The Military Ops Boot is the next generation of the ALTBERG Defender and Warrior, the Yorkshire company’s original lightweight combat high liability boots, reports Bob Morrison.
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Update, 25 July 2020: When I penned the following brief article in late November COVID-19 had not yet popped up on the radar and we were oblivious as to how commerce worldwide would be almost brought to its knees. Now that a degree of normality is returning we are trying to get back on track with our reviews. My new Military Ops Boots from ALTBERG arrived a few days ago and I now have them on test, so watch this section for more about them next week.
30 November 2019: The Master Bootmaker at ALTBERG, who founded the Richmond company thirty years ago following redundancy, developed the Military Ops Boot during 2018/2019 to give an even better fitting Combat High Liability Boot than his Defender and Warrior models with “improved mobility for running and tabbing, and stronger lateral support to improve ankle security on rough terrain”.
Many of the original materials used in ALTBERG’s original Defender combat boots, including 2.4mm Anfibio leather and the Vibram Masai outsole are retained to ensure breathability, drying out, shock absorption and light weight are as good, and in some cases better, than the original.
According to company literature, the main improvements to this third generation boot are:
- The last is much improved, has a narrower heel and more natural forefoot shape with toe spring, based on running shoe technology.
- The boot has increased ankle protection with full 2.4mm Anfibio leather.
- A new flex area has been developed above the instep and around leg to give complete Achilles flex and comfort.
- A re-design of the leather tongue to improve ‘water run-off’ and lacing comfort.
Both Mike Gormley and myself have visited the ALTBERG Master Bootmaker in his workshop over the last year and have seen his new boot designs, including the Falcon aircrew boot, under development but we have not yet been able to run a field test; we hope to do so early in the new year. The video clip below gives the thinking behind the design of the new Military Ops Boot in the Master Bookmaker’s own words.
[images © ALTBERG or Bob Morrison]