Boa Lace system or Pure Laces for your Boots?

Ok, it’s time to come clean and give a review on the Boa lacing system. You know the one that uses wire to tighten up your wading boots instead of laces. Many guys are wearing them now and here is my personal opinion on the Boa system.

I have been wearing the Simms RiverTec2 wading boots with the Boa system now for almost two years. And well, the verdict is out. I’m disappointed. Yes, the way everyone was bragging on this new design for wading boots I just had to try them. Here is why I’m disappointed. In the past two years I have had to change out the wires at least seven times. For some reason the wires in my Simms RiverTec boots were constantly fraying apart and of course, I had to change them out, but seven times? Here is what I think happened. Simms did not change their boot styles to accommodate the Boa system. What I mean by this is that Simms didn’t put much “study” into if the boots they had would allow the Boa system to work properly. If you look at the new lineup of Simms boots for 2018 you will see one style with the Boa system and the rest have laces only. Hmmm? I think Simms realized that their boots weren’t designed for the Boa system. My Boa wire laces cut deep into the tongue of my RiverTec boots making them hard to tighten and allowing them to fray often. Now on the other hand, Korkers wading boots seem to be built to accommodate the Boa laces a lot better – many of our guys that wear Korkers swear by the Boa system. There is a plastic piece that extends over the tongue of the Korkers boots that protect it from cutting into the tongue of the boot, thus a better system.
So if my next pair of wading boots are Simms (and I do like the Simms wading boot) they will be laces not the Boa system. If they change their styling to better fit the Boa system then I may go back to this style boot. The Boa system is fast to lace and holds tight. If you have the Boa system and fray a wire then call the Boa Company and then will send you new wire laces for free! So they do stand behind their product. It’s just that I have had to call too many times – I’m giving up unless I switch to Korkers boots. So what say you all?