue seems to make the felt a bit
more rigid...the felt sort of drinks it up...and the expanding nature
of the glue make everything snug up.
I have used this setup for about a dozen trips. I weigh 210. Some
of those wearbars have popped the carbides and have nearly
flattened out. Thats a bit of force..and they stayed screwed in. I
have had one or two loosen and go missing in the heals, but I have
replaced them with the long shank wearbars....hopefully those will
stay put.
Its not a perfect system by any means...not cheap either....but it
sure beats the sandals and if you have the money...I think its the
way to go.
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