A recent HAIX press release on the world’s first ExtraGuard firefighter boots prompted reader questions about combat and patrol boot plans, writes Bob Morrison.
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Naturally, me being frequently (slightly unfairly I think) labelled by family and friends as the ‘Imelda Marcos’ of the military and police combat and patrol boots world, I try to keep up to speed with market developments and whenever my paths cross with with senior representatives of uniform boot manufacturers I am always asking questions. Sometimes I am at liberty to use information that I glean as there are no contractual issues in force, but invariably some aspects fall under the ‘Commercial in Confidence’ category and I have to file these away for future use when the topic becomes less sensitive.
In between the initial presentation of the Gore-Tex ExtraGuard footwear leather substitute at Enforce Tac 2024 in Nuremberg and the full media launch briefing at Enforce Tac 2025, I became aware that German boot manufacturer HAIX was working on a brown combat boot to meet the precise requirements of a highly specialist military user but at the time it was stressed that the company itself was unable to pass comment on the topic. It was also suggested that they were working on black ExtraGuard boots to meet the specialist requirements of another NATO user, so when I spotted both HAIX Commander and HAIX Black Eagle boots displayed in Germany earlier this year I sought permission to take samples off the display stand to photograph them for the record; at the time neither HAIX nor WL Gore were able to confirm precisely who these boots models were being developed for, but no doubt sooner or later Carl or I will have confirmation by spotting them in the field.
The HAIX Commander GTX model (which replaced their KSK 3000 model) has been around for almost five years now and is well-proven as a Winter Boot for both Police and Special Operations users, so it was interesting to compare it alongside the new HAIX Commander EXG. According to a senior HAIX executive the new ExtraGuard ‘synthetic leather’ is possibly a bit easier to work with than full grain leather, and as the new material is also believed to be more robust the new EXG version of the Commander seen here lacks an anti-scuff outer toecap layer. From close inspection, I suspect the new uppers might have been laser cut but I have not yet been able to confirm this. This new European-made model is manufactured at the German company’s state-of-the-art Mala Subotica factory in Croatia.
The HAIX Black Eagle Safety 50 High EXG boot seen here, also snapped at Enforce Tac 2025, is the protective toecap uniform boot version aimed at police and blue light services and will probably be the second HAIX ExtraGuard boot model to go into full-scale production. I have not yet been able to photograph the current all-leather Black Eagle GTX patrol boot alongside its new Black Eagle EXG proposed replacement. First impression is that the new boot model has a much cleaner appearance than the original all-leather Black Eagle.
In addition to Gore-Tex ExtraGuard uppers, both new HAIX boots seen here also include a waterproof and breathable Gore-Tex Extended Comfort 3-ply laminate liner sock, or bootie, in their construction.
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