With a price around 125$ the Korkers Greenback are a pair of mid to high-end wading boots. Besides some other cool features they come with an interchangeable sole, letting you switch easily between different fabrics according to the the conditions. In this review I will tell you what you get for your money.
Specs:
- Hydrophobic synthetic leather and textile upper
- Interchangeable outsole
- Comes with sticky rubber and studded soles
- Weight: 2lb
Construction Of The Korkers Greenback
Assuming this is not your first pair of wading shoes, you probably know that you usually can choose between rubber or felt soles. The rubber are suitable when you plan on walking a lot in them, maybe between fishing spots. If you often hike to remote locations with them, there is no other option than said rubber. They have far superior longevity compared to felt.
Felt is useful when you fish in river or streams with really slippery and mossy rocks. Even the highly developed rubber used for this soles can’t really compete here.
Keeping all that in mind you normally have to choose one over the other before you buy your pair. With the Korkers Greenback wading boots you do not have to, at least not in store. Everytime you go fishing you can determine which sole fits your need in a certain river and set up your boots accordingly. The sticky rubber soles will serve you well while doing longer walks while the felt one will give you remarkable traction on nearly every ground. The so called OmniTrax system makes it possible. It is also possible to buy additional soles with studs if you live in a state where felt soles are prohibited. I heard from some people, that they had problems with that system, apparently the soles tend to fall out when in rough use. This did not happen to me once and I did not spare them.
The upper of the Greenback is made from hydrophobic synthetic leather and textiles. While this sounds odd at first, considering wading boots get filled up with water anyway, this supports them to dry faster. The hydrophobic materials won’t soak up with water that easily while at the same time leaving water flow in and out freely. This is important to give them back their lightweight of only 2lb the moment they leave the water, even after hours of use. To enhance this attribute, they also have foam midsoles with more drainage canals. Together this system really seem well thought-out and I was definitely looking forward to try it out.
Seams look top notch and should last you a while and the manufacturer indicates that they used cemented parts in Korkers Greenbacks to make them even longer lasting. This makes the lightweight of 2lb even more surprising.
The toe cap and the heels are enhanced to make them more durable and to spare on the synthetic fabrics. They also will protect your toes, bumping into a stone can be painful but shouldn’t be a problem here. The shoes also come with a removable insole which, if you take it, let the boots dry fast and makes them easier to clean.
Fitting And Sizing
The sizing seems to be right, I ordered my usual size and they fit well with enough room for neoprene booties and probably even an extra pair of socks. In terms of being comfortable I can honestly say, this might be the most comfortable wading shoes that I had ever on my feet. The padded collar gives provides decent ankle support but even when I laced them up properly, my heel was lifted with every step. This might annoy some people but did not really bother me. If this also happens to you I would recommend to add another thinner insole or buy one that is a bit thicker than the one provided. A nice feature is the already mentioned foam midsole. It that said sole suspense your steps making walking really pleasant almost comparable to proper running shoes.
How The Korkers Greenback Perform In the stream
The stream tested in is my local one, filled up with mossy rocks and an ideal testing area for wading boots. Plenty of opportunities to challenge them here. I started out with normal rubber sole walking from side to side. The traction the Korkers Greenback with this sole is decent. Not the stickiest rubber soles I ever walked on but they do what they are intended for, as long as you avoid too mossy rocks, dead leave or anything equally slippery.
After fishing in them for an approximately an hour I wanted to try the whole sole-switching thing. Back to the river detach the rubber sole and attach the felt one. What you have to do to remove the is pull on the strap on the back of the heel and afterwards simply pull the whole sole off. When you want get a sole on again, you kind of lock the new sole up in the front by simply pushing the top of it in a certain gap, afterwards you attach the strap on the heel again and then you have to get back into the shoe and apply pressure on said sole by simply standing on it making them snap in. Really easy and fast.
The felt sole had good grip just as you would expect from one. Walking over mossy stones work better with them and all in all you will feel safe maneuvering around in the river.
As soon as you leave the river the filled up boots will drain really quickly. I never saw wading shoes getting water out that effectively. The drainage system is remarkable.
Pros:
- Interchangeable soles are a huge plus
- Lightweight and comfortable
- Great drainage system
Cons:
- Slight heel lift with every step
Final Review
The Korkers Greenback are well-constructed wading boots and will definitely fill the need of every hobby fisher. If you can not decide between felt or rubber soles these boots are a great choice while being still cheaper that two entry-level boots with different soles, that you might have to buy otherwise. If your budget allows this pair you can’t really go wrong here and that is why you can also find them in our wading boot ranking.
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