Stud em now, don't wait until you slip and fall. Vibram does not grip on rocks as well as felt.

Tom Rosenbauer of Orvis has also made the statement in a podcast that the rubber soles are not yet the equal of felt. Quote, "We have been working on alternative soles for many, many, many years. When rubber first came out we tested them and the pretty much unanimous opinion here at Orvis was that they're awful, they're dangerous. Rubber soles are wonderful on sand, they're wonderful on gravel, they are great on ice and snow, they are good on almost everything but slippery rocks, and slippery rocks are what a lot of wade on all day long. There are some new rubber compounds out there, Vibram has a compound that most of us are using for rubber soles that is better than previous generations of rubber, but still, if anyone tells you that their rubber soled wading boot grips as well as felt on slippery rocks THEY ARE LYING TO YOU! They haven't used it enough. The only way to insure that rubber is as effective as felt is to have it studded. All of the rubber soled wading boots we well at Orvis come pre-studded? We made that stand that we are NOT going to sell a pair of rubber soled wading boots without studs."


See podcast from March 5, 2010 below:

http://www.orvis.com/intro.aspx?subject=6413