THINK BEFORE YOU BUY

Before you go out and run to buy a pair a combat boots, lets view a few things before you begin to spend that money you so earned to purchase these bad boys. If you are like me and love the convenience of quick pull lacing, and not to mention their rugged durability then you know the worth they bring. But if you go and run out to buy these awesome boots lets understand a few things here.

The Boot Soles

Back in my days the common boot sole that was used and purchased were the main jungle type, both the black or green and if you earned the merit the tan, which were only allowed  for desert ops. And well if you had never been sent to the middle east well you were not permitted in my unit to wear these puppies. That is, until we were sent to Kuwait, then we were told we now rated wearing these bad boys any time we went out into the field to train. Yeah that was what you called a grunts badge of honor back then.

What makes these boots different then what we find today in most military surplus stores being manufactured today can be the difference between mud clinging to you or not. As these boots found today are not good for wet and muddy terrain. The jungle boots were designed to not allow the mud to cling and build up on the sole, thus keeping the adding a couple or more pounds of unneeded weight off your foot, not to mention a funky walk you get because of the lump your forced to walk on, as the mud just builds up underneath. 

This is where the jungle boot spread out spaces allowed the mud to move and not cling so easily to the bottoms. So you will want to think about the type of terrain you will be trucking on, if there will be mud and thick wet soil you will be humping, or if the soil will not have as much of a moisture content. Then today's main stream boots won't be the best things to have on. As they are more focused upon the desert dry ground environments, do to the conflicts taking place today, which is why the boot soles have changed as compared to the ones we used some 20 years ago. 

If you would like some advice on buying these bad boys the best companies to buy combat boots are Belleville, U.S. Patriot, and Danners, do not waist your time on other labels as the boot quality is inferior in my eyes, if you ask me. Those I have found out there tend to be made from cheap fabric and soft rubber soles more commonly the kind of stuff you would think are more for looks than for functionality. Where as the labels I mentioned above we used and still use in the Marines and military as a whole.