Danner is releasing their Desert TERRA FORCE® X (TFX) series in the increasingly popular A-TACS camo pattern. As you can see in the photos, the boot even sports a camouflage sole. The TFX is available in standard and Gore-Tex variants.
Look for a variety of A-TACS products such as these boots around SHOT Show. and be sure to visit Danner in booth #10770.
As reported last month by Kit Up!, the Army is close to making a call on mountain boots. After years of relying on a variety of commercial mountain boots, none were designed specifically for use in combat operations. On Monday, Natick’s contracting team awarded $8.6 Million for a GSA purchase to Danner for Mountain Combat Boots. Does this mean that the Army has made a decision in their quest for a Mountain Combat Boot?
Filling a niche below full leather or plastic shelled mountaineering boots but beefier than standard combat boots, they are intended for troops who find themselves scrambling in rocky terrain. Troops in Afghanistan have been trialling candidate boots from Danner, Belleville, and Wellco and the PEO-Soldier stated that they were close to making a decision.
Another clue pointing to the Danner selection may have also emerged. Although you can’t completely rely on this, photos released Monday of a Soldier clad in OCP (MultiCam) and the latest version of the IOTV also featured the Danner boot.
Photo PEO-Soldier
UPDATE: Although we queried PEO-Soldier on the subject they haven’t commented yet. Hopefully, we will see something on this soon. PEO-Soldier let us know that this purchase was solely to support Rapid Fielding Initiative (RFI) requirements. They went on to inform us that they are still testing and evaluating the candidates. So, as we see it, the war continues to go on and troops still need boots. It’s just that RFI has chosen that those boots come from Danner and not the other candidate vendors. Interesting…
Everywhere I went at SHOT Show an A-TACS mannequin was staring me down. This one was in the Danner booth.
The history of dedicated footwear for mountain warfare traces its way back to WWII. A square toed, brown, smooth leather boot with tongue and groove on the sole for ski bindings was issued to the 10th Mountain and First Special Service Force. Mountain boots would remain a Special Forces standard issue item up until today.
Although members of 10th SFG(A) stationed in Bad Toelz, Germany privately purchased mountain boots from local cobblers in the 50s and 60s, the issue Mountain Boot remained relatively unchanged. The infamous “Chips” or Chippewa Mountain Boots were a Special forces staple up until the late 80s. They were also issued to the 10th Mountain Division during their initial stand up. Featuring bright steel speed lace hooks, thick felt insoles that never dried out, and a sole with a tongue and groove to fit the old issue “suicide stick” skis, the design had barely changed from WWII. Wearing them was like walking around with bricks strapped to your feet but no self-respecting member of 10th Group would be caught without them.
But as the 90s wore on the US was without an issue Mountain Boot. Influenced by 1/10th SF’s experience at Bad Toelz and later in Stuttgart, over time SOF units issued boots from Koflach, Raichle, Lowa and eventually La Sportiva who manufactured a special black version of the ever popular Lhotse for US forces operating in Afghanistan. Ironically, the brown leather Lhotse was better suited to military operations than the black model. But the major weakness that all of these highly specialized European brands was just that; they were European. The Berry Amendment requires that US forces must use US textiles. Unfortunately, at the time there was no US manufacturer of hard core Mountaineering Boots.
As an interim, both the Marine Corps and Army are issuing Danner Mountain Boots although they are different models. Danner has developed a dedicated boot for mountain operations for the Marine Corps that was unveiled earlier this year. The Mountain Cold Weather Boot is brown and features an abrasion resistant toe and heel cap as well as a Gore-tex lining. Each pair comes with a new sock system for cold weather.
The Army on the other hand has chosen to issue a commercially available Danner to members of the 173d and 101st. Combining leather with nylon fabric panels, the Army’s boot stops just above the ankle resembling a hiking more than a combat boot. PEO-Soldier officials have been very clear that these are an interim solution and in no way intended to replace the current issue boot. For that, the Army is hedging their bets on a new modular boot system set to debut in 2009.
Both the Army and Marine Corps solutions are really more trekking boots than actual Mountain Boots. To fill this void in the US military’s family of footwear, they have turned to Bates Footwear and their new Tora Bora model which they are touting as the Tora Bora Alpine Combat Boot. Originally a SOCOM requirement, the user community for the Tora Bora but it is expected to eventually include both the Marine Corps and Army.
For more information on the Danner Combat Hiker contact Danner.
For more information on the new Tora Bora, go to Bates.
