We mentioned that the British military was looking to move to Brown boots for wear with their Multi Terrain Pattern uniforms last December but now it’s official. The new boots come in 5 models for different environments with two styles of each model. Lots of options there. Additionally, there are now both men and women’s sizing. And finally, Black boots will be retained for use with RAF and RAN Blues as well as ceremonial dress. What follows is the MoD’s press release.
The Ministry of Defence has signed a multi-million-pound contract for new boots for the Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.
Armed Forces personnel will receive a new range of brown combat boots to replace the black and desert combat footwear they currently wear.
As part of a contract worth £80 million, troops will have the choice of wearing five different boots, depending on where they are based and what job they are doing. The five types available are:
Desert Combat: worn by dismounted troops conducting high levels of activity in desert environments exceeding 40 °C
Desert Patrol: worn by mounted troops, typically drivers or armoured troops conducting lower levels of activity in desert environments exceeding 40 °C
Temperate combat: worn by dismounted troops for high levels of activity in temperate climates
Patrol: worn by mounted troops, typically drivers or armoured troops conducting lower levels of activity in temperate climates
Cold Wet Weather: worn by dismounted troops for high levels of activity in temperatures down to –20 °C.
Each of the five boot types comes in two different styles, so personnel can wear whichever one is more comfortable for them.
Different foot shapes of men and women
The improved brown boots, which have been developed to match the Multi Terrain Pattern uniform worn by all service personnel, will be made in two different width fittings, taking into account for the first time the different foot shapes of men and women.
The new boots have been chosen after months of trials involving 2000 troops serving across the world in Kenya, Cyprus, Canada and the UK. The brown boots will be rolled out to personnel in all three services later this year.
Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Peter Luff said:
“This contract will provide our troops with the high-quality footwear they need whilst on operations and back in the UK. Our Armed Forces will have more choice than ever before to make sure they are as comfortable as possible, whatever their role.”
Warrant Officer Class One Julie Lodge from the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Clothing team said:
“The boots we have now do the job well, but having footwear that is specially designed for female troops means we get an even better result, and marks a real development in the kit available to us. The new boots are very comfortable and fit so well I feel like I could run a marathon in them.
“We have had excellent feedback on the new boots from both male and female soldiers and we are buying a variety of styles to cover the full range of conditions we might encounter on operations, which means all our troops will have new boots for all seasons.”
The right boot for the right job
WO1 Regimental Sergeant Major Ian Wright of the Parachute Regiment took part in the trials and said:
“The choice offered to us with this new range of boots is fantastic as it means troops can find the right boot for the right job.
“It is important that we continue to feel comfortable in the boots that we wear and reassured that they are going to provide the right protection – and these new brown boots offer that.
“They performed well on the trials and I am sure our soldiers will be delighted with them.”
Black boots will continue to be worn with most non-camouflage uniforms and by units on parade in full dress uniform, such as Guards regiments on ceremonial duties in central London
Tags: UK
Alright! those really do look good, hope we follow suit.
There is talk the Canadian Armed Forces is planning on switching to Brown boots. Always figured it be more of a bitch for me to keep clean. No more days of me slapping on black polish to cover up the dirt lol
Brown boots are already being issued in the CF.
I’ve written about it
Big difference is that we have 1 option and they suck.
They didn’t skimp on these boots either – look at the brand name, HAIX.
These ones may be Hiax, but the cynic in me says the production ones will be made by Chinese children in a sweat shop.
HAIX only just started with a small range of running shoes made in Asia. All the rest of their models are and will be made in Europe. It’s a serious brand.
I had been issued Haix, Lowa, Meindl, Hanwag and several no-name boots in the past (German mountain boots). I’ve never been as satisfied with Haix as with other boots from Lowa, Meindl or Hanwag, both concerning fit and quality. Fit is of course very individual (and I personally prefer the narrow Lowas), but in my opinion, Haix is not as top-notch as the brands. Certainly better than the no-name ones, though, which never lasted very long.
I dont get it. Matching the MC/MTP uniform exactly what a brown bootdoesn’t? Not in that picture anyways. Tan has always watched MultiCam better that Coyote Brown, if you ask me. Also, there are a lot more manufactures of Tan/desert boots than of Brown boots.
This concerns me, since the Danish army will also adopt the MultiCam pattern in the near future.
Have you ever been to the UK? 😉
It rains…a lot! The rain causes puddles and mud and while a tan boot may match MTP/Multicam better than a brown boot a tan boot wouldn’t last 5 minutes before they were a total mess.
Black combat boots never made sense to me!
Black is still a verry bad ass color, but this brown actually seems way cooler than the beige/tan ones for some reason.
As long as the keep letting squaddies choose which boots they wear in the field. I’ve never been a fan of issued boots. Never will be. Tested by FOBbets for use in the field. Nah. Nope. No way.
Even when the army has different uniforms for different environments, they will keep the same boots. That’s why brown makes sense to me. All environments have brown: desert, jungle, even the frozen woods has brown (but no green). This is why I think the army’s base color for gear should be brown, not green.
What I don’t get is why the two different kinds of boots, one for grunt and another for non-grunts? I realize that grunts have special needs because of the nature of what they do, so why not just make a boot that’s grunt approved and then make that the standard issue boot for everyone, whether you’re a grunt or you’re an admin who’ll never deploy?
Another question I have is, if what boot you get issued depends on whether you’re a grunt or not how do they work who gets what boot in boot camp? Does everyone get issued the same boot and then are re-issued the appropriate boot once they graduate or do they actually take the time to figure which recruit is going to be a grunt and which isn’t and then issue them appropriate boot? Regardless, it seems like an unnecessary complication to me.