Keen has a blog post on their site detailing how to choose the right hiking boots for your needs. The post goes into the various styles of boots, how to fit your boots, materials and composition, and even care. You can check out the full post at the link below.
www.keenfootwear.com/guidesreviews/blog-article-20039
Altama is expanding their Elite division to include a full Assault line, and the Urban is the first step in that direction.
The hugely popular Maritime Assault was originally intended for amphibious missions, to be worn sockless for quick dry capabilities and solid grip as you moved in and out of water and fins to foot traffic.
But customers started using them as a daily wear boot with tactical cred. Something for roping, as well as walking, for weightlifting and date nights, for the range and the office.
It will be sock ready with an antimicrobial land insole and reinforced heel lining, with a flex knit upper and a sticky rubber outsole that is designed for the ground you move on.
Available in mid and low heights for Black, Black MultiCam, Alpine MultiCam, and Alpine MultiCam CP (more on that later).
Want a closer look? Altama will have samples at SHOT SHOW 2020 in Las Vegas. Swing by booth #20149 and see what’s up.
Featuring a cable design, the Overland is a minimal sandal.
Features:
• Men’s sizes 7–15
• HALF SIZES GO UP IN SIZE
• Proprietary rubber outsole
• Proprietary EVA mid-layers with laser etch traction control
• Injection molded arch support
• 6mm super soft nylon cable
• Military-grade tubular nylon secured with friction buckle
• Funds 1 day of school for an Afghan girl
www.combatflipflops.com/products/mens-overland-sandal-black
RESTOCKED: 72” MultiCam Shoelaces – MCB & MC Classic. Minimum order of 100 pairs. Made in the USA.
Black Diamond Equipment has released a new line of approach shoes. The Mission LT is one of several models unveiled at last year’s Outdoor Retailer Winter Market.
It is intended for speed approaches, featuring a sock-like, bootie fit, that’s reinforced with a webbing cinch system. The Mission LT features their signature EnduroKnit, which is a one-piece, ultra-breathable upper for lasting temperature regulation that’s hyper-durable for season after season of abuse. A tuned EVA midsole provides ample stiffness for technical precision, while remaining comfortable and the nylon rock plate provides protection. The Mission LT’s high-performance BlackLabel-Mountain rubber is super sticky, allowing you to grip through technical moves on 5th class terrain with ease, and the rubber toe protection gives the Mission LT added security. Multiple webbing loops give you plenty of tagging and stowing options when the approach ends and the hard climbing begins.
Features:
• EnduroKnit is a one piece breathable, durable knit upper
• BlackLabel-Mountain rubber is high performance sticky rubber
• Rubber toe protection
• Sock-like bootie fit
• Nylon rock plate for protection
• Tuned EVA midsole for stiffness and comfort
• Webbing reinforced fit system
• Multiple webbing loops for various tagging options
www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/mission-lt-approach-shoes-mens
Washington, D.C. – The Rubber and Plastic Footwear Manufacturers Association (RPFMA) announced that it has changed its name to the United States Footwear Manufacturers (USFMA) to better communicate its mission and its membership. The association also launched a new website, www.USFMA.org, a new logo, a Facebook page and a LinkedIn page.
“The name USFMA sends a clear message that this association is about protecting and growing footwear manufacturing here in the United States,” said USFMA Executive Director Bill McCann. “Our mission is to make sure that our nation’s trade policy supports domestic manufacturing and that footwear purchased with tax dollars is manufactured here. We reject the notion that American workers and factories don’t produce the highest quality boots and shoes for both our military and our nation.”
USFMA supports the domestic footwear industry by promoting fair trade, strong manufacturing policies, and policies that protect the industrial base. Traditionally, the association focused most of its efforts on defending a “protected list” of sensitive items as defined by the United States International Trade Commission (USITC). Moving forward, USFMA will also protect and expand the Berry Amendment and other federal statutes and policies that require our military and other uniformed federal employees to wear domestically manufactured footwear.
“Our new focus on government procurement aligns well with our existing focus on fair trade for footwear. Manufacturers of combat boots and other footwear required for military and government service are not only creating good-paying jobs but are part of our national security. USFMA will fight to create more government opportunities for domestic footwear,” said McCann.
The United States Footwear Manufacturers Association (USFMA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) association founded in 1986 to protect and enhance the footwear industry’s manufacturing base in the United States. USFMA members include both domestic footwear manufacturers as well as domestic suppliers. As a whole, the footwear manufacturing industry employs more than 12,000 U.S. workers.
> After a Communist government came to power in Laos in 1975, the U.S. was a safe destination for displaced Lao and Hmong. McRae Footwear helped many refugees start a new life in Mount Gilead, NC.
DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, the U.S. secretly recruited thousands of citizens in Southeast Asia, including Laos, to support the war against the Communists and North Vietnamese. In the mid-1970s, when the U.S. pulled out of these countries, many Southeast Asians fled. They led their families on perilous treks to refugee camps in Thailand and other countries. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, many Lao and Hmong, a mountainous tribe with its own ethnic designation, emigrated to the U.S. to start a new life. They settled mainly in Minnesota, Wisconsin, California, and North Carolina.
“The language barrier at times made training difficult, but the Lao and Hmong had an excellent work ethic and made – and continue to make – a huge contribution to our business.”
— Victor Karam, Director, McRae Industries
One prominent Laotian military officer who fought alongside the U.S. armed forces was Geu Vang, an army colonel fluent in seven languages. After settling in Minneapolis, MN, with his family in 1981, he soon assumed a leadership role in helping Lao and Hmong refugees adapt to their new American lives.
“Our people were suffering,” says Geu. “They had lost everything. Many were deeply depressed. I wrote a letter to several organizations in the U.S., seeking job opportunities for refugees so they would not be reliant on public assistance.”
Mass exodus: Scores of Lao and Hmong sought refuge in Thailand – and many eventually moved to the U.S.
Branson McRae, president and CEO of McRae Industries, received Geu’s correspondence and invited Geu to visit him in Mt. Gilead, NC, in 1987. Looking to add employees to his shoe factory in Wadeville, Branson was drawn to the Lao and Hmong work ethnic and spirited sense of community. Geu saw tremendous opportunity for his people and relocated with some 20 families to Mt. Gilead to start work with McRae. Jobs ranged from sewing to inspecting boots and operating lasting and vulcanizing equipment.
A new life across the ocean: Geu Vang, a former Laotian army colonel, was instrumental in acclimating Laotians to America.
Branson owned a tract of land in Wadeville and decide to put it to good use by providing housing for his new employees. He added 20 mobile homes on one-and two-acre lots on a hillside near the plant, offering each Lao and Hmong family a lease-to-own contract. Soon dotted with chicken farms and vegetable gardens, the community was christened Samthong Village. Translation: “Pot of Gold.” The development was within walking distance of the McRae factories and community schools.
Today, Samthong Village is home to 30 Lao and Hmong families. Geu and his wife, MayKao, who have six children and seven grandchildren, continue to be cornerstones of the community. Along with his liaison work, Geu teaches a Laotian Sunday School class at Mt. Gilead First Baptist Church and serves on the Board of Deacons.
Building community: Laotian culture is preserved for the Lao and Hmong living in the Mount Gilead area.
Lao and Hmong employees currently make up about 15 percent of McRae’s workforce.
“The company gives its workers many incentives for productivity, ” Geu says. “The more boots produced, the more the take-home pay. McRae also provides generous health insurance and a partial match on a 401K plan.”
“Branson had a huge vision for our community, and he listened to our needs. He gave us a new start. He helped us to become independent. And he continues to inspire each new generation.”
A generous heart: Branson McRae is remembered as a benevolent employer and engaging mentor to the Lao and Hmong community.
> When war broke out in the Persian Gulf, McRae Footwear shored up its workforce to deliver a new product. The desert boot was designed to stand up to the arid climate and sandy terrain of the Middle East.
Keeping out the heat
BY JULY 1990, times were tough for McRae Industries. The Cold War was over, military spending was down, and Defense Department demand for combat boots had ground to a halt. To weather the financial storm, company founder and CEO Branson McRae laid off nearly half of the company’s 287-person workforce and began to pursue other lines of business. It was the first furlough since McRae Footwear began making military boots in 1967.
“Many in our workforce had been with us for more than two decades,” says Victor Karam, who at that time headed up McRae’s footwear division. “Sending them home was heartbreaking.”
“No one wanted to see the U.S. in another war. But we took great pride in knowing these boots would make life better for our troops.”
— Victor Karam, Director, McRae Industries
Responding to the surge
Just a month later, war broke out in the Persian Gulf. In response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the U.S. joined 38 other countries in an allied coalition, and laid-off McRae Footwear employees returned to work. Their orders? To produce a new desert combat boot for American troops.
“The government called us up to Philly on a Saturday morning, ” Victor remembers. “We were given a contract to produce 250,000 pairs of boots. Desert Storm came so quickly that our country wasn’t prepared to supply boots suited for the desert sand.”
Desert combat: The Persian Gulf War called for new tactics-and new boots.
As troops were scuttled to the Gulf, McRae Footwear operated at peak capacity, churning out 200 cases of boots a day, 12 pairs a case, until the war ended in February 1991. To meet the demand, McRae Footwear also subcontracted with three other manufacturers and relied on its recently purchased western boot factory to help fill the government’s order.
Following Stormin’ Norman’s specs
The war required ground forces to operate in desert conditions – an environment not encountered by U.S. troops since the North African campaign of World War II. McRae Footwear was one of four companies the government selected to manufacture the new boot, again using vulcanization to attach the outsole to the upper and create a bond of invincible strength.
General Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. commander in the Persian Gulf region, served as a key advisor in developing boot specs. He found that the black, leather, and canvas boot originally crafted for the Vietnam War was not suited to desert conditions. For example, drainage vents designed to keep out jungle moisture were letting sand in, and steel plates in the soles that protected against booby traps were retaining heat.
Along with removal of the vents and steel plates, Schwarzkopf’s specifications for the desert combat boot were many: tan fabric, padded collar, leather ankle reinforcement,10 speed-lace eyelets for easy tying and untying, and a Panama-sole tread pattern on the bottom of the boot, designed to easily shed debris. Boots were also insulated to provide extra protection from ground temperatures that could reach as high as 130 degrees.
Strict specifications: General Schwarzkopf set a high bar for designing the new desert combat boot.
After the war, the government continued to procure desert combat boots from McRae Footwear for ongoing operations in the Persian Gulf, as well as for use in other hot-weather regions. The original boot formed the basis for the hot-weather Army and Marine Corps combat boots of the 2000s. Today, the boot is produced using a rubber Vibram Sierra outsole, providing exceptional shock absorption and durability.
Mutual appreciation: Branson McRae meets President George H.W. Bush, who led the nation through the Persian Gulf War.
