The Best Wading Boot of 2018 – Patagonia Wading Boots

Patagonia Wading Boot

Patagonia's got a New Wading Boot

Sometime in February, I was in Paul Considine’s office, who is our fly fishing buyer at North 40 Fly Shop.  We were going over spring travel plans, and fairly sarcastically he said, “Patagonia’s got a new wading boot… it’s $500 and they want us to come check it out in Portland.”  “Why Portland?” I asked.  “Danner is going to make it.”  I think we both thought that it was interesting but there was no way we were going to interrupt a busy schedule to fly to Portland in the middle of the week to see a $500 boot.  Our bestselling premium boots at that moment being about $200 or less.

Patagonia's new wading boot won this year's IFTD Overall Best of Show. Here are our picks for Best of IFTD 2018.

A few weeks later, Dexter Levandoski, our Patagonia sales representative followed up with us and we told them we just couldn’t make it work.  However, I knew we were planning to open a big new fly shop in Great Falls, Montana and I have been looking for some show stopper products for the new location so, at the last second, I texted Levandoski (who was on his way to Argentina to fish Golden Dorado) and got myself on the list to listen to the expensive Patagonia boot pitch in Portland.

I arrived in Portland on the 28th of March and we met downstairs in the Lobby of the Aloft Hotel minutes from PDX airport.  In the lobby, we met up with numerous members of the Patagonia sales, product and marketing teams as well as, Andy Dunn from Angler’s All Fly Shop in Colorado, Steve Schmidt from Western Rivers in Utah, Thomas Weldon from North Carolina, and Dave Leonhard from Streamside Orvis in Michigan.

No One Said Anything, but I was Waiting For It

I didn’t realize it was going to be the type of dinner it was, nor did I think that many Patagonia people were going to be present.  Everyone had on Patagonia from head to toe, except me, I had on a Simms shirt, Levi’s, and a Mountain Hardwear jacket.  No one said anything, but I was waiting for it.  That evening over dinner there was plenty of normal fly shop talk and enough speculation about this boot we had all traveled across the US to see to keep everyone curious for tomorrow.

The next morning, we ate at IHOP, eight of us were at the table and no one had Pancakes.  Levandoski, commented, “We have angered the IHOP gods.”  We piled into a caravan of Uber’s and met up at Danner’s HQ and manufacturing site.  We were met in the conference room by the VP of Sales at Danner and Laurie Thomas, the Director of Marketing at Danner.  Samples of the new boots were on the tables.  The new foot tractors and river salt boots were easy to point out, and at first glance, it looked like a pretty standard yet well-built gray colored wading boot.  I thought to myself, “Yeah, people aren’t going to pay $500 for those.”

No sooner did we sit down than we were told, “We really aren’t here to go over the technical features of the new boot today, we are going to start by doing a tour of the Danner factory.”  I thought, “What the heck?”

Patagonia Wading Boot

There was Actually a Cult Following

One thing that was noticed and pointed out before we started the tour was a pair of vintage looking Danner wading boots sitting in the conference room.  Schmidt, from Utah, immediately knew what they were and educated the room that the Danner River Gripper wading boot was the ultimate wading boot to have in the 1980’s and 90’s when he was first getting his fly shops started -at that time they retailed for $250.  Later we discovered there is actually a cult following for these boots and it’s actually hard to find used ones as people trade them on eBay for a premium price.

The factory floor at Danner is one of the cleanest manufacturing facilities I’ve been in.  The evening before, one of Patagonia’s crew, mentioned to us that one of the reasons Danner became the supplier of choice is that they were one of only a few manufacturing facilities in the world that made the cut against Patagonia’s strict social and environmental requirements.  Out on the floor, we watched a very diverse staff from all over the world cutting, stitching, gluing, and testing footwear.  Impressive to say the least, some of the highest innovations in footwear manufacturing today are being utilized inside the Danner facility.  Besides that, nearly 60 American workers hands will add their specific skill and touch to your wading boots before leaving the Danner factory.  Even the leather is sourced from the United States.

Need the waders to go with your boots? Check out our selection here.

In the testing facility, the Danner team was working on trying to figure out what it would take to destroy a pair of these boots.  Testing the footbeds, the wear, abrasion resistance, and even screwing in spikes and rating the weight it took to pull one from the sole of the boot.  They weren’t just testing Patagonia in there either, and although I can’t say much because I was sworn to secrecy, I can say that the Patagonia product will be, at least for now, the most well-made boot on the market.

As I left the factory floor it was well noted why we had not just gone over the boots at face value.  To understand the value of these boots, we are going to have to understand their story.  In other words, we are going to have to appreciate the hands that made them.

The New Boots Had to Have the Fastest Dry Time

Another reason Patagonia decided to use Danner is that Yvon Chouinard, the leader, owner, and founder of the Patagonia tribe had some specific challenges for the product team.  The new boots had to have the fastest dry time in the industry.  Danner has developed a specific leather that is being utilized on these boots that was originally developed for United States Special Forces.  The leather dries quickly, is extremely durable and doesn’t shrink or deteriorate when it gets wet.  These are traits that are necessary in combat when you are getting in and out of water frequently and you are on the move.

Last but not least, we visited Danner’s recrafting facility.

The new wading boots will be using stitch down construction.  This means that the uppers on the boot are literally stitched to the sole of the boot from the top, which gives the boots a wider more stable platform and the ability for them to be “recrafted.”

The recrafting center at Danner is away from their main site and is attached to their factory store and showroom.  In the rear of the store, there is a giant glass wall with four employees rebuilding customers boots.  In fact, in 2017 about 35,000 pairs of boots were recrafted by the Danner team in the recrafting center.  The boots come in from forest service employees, law enforcement professionals, hunters, and now anglers who have a perfectly broken in pair of boots and would rather have them rebuilt than give them up.

Patagonia Wading Boot

The Down Low

I’m excited to wear these boots this summer and fall but make no mistake I have some questions about them.  First, I have grown to love BOA laces, and I know not everyone likes BOA but I do and these don’t have them which means I will have to tie my shoes again and possibly deal with frozen laces (sigh).  However, I did hear some whispers while on the tour that the laces on these boots will be a major improvement compared to the laces that no one enjoys from a few other suppliers.  Secondly, these boots are setting a new bar as far as the price tag goes.  Of course, they are made in the USA, in Oregon, by one of our best boot manufacturers in the country who works with our armed forces to develop many of the features and technology in this boot.

Ready for your own pair? Order Patagonia's Foot Tractor Aluminum Bar Wading Boots here.

Felt more your style? Check out Patagonia's Foot Tractor Felt Wading Boots here.

There is also the option to have them rebuilt instead of having to buy a new pair once you have worn them out.  I like the waterproof durable leather story, the new layout of the bars on the bar boot version for better traction, and I really like the quick draining and drying of these boots.  However, still, you will have to be okay with parting with roughly $500 up front, and that is a lot of hard-earned money. For me, after standing on the factory floor with a giant USA flag hanging from the ceiling, I will be wearing a pair of these for what they represent.  While I have no doubt they will perform flawlessly, I’m equally as compelled to support pushing the boundaries of manufacturing and fly fishing.

Alright. Hi, I'm Mark Harbaugh. Global sales manager with Patagonia. I'm here at the 2018 IFTD with North 40 Outfitters. Today we're introducing or discussing the Danner boot collection co-branded with Patagonia. This is a product that Patagonia went to Danner and told them what our needs were. We went through several protos and created the best boot on the market.

The key thing for us was that the boot could be resoled. With a stitch down construction, that's totally possible. U.S. made. New saline treated leather so this makes it waterproof and shrink proof.

This happens to be Vibram's Idrogrip sole that was developed exclusively for Patagonia. It is studdable as well. The design here is a wide platform to stand on with a beefy heel counter. Additional side support created here with drain holes. Eyelet placed to hold the heel down in back. Similar to how you would buckle a ski boot shut.

The Danner boot is the Foot Tractor, Patagonia Danner boot, co-branded project is available in three soles. The sticky rubber, felt and our aluminum bar system. This system has got nothing but five stars on our Patagonia.com website. We worked with Vibram and developed a different configuration. Placed the bar outer here so you can stand on a sharp corner and still have a good stable platform. It also, by the new design here, it allows the sole to cup and wrap around rock for better stability.