BRITISH ARMY 'PRO BOOT' REVIEW
This is just something written out of boredom. I'll update this tomorrow or later this week with pictures and more thoughts after I've used them for a more extensive time.
(They are more matte in the other pictures from insane amounts of wax)
I got them from Army Bargains in Dublin for 35 Euro. Great price for the condition,I'd rate them at Grade 2,toured in Afghanistan apparently but only minor wear on the soles but a good few scuffs on the front. They look pretty good as seen in the photo(After a metric Fcukton of Shoe cream,shoe shine and anti bacterial spray! I wouldn't want all that nasty squaddie stuff getting on my innocent civvie body*.)
I was going to buy German Para boots,but they unfortunately fit me very badly. I will be comparing them to these as both are strikingly similar. You can hardly tell the difference at a distance!
The boots are Goretex and Thinsulate lined. Very comfortable padding wise,good ankle support. I do recommend wearing these with thicker socks however. These are already broken in a fair bit,so flexibility is excellent. These are much lighter than German Para boots,but at one expense,shock absorption, which I'll explain a bit further down.
Soles are moulded,very soft and acceptable shock absorption,which I'll explain more further down. Grip is excellent,However I did roughen up the soles a bit with sand paper,though I do this with most of my footwear.
Leather quality is superb,stitch work and overall craftsmanship are great. Considerably better than alternatives made in China or Vietnam or some other Asian sweatshop nation. The British can still make great footwear.
I am concerned however for the sole grips,they are very soft which gives good comfort but they seem a bit on the weak side. I have read of report of the grips coming off and leaving smooth rubber.
Lacing system is far superior to it's German cousin. It's a speed lace type,the eyelets are pretty good and easy to get through. I am however left with a lot of excess lace due to my skinny little leggy bobs,I simply weave them through the little leather hooks at the back.
The one drawback comfort wise is the insole,or lack thereof. The German paras have a nice and soft insole to absorb shock, but this feels like walking on wood or steel. I remedied this by jamming in some sorbothane insoles from some worn out runners I had. Coupled with some nice Russian Army wool socks it was a very soft and secure fit.
Light weight and good grip meant sprinting and sneaking about was very easy,handy for my sneaky bastard/Sprinting nutter hybrid playstyle. Very little side to side movement so twisting an ankle is very hard.
Shock absorption was acceptable maybe a bit mediocre,I tested this by jumping off a 3m wall onto concrete,standing,which did earn a few odd looks from the neighbors! Without the insoles i did feel some hard hits to my heel,which was a particularly tough area. With the insoles however it felt very light,but you knew you hit something. I'm guessing shock absorption would be far superior on the German para side. Incidentally,climbing up the wall with no support with these was very easy,thanks to the good grip and flexibility
I've yet to test these in the Irish forest,but I expect them to perform well. I've also got a skirmish on next sunday and I'll report after that. Those two events combined will probably end up with 8 hours worth of rock climbing,hiking on rocky and muddy terrain,sprinting about on various woodland floors and more jumping on to things,with a greater height hopefully.
I've also heard there's a clusterfuck with the quality of these. There are a few version around,ones with red lining,ones with white lining,new version and old versions and such. I noticed a lot of the problem ones are newer ones sold as 'Pro boots Classic' with the little Gore-Tex tag on the shin side of the boot. I'll read into this a bit.
Minor issues and abnormal reports outside,Highly recommend these so far,rugged,comfortable and light weight,great quality. I'd almost go as far as saying these are something along the lines of the AK of boots.
UPDATE:
I've taken them on 3 hikes and a bike ride now. I've beaten the ever loving sh*t out of them,waded in water for a good 20 minutes,climbed rocks,trees and sprinted about the place like a squirrel on crack.
My fears for the soles were confirmed,3/4 of one of the grips was torn off,and one part has cracked. I don't know if this is from my very sharp bike pedals or rocks.However everything else is fine. We do have an excellent cobbler in town so I can get them resoled and improved hopefully if anything happens.
They are fully waterproof,waded in water for a long amount of time and not a single drop got through.
Past statements stand,excellent grip and support,very comfortable and lightweight.
Shock absorption seemed a bit better but still average.
Another neat 'feature' is that you can only the writing on the gore text tag underwater,though I'm not sure if this is intentional!
Still recommended them,just make sure to get some sorbothane insoles and you know a good cobbler if anything happens!
PROS:
-Light weight
-Good construction quality
-Good quality materials
-Great grip
-Excellent support
-Flexible
-Rather Bombproof
-Waterproof
CONS:
-Really tough,requires an insole
-Mediocre to average shock absorption
-Bit of a clusterfcuk with versions and quality,though they are isolated reports.
-Grips/soles are good quality but not too strong
-Not very comfortable with thinner socks
*sarcasm!