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Boots for Astan and Army schools

Victory

Victory

Pagan Raider
Full Member
Minuteman
Nov 14, 2005
1,267
347
Making bad guys nervous
I have been reading a bunch of reviews and wanted to get the input from you guys. Please only reply if you have used your suggestion in Iraq or Astan. Also, I don't like the heavy ass Danners, so please don't talk about how much they rock. I have used them and don't like them.

The choices I am looking at are the OTB desert lights and Garmot t8's. These boots will be used in country and some schools I have coming up. They need to be light, durable, and be comfortable enough to log 12 to 20 milers without tearing my feet up.

Thanks ahead of time guys.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

Very helpful...


What are your parameters? I wore the old issue desert boots occasionally, and they did me just fine (in Iraq). I have no complaints about them. The others were Belleville USMC Hot Weather boots. I wore these the most, and only switched to the desert boots when these were soaked. I believe they make non-EGA marked boots for the <span style="font-style: italic">other </span>services. They are off being resoled at the moment.

I should point out that I have very tough feet. I would occasionally loos a few layers of skin, but it didn't affect me at all. It would seem from your post that you are at least somewhat prone to foot trouble. So YMMV
 
Re: Boots for Astan

I usually wear our wellco issued boots and have never had a problem with them. I just know I will be doing a lot of running and humping in my boots and want some light ones. I haven't tried any of the new sneaker boots because the issued ones always have worked, but after 11 years in the infantry, and hundreds of miles on my feet, I need to really take care of myself. I have a few schools lined up for the coming months and want to get some good boots if they would be better and make life easier. Astan is on the horizon, so I want them to be functional there also.

As for problems with my feet, I don't have any and never have. I just don't want to invest in some sneaker boots that are super light, but tear my feet up.

Thanks for the replies.

 
Re: Boots for Astan

Hey uh, there are a few places out there people have been where the conditions are the same as afghan and iraq. So don't pass their suggestions by. Those aren't exactly unique areas of the world, simply headline makers.

I didn't know you had such a broad choice of what boots to wear in the service? I guess things have changed since in my day there wasn't much choice about it.

I wore issue boots so no help here.

As for a general suggestion:

Iraq is more extreme in the summer.
Afghan is more extreme in the winter.

No groundbreaking info there.

So depending on the country and time of year the suggestion will vary anyhow.

 
Re: Boots for Astan

If it's cold, Danner Ft. Lewis are tough to beat. They are a little heavy, but they have good support and the Vibram soles are excellent.

I recently broke out my old Belleville ICB's. I only wore them for a couple weeks in the field before I left active duty. I put them back on for the cold months here and realized how much I like those boots. They are goretex lined, but not insulated. I select the socks needed for the job.

Stay away from 5.11 boots. They will fall apart.

I have Wellco leather combat boots and desert boots (like the old jungle boots). The leather boots are still my favorite "light" boot. Good ankle support and very durable. The only problem is the design of the heel doesn't work well on rocky ground.

I have been trying to talk myself into a set of Wellco Spartan boots. However keep in mind that I am no longer in danger of being deployed to areas like you will be heading. Panty-six has revoked my marching orders so my boots just need to stand up to street cop and entry team duty.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

foot wear is like tools in a tool box. If you need a screwdriver a crowbar isn't going to help you. I've taken several types of boots/cross trainers to the locations you've mentioned. If you want comfort and longevity then they wont be light weight. If you want fast, then they will eat your feet, and wont last (especially if there is weight on your back). Once I was in a position to pick me own foot wear I went through several high end civilian boots (Asolo, Garmont, Vasque, Merrell, La Sportiva, Solomon, ect.). What I learned was, that no one uses boots like you and I do. Only mil. boots can stand up to the use/abuse that we expect them to endure. I'll destroy any civilian boots in about 14 days of alpine use (orienteering, "adventure racing").
With that said, the fastest boots that has lasted in the environment you plan on taking them into are the Army issue Belleville (http://www.militaryboots.com/belleville-mens-300desst-steel-toe-boots.html) hot weather boots. Get some quality insoles, break them in and your GTG. I know you said that you don't care for Danner but their Acadias are my choice for extended use. If I'm not concerned with speed, and I'm working alone or in a small group were an ankle injury would be catastrophic then I like the support that the Acadias gives me. For this use you mint look at the Wellco, or Belleville equivalent.
For fast with little weight (just armor, or light pack) I like Solomon XT Wings(http://www.salomon.com/us/#/footwear/footwear/trail-running/xt-wings ) with or with out gor-tex. I've also had good results with 5.10 Guide Tennie ( http://fiveten.com/products/footwear-detail/48-guide-tennie ) These have been great on target, but I wouldn't want to do a 15 K approach to an OBJ wearing these.
If you must get some civilian hiking boots look at the Solomon Quest 4D GTX ( http://www.salomon.com/us/#/footwear/footwear/trekking/quest-4d-gtx ) or the 5.10 Exum guide/Pursuit (http://fiveten.com/products/footwea...om/products/footwear-detail/46-exum-guide-tan).
These are the conclusions I've come to sitting on the couch playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare II, and the occasional airsoft.

Good Hunting,

Paul
 
Re: Boots for Astan

Im a big fan of the Orginal SWAT 8 inch desert boots, they are lighter than some of the running shoes that i have, and when broken in they are absolutely amazing. They arent going to break the bank either, i believe they run around 70 or 80 bucks and hold up pretty well considering the abuse that i put them through
 
Re: Boots for Astan

I had a pair of Danners that tried to bite my toes off. No more Danners for me.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

I bought a pair of Lowa Elite Desert boots to supplement my Garmont T8's while in Iraq. To me, Garmont's are like the modern day equivalent of green jungle boots, lightweight and very comfortable. The Lowa's are a different style boot, but very comfortable and reasonably lightweight. They offer great ankle support and while a bit stiff at first, they broke in very easily and are very comfortable. They are now my favorite boot and I think they'd be a great boot for rocky Afghan terrain. Lowa also offers a professional discount which is about 45% off the prices listed on their website if you contact them and provide a .mil ID.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

These are the boots used by a lot of Alaska troops going over to Astan, not so sure about Iraq. SFs had 5000 pr ordered back at the start, according to my inside rep at LaSportiva. We had trouble getting them for a year due to the demand by military. LaSportiva bought back many boots from retailers so they could supply them to SF.
http://www.sportiva.com/products/prod/236

A few select units wear these boots, I have worked and shipped them to a few units down in the states.
http://www.sportiva.com/products/prod/559
 
Re: Boots for Astan

Rocky's worked great for me last time in Iraq, and in SERE.
I wore the crap out of them for three solid years and I am not so easy on boots.

Bellville work great, I swap out my Blackhawk with the Bellvilles (every other day) since I have stink foot resultant from immersion foot do to some fun schools.

I have been wearing/trying out the Blackhawk boots here in Iraq this go around and they take a little while to get used to but otherwise they seem to work pretty good.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

I know that its not one that you're asking about but I absolutely love my Oakleys. They're not bad weight wise. They breath easy. They are comfy as hell. I'm in Kuwait running missions into Iraq and love them. I very rarely wear my issued Bellevilles. The 8 in hot weather boots from standard issue work great for me in WY for winters so should do good for the "Rocks". $135 was price when I last check few months ago. I'll be buying a new pair once I'm home off this one to have two pairs.
Oh, BTW, I wear 9.5W Bellevilles and my Oakleys are also 9.5W and fit very close to my issued boots.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

I wore Merrells in 29 provinces there.
merrell_chameleon_ii_stretch_gore_tex_xcr-400-400.jpg

&
mrl_87658_brnmoss_09.jpg
 
Re: Boots for Astan

What do you all think about the oakley boots? Where I shoot/hunt is terrain alot like the northen mountain parts of astan, so I have been reading this and trying to soak up info on what might work in similar conditions here.

I had the same results with danner as alot of you guys. They are nice, they just do not fit my feet the way I need.

thanks for posting this victory, and stay safe when you head over.

*edit* sgtbutt posted before I refreshed the page, thanks for that info.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

bcw1284, i hate the oakley boots. They are light weight as all get outs and semi comfortable, but for what you pay for them they are shit. They tear up extremely quick, i had a pair that lasted me about 4-5 months during a work up for a deployment to Iraq. They look good on paper and feel good the first few times, but the quality and what you pay for them dont match.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: deadly0311</div><div class="ubbcode-body">bcw1284, i hate the oakley boots. They are light weight as all get outs and semi comfortable, but for what you pay for them they are shit. They tear up extremely quick, i had a pair that lasted me about 4-5 months during a work up for a deployment to Iraq. They look good on paper and feel good the first few times, but the quality and what you pay for them dont match. </div></div>
My experience is identical to the above, my Oakleys blew out after 4 months in Iraq & I thought they were pretty warm too.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

good to know, thank you both. I will pass on the oakleys and keep looking. I'm thinking of these mainly for spring/summer, but i'd like to get several seasons of use out of them for as much as boots cost now. I don't want to compromise or gamble on quality.

Most of the wear on my items happens when I'm doing geology work, climbing all over funky rocks to look at faulting and what not. It's hard on shoes, but not like you guys in the desert i'm sure. That's why I figured if it's good for duty gear it would probably hold up to my stupid hobbies, lol.

anyway, /end hijack and keep the info comming for victory and the other lurkers like me who want to know what works!

 
Re: Boots for Astan

BCW, for a very good pair of boots that are comfortable and are relatively low priced. Look at the Orginal SWATS. These are the ones that i wore for 2 deployments and up until about 2 weeks ago. They finally died on me and they got used just about everyday, i have heard good things about the Asolos and the Merrels, but have had neither so i dont know about those

http://www.originalswat.com/productdetail.php?product_id=NTQ=&category_id=MTA=
 
Re: Boots for Astan

I was in love with Blackhawk boots, But then some numb nut wanker decided to save a buck and change the design...

So I too am in the market for a new pair.... I like the look of the lowas but not the price.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: doorkicker</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I wore Merrells in 29 provinces there.
merrell_chameleon_ii_stretch_gore_tex_xcr-400-400.jpg

&
mrl_87658_brnmoss_09.jpg


</div></div>

Doorkicker, what models are they ?
 
Re: Boots for Astan

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: tat2steve</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Doorkicker, what models are they ?</div></div>
Top-Merrell Chameleon Stretch II/bottom-Merrell Chameleon Arc Mid Waterproof Hiking Boot
 
Re: Boots for Astan

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: doorkicker</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: tat2steve</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Doorkicker, what models are they ?</div></div>
Top-Merrell Chameleon Stretch II/bottom-Merrell Chameleon Arc Mid Waterproof Hiking Boot
</div></div>

Thank you.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

I never had a problem with my Oakleys. I got away with wearing them for most of my deployment (I wasnt a fobbit!). But apparently, other Marines dont like it when you wear something better than issued stuff.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

+1 on the oakley boots.

I had the 5.11 boots and they were nice while they lasted. I might be alone on this but for some reason they made my feet sweat like you wouldn't believe
 
Re: Boots for Astan

my favorite boots are clearly meindl island pro
they dont get hot when its hot, they stay warm when its cold, the fit is superior, at least for my feet.

been wearing them in the desert in the jungle and up to 15000 feet in the pruvian andes, been wearing my pair also for work for years now..

go meindl and dont look further
http://collection.hovo.eu/pictures/meindl/MeindlIslandPro.jpg
 
Re: Boots for Astan

Of the half dozen different types of boots I've worn in both countries I actually like the old-school "Schwarzkopf" desert boot better than any of them - even better than my current Merrells. The mountains of Astan really chew up the rubber soles of the desert boots, but they are still my top pick - if you can get over the extra-low CDI factor.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

Lowa offers boots along the lines of a Meindl or LaSportiva but with the added benefit of offering large and or wide sizes to complement the regular sizing.

Having wide feet I found they were a great fit for me.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

OAKLEY boots suck, i just tossed apair that had maybee 6 weeks on em... lining above toe came off when i was comn down a mountain and my big toe started bleeding... got to the point where i was limping the last mile..... heavy boots give better support and last longer.. but light boots are faster and feel better...
 
Re: Boots for Astan

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sgtbutt</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I know that its not one that you're asking about but I absolutely love my Oakleys. They're not bad weight wise. They breath easy. They are comfy as hell. I'm in Kuwait running missions into Iraq and love them. I very rarely wear my issued Bellevilles. The 8 in hot weather boots from standard issue work great for me in WY for winters so should do good for the "Rocks". $135 was price when I last check few months ago. I'll be buying a new pair once I'm home off this one to have two pairs.
Oh, BTW, I wear 9.5W Bellevilles and my Oakleys are also 9.5W and fit very close to my issued boots.</div></div>

+1 for the Oakleys, I got mine from usstandardissue dot com. They are light, comfortable, and breath good. Unfortunately they are now stained from shit trenchs in Iraq. Great boots though
 
Re: Boots for Astan

The best boots I had were some old school green jungle boots (I do not like the altimas).
Since the uniform requirements have changed and if you are using them for a military school then your out of luck. They aren't all that light and they aren't all that comfortable untill you really break them in! But they are extremely functional and durable both of which we need for long duration in less then wonderful areas.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

Lowa will give you 45% off if you contact them and provide mil ID. At the discounted price, they are well worth it.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

I enjoy Blackhawk Warriors. Boots shouldnt cost 200+ to me and they worked great for me over there.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: doorkicker</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I wore Merrells in 29 provinces there.
merrell_chameleon_ii_stretch_gore_tex_xcr-400-400.jpg

&
mrl_87658_brnmoss_09.jpg


</div></div>

Merrels are great, specially for LONG walks. I had different models, low and boots, but for that kind of terrain I would recommend to have ankle support.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

To hurry the break in process with the issue Bellville hot weather rum them with mink oil/neatsfoot oil. They'll feel like moccasins in a week.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

The Lowa Zephyr Desert GTX boots look good. Has anyone used them? I would like to know how breathable are they and if they provide good ankle support.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

+1 on what Doorkicker said about the Merrells. I have both of those exact models and have a lot of miles on them in Iraq and the states and love them. Only wished they made them on a wide model!!

Have had very good luck with Danners also, although they are hot to me and make the feet sweat, and that is rough at the end of the day.

Had good luck with the side zip Converse--but they do not last long. Probabaly the most comfortable I have had.

I have a brand new pair of OTB dessert lites, and I can not wear them. They absolutely kill my feet. I would NOT recommend that model to anyone--do not know about their others. If anyone wants them I will sell them half of retail. Size 11.
 
Re: Boots for Astan

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LiteTac</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Call Lowa, They give a great discount for military personnel.</div></div>
Give them a call @ 203-353-0116. Paula was the gal who took care of me. The discount is substantial and the customer service is akin to what we have come to expect from the likes of the top notch forum supporters.

Great Boot + Discount + Personal Service = Winner

Last trip downrange I needed some new boots and stumbled on the Lowa Desert Seekers and gave Paula a call. I was not sure if I needed a 13 or 14 so she charged me the $160 or so and sent both sizes and a return label for the pair I did not fit. I dont know how the heck she did it but I had those boots at the FOB in 4 days, when packages from home were taking 2-3 weeks. The boots were great and the service top notch. I will go back to Lowa for the next pair.

GM
 
Re: Boots for Astan

What is the specific web site for Lowa boots or is it a distributer like Davidson's and the like?
 
Re: Boots for Astan

I've put tons of miles (in AStan) on LaSportiva Glaciers They're a heavy mountain boot.

The Lowa Zephyrs are a really good boot too. They give good support for lighter missions.

Merrells did ok too.
 
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