Posted by ApolloMilitary
0 commentsAs promised I am sending feedback/review on the OTB SAR boots you provided me back in July of this year.
Since that time I have worn these boots on my own time off which involved 2 day hiking, rockhopping and wading trips up the Russell River, just near Cairns, crossing the slippery rocks whilst the river is in semi flood and wading and finning in dams around Cairns.
I also wore the boots at work in the role of 2IC/Boarding Team leader as a member of the Customs Marine Unit. During which time I used the boots while conducting Tender (small boat) operations. This involved conducting Man Overboard Drills, SAR (search and rescue) work. The boots have seen action in PNG waters and other boat work in the tropical waters of northern Australia.
I wasn’t able to do any ladder climbing as we don’t carry a climbing ladder onboard our boats (as we discussed during our phone call). But given the shape and grip of the the sole I am sure it’d be great for climbing a boarding ladder too.
Construction – The material used to make the boots is very durable. The stitching is all double stitched and shows no sign of stitching breaking even after my treatment of them. I have worn the boots quite a bit and they have no signs of wear at all. A little discolouration in a few spots from orange dam mud but if I actually wanted to remove it I am sure if I could with some light scrubbing. But as I am trying to treat them mean (putting them through their paces) they don’t actually get scrubbed. A quick hose off and left to dry (in direct North Qld sun) and they are good as gold.
The rubber strap stitched to protect the ankle on the outside is a good idea too if you were to hit the outside of the ankle against something or get it caught in amongst coral the ankle would be protected.
I had previously waded parts of the Russell River (very rocky bottom) in wet suit booties and was almost crippled due to the soft sole bending around rocks and pummelling my feet. The rigid sole of the OTB boots solved that problem. Offering support and traction on the wet, moss covered rocks.
Traction/Grip – these boots have great grip and traction even when soaking wet. The traction was very important whilst climbing wet rocks on the Russell River and in keeping your footing in the tenders in rough weather even after some fuel had been spilt on the deck.
Even onboard the ACV (Australian Customs Vessel) the decks can be slippery. The SAR boots performed flawlessly giving great traction.
Water dispersion – the drains in the bottom of the boots are great for dispersing water. The combat boots we are currently issued have small valves up the side of the boot which doesn’t remove water below that level to drain meaning your feet remain sitting in water until the boot is removed and water tipped out. The OTB boots drains all the water out as the drain holes are in the sole meaning the feet don’t end up sitting in water. The drain holes are small allowing water to drain without allowing anything into the boots, combined with the mesh which also stops ingress of sand, etc. Feet sitting in water for long periods of time is not good for the health of your feet so that problem is solved by this system.
Wearability – The boots are comfortable providing very good ankle support. The inner soles provide good cushioning and the drain holes means it doesn’t feel like you are standing in buckets of water. The stay tied laces are great and being offset allowed my TUSA fins to be worn over the boots. I only did limited finning in them but they were comfortable when used. I wore the boots with work socks (Explorers) and while socks probably aren’t required I found them better with them. Maybe I just have soft feet. The boots have mesh which allows the boot to breath, which is great for foot health.
Ankle support & water absorption – The ankles are given plently of support as the boots are a firm fit and with the laces and the velcro strap allows for plenty of adjustment. Given that I have a skinny foot, I quite often find our combat boots to be a bit big and wear 2 pair of socks but the OTB boots were firm and still had adjustment availble even after fitting it to my foot. The uppers of the boot don’t hold (absorb) water making them light to wear even after being completely submerged in the water for hours. Given that I have waded across uneven reef flats to intercept illegal fishermenon on numerous occasions ankle support is imperative and plodding with soaking wet leather combat boots fatigue officers quickly. So OTB boots can make reef walking safer and less tiring and fatigue can lead to injury. So as far as lowering fatigue and giving support the OTB boots are excellent.
The hard reinforced toe and heel protection provides good strong protection for the foot’s toes and heel. I found this more than sufficient for all the tasks I put the OTB boots through.
Donning – The boots are easy to put on. The loop on the rear of the boot also also for pulling wet boots back on. The laces on the side are loosened when I take the boots off ready to go and are slipped on easliy. As when I hear an alarm for a Man Overboard I change from my combat boots to the OTB boots quickly for boat operations.
The boots dry pretty quickly as they don’t absorb water. So yet another benefit over our current boots for water operations which take ages to dry. As what happens now is that the crew must wear wet boots on watch or wear another set of boots or wear deck shoes which also have no steel cap whilst their boots dry.
Overall the boots met all of what I expected of them and more. They are great for the role we are required to do.
I believe that these boots were looked at by our Southern Ocean brethren a while back but rejected, the reason was that a steel capped boot was required. The only reason we have a steel cap in our boots is that on the ACV’s we must do cable work (work with the anchor), on the chartered vessels that the Southern Ocean boys work on they have contractors to do that anchorwork. Tactical marine units around the world, SEAL teams, SASR, etc wear these boots and given the roles they conduct in many different environments they don’t require a steel reinforced toe. So our Southern Ocean boys decided your boots were unneccessary through ignorance I believe.
My intention is to present these boots to our Clothing and Equipment Committee next month as a replacement for deck shoes when doing boat work. As the deck shoes offer no ankle support whatsoever, are very slippery on wet decks and have no steel cap either. They remain wet for a long time being made of leather and smell after a while. I will keep you posted on any outcome.
Combat boots if worn for waterborne work get wet (and being partly leather) also remain wet for a long time meaning that deck shoes or runners must be worn as being barefoot is an OH&S risk. Neither Deck shoes or runners are good in an onboard the boat role (mostly for firefighting, anchorwork, and providing ankle support) on an unstable platform.
I would like to thank you for supplying the boots to me to trial. They are a great bit of kit and I have had great interest in them from my crew.
Obviously I can’t imagine what our Central Office’s take will be but I am going to forward this review to Canberra as well and see what they say. Can’t make any promises but will try. Hopefully officer safety, well being and commonsense will win over.
Regards,
Paul F
Posts Feed