Korkers OmniTrax Felt Soles

[stefanoflo]

have 2 pairs of felt boots and am thinking of going to Korkers . My only question is how long does the felt last on them . I fish 2X a month and do hike .Prefer them over rubber.

[cmcdhuibh]

If you use them a lot which I do, you have the choice to “hike” with the rubber sole, change them out at the water.

[stefanoflo]

If you use them a lot which I do, you have the choice to “hike” with the rubber sole, change them out at the water.

so rubber or felt will last a season or 2

[STEELIES/26c3]

have 2 pairs of felt boots and am thinking of going to Korkers . My only question is how long does the felt last on them . I fish 2X a month and do hike .Prefer them over rubber.

My experience is similar to what I have read from many others... I LOVE the comfort and convenience of the concept BUT... I bought their top of the line, Devils Canyon boots and within a week, I lost one of the inserts. I chalked it up to me not snapping it in correctly. Next, I used the rubber and it happened again. I had to order a third pair of Omnitrax soles from Amazon for $50 and I lost one of those within a couple of weeks also.

I called Korkers and spoke with Ari. He was awesome and sent me a new pair of boots and 3 pairs of Omnitrax inserts. I have lost 3 more inserts since then and now have 2 worthless pair of Korkers Devils Canyon wading boots

I fish very hard (walk 4-8 miles up and down the American River each time) and I wade through lots of mud and muck as well as over logs, trees, sand, gravel, rock. If you intend to wade a lot in soft bottom substrate -of which the lower sections of the Lower AR have many- I strongly advise against Korkers. If you hike gentle grades and get only in clear water with cobble or rock bottoms, you should be okay.

My other observation is that the Omnitrax soles wear out fast but again, I fish hard and often...

If you still think you want them, buy the option that comes with rubber and felt soles. Use the rubbers to walk in and the felt to wade in since felt wears faster. In the river, rubber gets good enough traction on mud and clay but is practically useless on cobble especially if it is uneven, variably-sized and covered with algae (think, Upper Sailor Bar below hatchery on North side of river).

I know I will never buy another wading boot of any type which has a removable sole. Simply by design, it is bound to fail.

Hope this helps,
Mark

[WLREDBAND]

I've owned a pair of Korkers with interchangable soles a few years ago. My experience was much like Steelies, they fall off pretty easily and the attachment points crack fairly quickly rendering them useless. My experience with Korkers customer service was not as good as Steelies. They wouldn't replace anything for free. Had to pay standard costs. Threw them in the trash. Let me put it this way, they will fall off and crack long before you have to worry about how long the felt will last!! Like Steelies, I will never buy another interchangable sole wading boot again. They don't last.

[cmcdhuibh]

Kind of weird I haven’t had those problems. The first pair I had and wore out the felt within the year as expected, but the nub on the back of the heal pulled through when installing the strap. They replaced the boot under warranty to black canyons. I have noticed the pull strap on the new soles are not as stiff and hard to stretch on. Haven’t had any problems over the last two years. The weaker strap maybe the reason you are having them pull off while walking in mud. The nub on my first pair wasn’t very large on the inside and could have been why it pulled through. I don’t leave the strap installed when not in use.
I do like the concept but now I’ll be wondering if I will “walk out of my sole”.

[STEELIES/26c3]

Kind of weird I haven’t had those problems. The first pair I had and wore out the felt within the year as expected, but the nub on the back of the heal pulled through when installing the strap. They replaced the boot under warranty to black canyons. I have noticed the pull strap on the new soles are not as stiff and hard to stretch on. Haven’t had any problems over the last two years. The weaker strap maybe the reason you are having them pull off while walking in mud. The nub on my first pair wasn’t very large on the inside and could have been why it pulled through. I don’t leave the strap installed when not in use.
I do like the concept but now I’ll be wondering if I will “walk out of my sole”.

Actually, in most cases, I believe they failed from the sides and/or the front insertions points. For each time I lost an insert... there were several times I ALMOST lost an insert and in those cases, the rear elastic band was still firmly intact on the nub.