Combat Boots

[OREGON FAL'ER]

Lets say you were going to hump all your gear ( LBE, pack, rifle ) basically a full combat load for let's say ... oh 10 miles of uneven terrain. Which footwear would you choose. I'm sure their are lots of variable's but lets hear it all. I did a 5 miler with current issue marine corp suede combat boots, made by Bates I think but not positive on that. I hear the Danner's are great too.

[FN74]

Danners are the best boots made out there in my opinion. I have several pairs of them - the acadias are great for summertime, and the insulated ft lewis models are awesome in wintertime and in rough terrain.
I have one pair that has been resoled twice and I've owned them since 1996. Wore them daily for 5 years, now a friend wears them out in the field.

[OREGON FAL'ER]

Danners are the best boots made out there in my opinion. I have several pairs of them - the acadias are great for summertime, and the insulated ft lewis models are awesome in wintertime and in rough terrain.
I have one pair that has been resoled twice and I've owned them since 1996. Wore them daily for 5 years, now a friend wears them out in the field.
How do the Danner Acadias breath? Ive heard their awesome boots but I'm hesitant to buy $200 boots only to get a blazing case of athletes foot.

[Goldenspurholderx2]

Danners are great because they have a "lace to toe" system and a low heel. When carrying a load for distances avoid a pronounced heel like on the old jungle boots because your heel hits then your fore foot slaps down, eventually hurting the balls of your feet and you'll feel it on the top of your foot. The lace to toe system gives better stability with less slop in the front of the boot for inside the boot movement which will cause blisters. During Air Assault school, which involves tons of road marching, I'd wear my Danner insulated boots even though it was summer because these were the only boots I had which fit these criteria. I also have a big problem with sweaty feet so I don't wear any Goretex lined boots unless it is winter, having trench foot is no fun. Now I wear civilian light hiking boots but since I've been out my load has been reduced from about 80lbs to about 50 at the max. I will also rub stick anti-persperant on my feet and wear sock liners to help mitigate my foot sweat problems. These are the shoes I wear for anything up to a 40lb load when not going through rough terrain:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00297_00.JPG

For rough terrain, mountaineering, carrying mammoth loads these are what I turn to:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00309_00.JPG
Yes they have a heel, but it is lower than the standard military boot and there are benefits to a heel in mountain terrain(my main stomping grounds)such as descending in loose soil and crampon attachment.

[FN74]

How do the Danner Acadias breath? Ive heard their awesome boots but I'm hesitant to buy $200 boots only to get a blazing case of athletes foot.

YMMV, the acadias breathe well for me, and keep my feet warm and dry too. They are waterproof up to the top of the toungue which is nice as well.

[Andy the Aussie]

+1 on the Danners.

Andy:cool:

[SmokeEater2]

Danners are damn good boots. I had settled on Vasque Sundowners or Irish Setter Ground sensors for backwoods slogging. (rough country around here) BUT I see now that both brands are now made in China!:mad:
So I guess its time to switch brands, Are Danners still US made?

[FN74]

Danners are proudly made in the USA - Oregon I believe.

[Andy the Aussie]

Yep in Oregon. If you live in or are around Portland they have a factory outlet near the airport.....;)

[OREGON FAL'ER]

Yep in Oregon. If you live in or are around Portland they have a factory outlet near the airport.....;)
I do and that is very good information. Now which model to choose, I've heard "acadia's" from several people.

[Bidah]

For summer I have a pair of the Altama desert boots. No, not the normal ones like the jungle boot, but ones that are more like a sneaker on the bottom and then a boot top. Very comfortable and breathe really good.

In winter I have my Cabelas high end bobbed sole boots that I wear. I am not a big fan of goretex, but these are and so far I like them.

Yes, Danner makes a very good boot.

I also have the foot sweat problem. I keep pretty much to wool socks, and liners most of the time. I am trying out some new ones that are not wool to see how they do. Putting anti-persperant on my feet I never thought about.. hmm.

-bidah

[HottAK47]

I know this is not within the scope of the OPs question but for my Basic Mission (BSing around town looking salty) I absolutly love Hi Tech Magnum boots.

Apoligise if this is a thread hijacking but does anybody else have any opinions about these?

[FN74]

Hi Techs are great around town and just for general bopping around. I had a pair in the marine corps, made the mistake of taking them to the field. They lasted a week before the soles started to fall apart on them. I had to get a ride with the corpsman back to base to get my jungle boots which I hated because they were not comfortable, but they held together unlike the Hi Techs. I had a second pair with the sheriffs office I used to work with, and they repeated the performance of the first pair, although they lasted about 3 months of duty wear.

[Goldenspurholderx2]

I also have the foot sweat problem. I keep pretty much to wool socks, and liners most of the time. I am trying out some new ones that are not wool to see how they do. Putting anti-persperant on my feet I never thought about.. hmm.-bidah

I wear Smart Wool brand exclusivly except for my gym socks. They are pricey but I bought 7 pairs before a one year deployment, got through that one year, wore them for another year before going back, had to replace some. Almost 4 years later I still have 2 of the origional pairs that are in good working order.

[Ryder]

+1 on the Smart Wool socks!

[SmokeEater2]

I know this is not within the scope of the OPs question but for my Basic Mission (BSing around town looking salty) I absolutly love Hi Tech Magnum boots.

Apoligise if this is a thread hijacking but does anybody else have any opinions about these?


They issued those to us at work a few times untill they figured out it wasn't cost effective since they tended to wear out fairly quickly. I think they would be fine for casual wear though.

[Andy the Aussie]

I do and that is very good information. Now which model to choose, I've heard "acadia's" from several people.



Yeah mate they would be hard to go past. i have a set of all leather "Olympics", they have a new name now 'Recon" or something. I am sold on them.

Andy

[lmsc07ct]

+1 on Danners, I have two pairs, one in 12, one in 13. Normally wear size 13, the 12's fit perfect with regular socks, the 13s perfect with a liner or heavy wool socks over regular socks. Played paintball in 14 degree weather and never felt cold on my feet, even when standing in a running stream. Too bad the PB gun didn't work as well in the cold.

[Ducttape]

I wear Belleville's Gore-tex dessert combat boots every day for work and play and they really take a sevear beating. Two years full-time on one pair winter and summer and they are finally showing wear, two thumbs up here !

[mosby's men]

i carried a 60 lb pack in the mountains of wyoming for 40 mile r/t wearing a pair of danner acadias , gortex is worth its wait in gold when there is a lot of water on the ground..
boots did great for 5 days

[Andy the Aussie]

Acadias if you want leather/cordura or Recon if you want all leather. As a young'n I lusted after a pair of the "Ft Lewis" boots but when I finally saw a pair I realised they were just too damn high, the Recon is my choice (Use to be called Olympic when I got 'em.

I just got a pair of Belleville USMC desert boots, well I am waiting on them to arrive. They should (I hope) suit the hot and dusty conditions I find so much of here.

Andy

[k7kit]

Definately a vote for Danner here. I have used both the acadias and ft lewis insulated boots. Even though my workplace now gives us a pair of ft lewis boots every two years, I like the acadias a little bit better. The tallness of the ft lewis boots takes a little while to get used to, and they seem to take a few months to break in. If I were to go out and buy them myself I would probably buy the acadias.

[MdlMkr 7.62]

+1 for the Danners. I bought a pair of Danner mountain boots for an overseas "job" and they lasted for 3 months HARD duty in the mountains. The soles were awesome but took some getting used to. They held up great and protected my feet without fail.

I had them resoled last year and they still are great looking and fit like a glove! Awesome boots!

Wool socks are the only way to go and carry spares with you too.

[bobfall]

Danner

[Utsahan]

We have found Army issue heavy wool socks to be the best in the best in terms of quality and value. I dont wear boots, only chacos because I dont like my feet getting hot and sweaty. Chacos quality although not as good as when they first came out is still a good deal. We wear them year round in all conditions. In the winter we just throw on a pair of army issue wool socks (http://www.squidoo.com/woolsocks) and our feet are warm and toasty.

CJW

[Ryder]

We have found Army issue heavy wool socks to be the best in the best in terms of quality and value. I dont wear boots, only chacos because I dont like my feet getting hot and sweaty. Chacos quality although not as good as when they first came out is still a good deal. We wear them year round in all conditions. In the winter we just throw on a pair of army issue wool socks (http://www.squidoo.com/woolsocks) and our feet are warm and toasty.

CJW

Hmm...first post and your putting up a link to your own website that sells the same socks your recommending?

Whats the board think...troll or honest mistake?