Regarding felt soles vs rubber soles. Rubber soles are not as good as felt soles. Several independent tests by magazines, blogs and individuals are available.

Boot makers want you to think that rubber soles are good or better than felt. A podcast by a Simms representative before the introduction of their Vibram soled boots said they were better than felt. THEY LIED!

They even backtracked and brought back felt soles. Why would they do this if "rubber was as good as felt?"

After they were introduced, there have been several tests of various boot soles. One test in Fly Fishing and Tying Journal, Winter 2010, pg. 18. tested "Old Felt Soled" Weinbrenners against New Rubber Soled Simms, Chota, Cloudveil, Korkers, Patagonia, & LL Bean boots.

Although I believe the the conditions of the test favored the new rubber soles, none of them were a good as the USED WEINBRENNERS.

 "Under the more slippery conditions of summer and fall none of them quite provided the grip of felt?..It is still my, admittedly subjective opinion, that except under the cleanest (winter and cold) water conditions, rubber soles, do not yet provide the same traction as felt soles."

As a former wading boot tester for Weinbrenner, I know that new felt soles have better traction than used felt soles because thicker felt compresses and conforms to surface irregularities and increases traction. Worn thinner felt does not equal new felt in traction. If they had tested a new pair of Weinbrenners, I believe the difference between felt and rubber would have been greater.

Tom Rosenbauer of Orvis has also made the statement in a podcast that the rubber soles are not yet the equal of felt. He says that in a March 5, 2010 podcast, called "Felt Soles vs Rubber Soles and the Invasive Species Issue".

He said, "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."

Another site, Trout Predator had a post from an individual that did his own test of Simms rubber soled boots vs felt. You can read his assessment as well as comments I made about the design of these boots here:

Wading Shoe Soles - THE LAST WORD

Here's an internet site that tested and deemed rubber soles without studs not to be the equal of felt without studs. If you are getting rubber soled boots, get them studded. But them studded felts would still be superior to the studded rubber soles.

http://troutunderground.com/2009/07/...a-new-chapter/

Now here's the problem. Rubber soled boots and waders and even flies can carry single celled invasive such as Didymo. Rubber soled boots and Gortex waders are not fabric free. Plus there is NO SINGLE CHEMICAL METHOD OF DECONTAMINATION that is APPROVED by boot and wader manufacturers.