[HOLLiS]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

As long as they are fitted properly and are appropriate for the environment, boots are probably 30% of the equation. Socks and insoles are probably worth another 10%. Conditioning is more like 60%. I know guys who wear no socks and can start a 25-mile march with newly issued jungle boots, and do just fine.

OTOH, you can Gucci out all you want with $500 boots, $50 insoles, and $20 socks, but if you do not spend the time breaking them in properly and conditioning your feet to the task at hand, at best, you are just wasting money and will be waiting by the road with your blistered feet on fire for the chase vehicle to pick you up. At worst, you will make the rest of your team carry you and you may compromise the mission and get a teammate killed.

Be smart, if you are a student, buy, break in, and train up in what you are told to. If you are a team guy, you should be smart enough (having gotten there) to pick the appropriate gear, prepare it properly (but not till it is worn out), and make sure that your feet are not the weak link. Yes, I have seen guys launch on deployment with brand new boots as well as those trying to squeeze one more mission out of a favorite pair, only to have them fall apart in the boonies. Everyone laughs at them, or curses them, depending on the situation. Don't be that guy.

Remember, what is on your feet doesn't complete the mission. What is inside them does.

TR

The Reaper, I think you nailed the major point. Too many people try to buy the short cut to success/conditioning. There are whole markets that rely on them to make a living.