Three of the new LOWA military and police boot models (Breacher, Combat and Zephyr) are now available for private purchase in the UK, reports Bob Morrison.
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On Thursday afternoon, while on my way to Newton Abbott for the opening of MALTINGSFEST, the beer festival organised by SIBA (the Society of Independent Brewers) I popped into the Task Force Distribution HQ near Plymouth for an update on new LOWA boot model availability.
LOWA, like most manufacturers, has been afflicted by post-pandemic international supply chain issues (for many industries this often involves shortages of comparatively minor components without which products cannot be finished off) and as a result the 2022 roll-out of some of their new footwear models to private purchasers has been delayed. Naturally, of course, bulk military and police supply contracts must take precedence over sales to the general public, but with the situation now beginning to normalise Task Force Distribution are starting to trickle feed out the first of the long-awaited new boots to Jo and Joe Public.
For the most up-to-date availability check out LowaMilitaryBoots.com but in brief the following new boot models are in stock at time of writing:-
- Breacher GTX Mid in Black ~ UK 8 and above
- Combat Boot Mk2 GTX in Brown ~ UK8 to UK 12
- Zephyr Mk2 GTX Mid in Black ~ most sizes
Other colours and sizes are regularly arriving at the Plymouth warehouse and being added to the website once available for individual purchase. Please be aware, however, that not only have some of the above boots been on back order with customers but there is every possibility that certain popular sizes could temporarily become unavailable if there is too much demand or if one of the larger, mostly ‘blue light’ sector, purchasers orders additional bulk quantities of black boots. LOWA, who are currently producing around 3.5 million pairs of boots annually, have added an extra production carousel to help meet demand, but both pandemic recovery and the heightened focus on European defence mean a return to normality might still be a little way off.
Finally, Specialist Kit Limited, a sister company to Task Force Distribution based in the same Plymouth industrial complex, will shortly be opening a retail military shop stocked with many of the top brands familiar to readers of JOINT-FORCES. Originally this retail outlet should have opened in the second half of 2020, but it was decided to postpone launch until the market had fully recovered. That day is now not far off and the shop is almost fully stocked, as we saw on Thursday when we were given a brief tour. More details soon.
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