Question Why are felt soled booties not more widely used?

[MacDuyver]

In Okinawa, felt soled booties are the norm because of the petrified coral walk through the surf zone that characterizes shore dives, and the stone fish widespread in the area. There are exceptionally few shops that sell standard thin rubber soled booties on the entire island. The flip side is my stateside experience where I literally NEVER saw a single set of them for sale in a dive shop.

After diving them for a full year now, my question is “why aren’t they more widely used??”

Aside from protecting from stonefish spines, they provide exceptional steady footing on wet boat decks and ladders. They slip significantly less than rubber soled booties on slippery rocks in the surf zone. I love these booties to death.

Is there a downside to felt-soles I’m missing? Why aren’t they the norm globally?

 

[Johnoly]

That's pretty wild,,,I have never seen those sold in any USA dive shop I've visited.
Thanks for posting the picture !!

 

[Landau]

What's the advantage of felt vs a thicker rubber sole? Is it better at deflecting spines?

 

[rhwestfall]

No idea with diving, but felt soles were widely used by wading fishermen for decades (trout stream fishermen). They give better traction on slime covered rocks. They have fallen by the wayside because of the ability of them to retain bad stuff in the felt transferring it to other water bodies. I could see it a big "no-no" with the current coral disease issue in the Caribbean.

 

[BoltSnap]

Just use the really thick soled dive boots.

 

[lexvil]

For warmer water I use socks and Altima boots or my chuck’s.

 

[MacDuyver]

What's the advantage of felt vs a thicker rubber sole? Is it better at deflecting spines?

They act really similarly to a dart board. The felt kinda hugs the spines where a rubber soled boot would have to be thick like a skateboard shoe or military boot to stop the spine from penetrating.

 

[MacDuyver]

Just use the really thick soled dive boots.

These are WAY lighter. Like half the weight of heavy soled dive boots. The felt on mine is also only 10mm thick

 

[MacDuyver]

No idea with diving, but felt soles were widely used by wading fishermen for decades (trout stream fishermen). They give better traction on slime covered rocks. They have fallen by the wayside because of the ability of them to retain bad stuff in the felt transferring it to other water bodies. I could see it a big "no-no" with the current coral disease issue in the Caribbean.

Oh man! I hadn’t thought about that. That’s actually a really good consideration.

Probably a good reason to ditch them for a new pair when I leave the island.

 

[Vicko]

They are used by shallow water workers all over the globe, great for walking on slimy surfaces.