Patagonia's New Wading Boots

Got a chance to demo the new Patagonia aluminum bar wading boots yesterday to see if they really live up to the hype.  I figured what better place to put them to the challenge than the moss and slush covered river rocks of the Lower Madison.  At first I was definately skeptical of a boot that closely resembles tap dancing shoes but since Patagonia has been field testing them for about a year now they must have something right.  The benefits are noticed immediately upon entering the water as your feet are secured to the bottom with no side slip whatsoever.  Being a person who grew up fishing out of aluminum drift boats and canoes I'm well aware of the sinking feeling in your gut when you hit a rock and are stopped at a dead halt.  The boots handle fine out of the water as well with decent traction on snow, grass, and mud.  Although you do kind of sound like a horse trotting across cobblestones when you hit the dirt road.  Over all i am really impressed with the wading boots performance and ease of wet wading it provides.  The crampon option also seems like it may have great benefits as your not always scrambling over bowling ball sized rocks when fishing spring creeks for example. However the crampons are $199.00MSRP and the boots $239.00MSRP so for the extra money it might seem worth it to just to get the boot.  It would come down to personal preference but either way the technology is amazing, especially for how simple in design it really is.  Available to the public January 1st 2012.

Peter