Patagonia unveils new Rock Grip Aluminum Bar Boot and River Crampon
Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 12:05AM 
Patagonia Inc., the outdoor apparel company, announces two brand new wading footwear innovations for Spring 2012 – The Rock Grip Aluminum Bar Boot and River Crampon. Developed in the original Chouinard Equipment blacksmith shop in Ventura, California, these products are the direct result of Patagonia founder/owner Yvon Chouinard’s development work and tinkering over the last year.
“In late summer 2010 in the same blacksmith shop where we revolutionized the ice crampon for mountaineering, I assembled the first prototype of the River Crampon and cobbled together a pair of boots with aluminum bars,” notes Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia Inc. founder/owner, “The boot and crampon have been heavily tested over the last year on the Columbia, Madison, Kispiox, Skeena, Dean, Ponoi and many other rivers that provide challenging wading conditions. Everyone involved in the testing agreed that they would never go back to studs or felt soles, as the aluminum bars offer a level of security that can not be matched. The testers, myself included, feel naked wading without them.”
Inspired by the mountaineering crampon but adapted for the river, the River Crampon (MSRP $199) is the fishing industry’s most innovative traction device for wading. The performance is derived from soft, malleable aluminum bars which are riveted to a burley, stainless steel adjustable frame with highly corrosion resistant brass rivets. The soft aluminum cuts through weeds and moss on the slickest of river bottoms and grips rock like no other traction device. The crampon can be used with most wading boots on the market.
The Rock Grip Aluminum Bar Boot (MSRP $239) utilizes similar technology but is a full featured wading boot with permanently affixed aluminum bars on the outsole of the boot to provide superior support and traction in extreme wading conditions. Other features include a compression-molded EVA midsole and polypropylene insole for rigidity and support and a highly abrasion-resistant toe bumper with a reinforced toe box for protection. Additionally, testing shows that the aluminum bars are much easier on boat interiors than traditional cleats.
“I have over 100 days on the water testing Patagonia’s new Aluminum Bar technology, fishing in some of the most difficult wading in the lower 48 like the Bear Trap Canyon of the Madison and Box Canyon of the Henry’s Fork,” notes Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies and Patagonia ambassador, “I can honestly say that this represents a breakthrough in wading technology. I have been able to wade safely and confidently to areas on the river that I had not previously been able to reach in my 30 years of fishing these home waters. This technology is a game changer.”
Products will be available January 1, 2012. USA PATENT PENDING
patagonia fly fishing in Gear
Reader Comments (10)
Well, leave it to Yvon to finally come up with something that solves our traction issues while wading. No one else has the credentials in the relevant fields of mountaineering and flyfishing. That these things work, I have no doubt.
But honestly, those cleats look as if they are straight out of a Chouinard Equipment Catalog from the seventies, stamped with the Diamond C. Right next to the opening story on the second page of the catalog touting the "Itchy Fingers of Design". What's old is new again.
Will give them a thorough workout in Bavaria next spring, that is if I can import those weapons here in Germany.
Those look to be brutal on rocks and fragile streamside vegetation. Felt bans likely aren't the answer, as other traction devices create their own problems. Appreciate that Yvon continues to think and try new things though.
Have fun trying to get those buckles undone after a January session in sub-zero temps. Better put an ice pick or blow torch in your gear bag.
Aw gee. Why you gotta make them so damned expensive? Doubt I'll ever try them. Meanwhile Chouinard and company reps travel the world...
... take a few pieces of aluminum, screw some sheet metal screws on one side, screw the whole thing on the bottom of your wading shoes and have the same thing.
MSRP about $5.00, maybe
Anyone else did a double take on the MSRP of those crampons? Almost spilled my coffee. For two hundred bucks you would think there are bars of gold permanently affixed, not aluminum.
Further proof that Patagonia's Ambassador Program is growing out of proportions lately. All those trailrunning/skateboarding/snowboarding/yoga ambassador "dirtbags" that no one knows must be burning piles of cash on their escapades. Time to simplify again and commit to the core.
It will be interesting to see what the patent covers. I was fastening aluminum bars to my wading shoes 30 years ago, though I was using tee nut fasteners through the inside of the sole such that the bars could be replaced. I could also just use the teenuts with 5/16 aluminum hex head bolts
which worked really well and could easily be replaced. Cost about $3.00 per boot including the teenuts. My problem with the bars was that when you inevitably wore through a bar, the remaining shards would catch on every thing. I would highly recommend the teenut/aluminum bolt array to any one seeking a cheap and very workable solution. Just remember to replace the bolts before they wear so much you can't replace them using a pair of vice grips.
Thanks for your thoughts, John. Had a hunch that this aluminum stuff isn't a new concept. Your solution seems to be torsionally superior and much more promising. Maybe you should get back in the game.
30 years ago, huh? Ah, the Simms company of old. Today they're producing Goretex drysuits for the bass tournament circus instead of researching better wading boots. Makes me sad.
200 bucks is freaking nuts!! Simms makes a set that screws rightinto the bottom of your boots and costs less then 50 bucks.. and that for Stainless Steel...I am sure some Joker will buy thes but at that price i know i won't be....
Many great points raised here. I truly believe YC and Patagonia company have their hearts in the right place but with the price of these, and many of their other products they've priced alot of folks out of their merchandise. At least this one is supposedly made in the USA which might limit their profit margin a bit and make me feel a little better. However, most of their other expensive SWAG is made over seas. I'm sure that the profit margin on those products is quite hefty.
Maybe they could donate a little more than 1% for the planet based on sales of those items.