Podcast Interview: Patagonia’s Bart Bonime on River Crampons & Aluminum Bar Wading Boots

Crampons, for the river?

Bart Bonime, director of fishing at Patagonia, talks to MidCurrent about product evolution in grippy boot technology and why Yvon Chouinard chose to stick pieces of metal to the bottom of his newest wading boots. The Patagonia River Crampons and Rock Grip Aluminum Bar wading boots both utilize corrosion resistant aluminum to stick you to the bottom of the river.

Direct download: MidCurrent Interviews Bart Bonime of Patagonia

Bonime says that, “Yvon Chouinard had an ah-ha moment” after thinking about his early climbing gear and how aluminum could stick to rocks in that regard. He then, “started tinkering in his tin shed on the Patagonia campus” and took his prototype boots to BC for a season and, “returned with his eyes the size of golf balls” not believing the traction that the boots afforded him. Bonime goes on to tell the story of how the new products came to be, revealing much of the design process behind the company’s new ideas.