SIMMS’ New Vapor Boots

Nineteen-eighty-seven. One split second. Right side of the lane, planting on my left foot. I was going to throw it down on some syrupy-slow center. Ok, I’m 6’ tall and white. I was going high to lay it in. That’s not the point. This is: my foot rolled off the top of his laces and my ankle dislocated. Tore everything off the outside of it. Later, the doctor took an X-ray of the good ankle. It moved two degrees. Then he took an X-ray of the bum wheel and it twisted 33 degrees. Said it was the worst injury of its kind he’d ever seen, and he works with three professional sports teams. Pain and rehab I do not want to go through again.
Which is why I had to grab a pair of SIMMS’ new Vapor wading boots when I saw them displayed at the ICAST/IFTD show in Las Vegas in July. They are touted as the lightest wading boot SIMMS has ever made at 25.1 ounces per boot, and you’ll know this as true when you hold one. What I find to be amazing is the support these boots offer at such a light weight. They are super solid at the heel cup, they have molded rubber running along the sides of the boot, and they have synthetic

Wade deep? No problem with the traction studs on the Vapors.

leather working from the heel to the top of the laces, which offers additional support for the ankle. They utilize SIMMS’ new VaporTread technology, which is an aggressive tread that’s great for the trail and can be supplemented for wading with screw-in aluminum studs. It’s also part of the reason this boot is so light—Rich Hohne, SIMMS’ PR Manager, says the VaporTread’s molded retention plate is minimized compared to the company’s StreamTread soles, which are made out of a heavier die-cut, full-retention plate.
I’m a guy who likes to hike to my fish, meaning a few miles up a trail and then however far off-trail to reach the river. Cliffs, rockslides, leaping tall, fallen trees in a single bound . . . . But, if I screw this left ankle up in the backcountry, it’s suddenly not about fish and it’s all about Search & Rescue. So I took the Vapor out on the trail two times this summer, both times off-trail for untouched cutthroats, and I found these boots to perform like the best mix I’ve seen so far between a great hiking boot and a great wading boot. And when I was tromping around in these, I was mostly fearless, concentrating mostly on the hike and the fish, rather than where my left foot was planting each time.  And then I was able to fish a week in Quebec for Atlantic salmon, tromping along slippery trails and big boulders to the river. Those in-river rocks were slick, too, but the Vapor’s proved their worth. Never even was close to going in the drink. That’s the greatest endorsement I can

Got time next summer or early fall? Hit Salmon Lodge on Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula and get acquainted with Atlantic salmon heaven. www.thesalmonlodge.com

give to a super-cool looking and super-strong lightweight boot. Available in December. $169.95 Check them out at www.simmsfishing.com