June 09, 2011
By Ross Purnell, Editor
Simms RiverTek Boa
When laces freeze/thaw and then freeze/thaw again over the course of a day of winter steelheading, the laces invariably come untied. Then you have the misfortune of removing your gloves, and attempting to tie wet, half-frozen laces. Try tying on a new fly after that. It's an ugly situation. If you've ever cursed your laces while fishing, consider the Boa Lacing System. In two years of using this cable twist-up on different brands of wading boots, and footwear for other outdoor pursuits, our testers report that the Boa Lacing System never comes untied, the stainless steel cables do not break, you can "tie" them up wearing mittens, and uniform tightness from toe to ankle provides superior comfort and performance over traditional laces. Simms used Boa on its RiverTek boots not only because of superior performance but because porous traditional laces — and the myriad eyelets and hooks that accompany them — are hard to clean and prone to carrying aquatic nuisances such as didymo or whirling disease. Keeping with the easy-to-clean theme, the rest of the boot is completely synthetic with a full rubber toe cap, and lined with closed-cell Neoprene on the inside for maximum comfort. $170 www.simmsfishing.com
