William Joseph W20 Wading Boots

     As you see by both the Current Mag pack and Squall wading jacket review, we think highly of the William Joseph brand; their packs in my opinion are second to none.  This made the decision to try out the William Joseph W20 wading boots a no brainer for me.  However, after a few months of use the results of the W20 wading boots were not up to par with the previous William Joseph products we have reviewed.

            I have mentioned that between guiding in the summer months and spending a lot of time on the water personally, I am hard on gear.  I put a lot of miles on my gear and I am not a little dude at 250 pounds, so I go through boots specifically quite fast.  When I saw that William Joseph had a wading boot I knew I had to try them. 

            My initial thought of the William Joseph W20 wading boot was that I was very impressed by the comfort and lightweight feel of the boot.  They felt like hiking boots, which was nice for a guy like me that does spend a fair amount of time hiking in to rivers and stillwaters to fish.  I wear a size 10 ½ shoe so I went with a size 11 in the boot which worked great for me.  The sole of the boots have a different combination of both rubber on the heel and toes with felt throughout the middle of the sole. I wasn’t sure about this combination at first, but the rubber toe tips and heels are nice while hiking up and down hills (including in the snow), and the felt is of course nice while wading through slippery rock bottom rivers. 

So as far as comfort, lightweight and function the William Joseph W20 wading boots worked out pretty well, but as far as durability I am not impressed. After about 4 months of use the felt started to peel off the bottom of the boot, which even with putting a lot of time on the water, 4 months is not very long.  This is very frustrating for someone who spends a lot of time fishing and hates for gear malfunctioning to slow me down.  It’s also disappointing after telling everybody how impressive William Joseph products are.  William Joseph does have a lifetime warranty of all their products which is pretty cool and not something most companies do, so I’ll be sending in my boots when I have time.  I have since moved on and went with a pair of Simms boots which will give me the opportunity to send in the W20 boots and test just how “iron clad” William Joseph’s warranty is, as they claim.