law enforcement & tactical footwear
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28 ANSOM JANUARY 2011 www.ANSOMonline
According to one story, FBI operatives
gave birth to the tactical apparel cat-
egory by wearing clothes on the job
that were originally designed or mountaineer-
ing, i.e. outdoor garments designed or ease
o movement. A similar i opposite crossover
eect applies in tactical ootwear, where
civilianor at least non-militarypersonnel
beneft rom the ruggedness as well as support
that G.I. boots provide.
Thereore its not surprising that some othe leading military boot contractors also
manuacture boots to meet the requirements
o public saety personnel. One o the reasons
that transitioning military veterans oten
gravitate to jobs in law enorcement or public
saety is that the terrain is amiliar and the
skills are transerable. So it is in the realm o
tactical ootwear.
A rundown o some o the latest product
introductions in this category oers an illustra-
tion o this dynamic. There are new products
derived rom outdoor use and those that incor-
porate design eatures originally devised or
the military as well as new saety requirements.
Theyre listed alphabetically by manuacturer.Altama Footwear. This Atlanta-based
manuacturer has served both the military and
law enorcement markets since the late 1960s.
Taking a page rom its experience in develop-
ing hot-weather combat boots or the military
Altama has produced three series o tactical
boots intended to resist heat and reduce atigu
Altamas LITESpeed, EXOSpeed II and
Ortho-TacX series are the result, and each
brings something dierent to the party. The
LITESpped is intended expressly or hot
weather, the EXOSpeed is said to mix the
attributes o trail running shoes and combat
boots and the Ortho-TacX is said to be par-
ticularly well-suited to tactical operations.Bates Footwear. The uniorm boot maker
C3 tactical boot eatures its patented Cross
Channel Circulation technology, intended to
By Paul Bubn
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Law Enforcement &
Tactical footwear
Police and tactical boot manufacturers keep the innovationcoming in comfort, durability and safety features.
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keep eet cooler and more comortable. As thewearer moves about, air is orced through the
patented cross channel construction, providing
improved breathability.
Bates is continuously unveiling new
technologies with the goal o being a clear
innovative solutions provider, said Ron
Woznick, vice president and general manager
o Rockord, MI-based Bates. Comort and
ootwear breathability remain high priorities
or the law enorcement proession. We are
looking orward to seeing this new technology
on the streets where it will provide noticeable
comort dierences in the everyday lives o
men and women in law enorcement.
Condor Outdoor Products. A well-round-
ed brand or tactical clothing, ootwear and
accessories, Duarte, CA-based Condor oers
tactical boots such as the 802, an 8 model w/
YKK side zipper. Along with the dide zipper,
the boot also includes a leather upper with
padded collar, cushioned EAV removeable
contour insole, stitched outsole and steel
shank. The boots are popular both in real-lie
tactical situations (i.e. cops making lie-or-
death decisions) and incredible simulations
(i.e. airsot games).
Gore-Tex. W. L. Gore & Associates sayits improved its Crosstech ootwear abric to
enable boots to meet both NFPA 1971, 2005
edition, and NFPA 1992, 2007 edition certif-
cations. According to W.L. Gore, its currently
the only ootwear abric on the market that
acilitates this dual certifcation.
Along with oering protection against
liquids and the common chemicals specifed
in NFPA 1971, Crosstech also protects against
the more aggressive chemicals required
or NFPA 1992 certifcation, such as 98%
sulphuric acid, the company says. As a result,
ootwear manuacturers can use various ma-
terials including leather in their boot designs,
resulting in a lighter, better ft.
According to Bill Candy, North American
ootwear product specialist at W. L. Gore,
the chemicals specifed in NFPA 1971 are
those most oten encountered at fre scenes,
automobile accidents or home emergencies.
Toda, though, frst responders are requently
being called to large-scale incidents, wherethey unexpectedly encounter chemicals other
than those specifed by NFPA 1971, Candy
said. The unique construction o this new
Crosstech ootwear abric prevents penetra-
tion o approximately 75 chemicals specifed
in NFPA 1992 along with water, blood, body
uids, and the fve NFPA-1971 common
chemicals. He added that Crosstech pro-
vides this level o protection while maintain-
ing breathability, which improves comort.
Haix. The Lexington, KY-based manuac-
turer law enorcement, fre fghting, and rescue
ootwear recently brought out the GSG9-S or
SWAT and tactical use. Haix says the GSG9-S
was developed in cooperation with police and
SWAT teams and eatures an all-new design
to ulfll the many varying needs o tactical
ofcers. It was named ater the elite unit o the
German Federal Police, GSG9.
The 8 GSG9-S is constructed with Haixs
new Sun Reect leather, which is said to re-
duce the heating eect o the leather by direct
sunlight while at the same time providing
leather that is water resistant and breathable.
Magnum Footwear. Headquartered in
Modesto, CA, Magnum eatures Superabric
materials in its recently introduced Spider andSidewinder ranges. According to Magnum,
going the Superabric route was the very best
way to protect tactical boots uppers rom
abrasion damage caused by ast roping.
Magnum describes Superabric brand
technology as an advanced, multi-step
engineered process that takes ordinary abrics
and transorms them into a variety o unique,
protective solutions, known collectively as
Superabric Brand Materials. These new pro-
tective abrics can be engineered or optimum
resistance to cuts, punc-
tures and abrasions while
remaining highly ex-
ible. Optional properties
such as ame resistance,
specialized grip and more
make or a compete cus-
tomized solution.
Original S.W.A.T.
Footwear. The Stock-
ton, CA-based manuacturers collectiono waterproo boots now meet the ASTM
F1671-07 standards or blood borne pathogen
resistance. All o the waterproo models have
a waterproo breathable internal membrane
that eectively protects the wearer rom blood
borne pathogens.
Included in the line are the WinX2, the
Tactical Waterproo and the Air M.T. insulated
side zip boot. All three boots also meet ASTM
F 489-96 standards or slip- and oil-resistance,
while the Air M.T. Side Zip boot is insulated
as well with 200-gram 3M Thinsulate.
Wellco. Forty-six years ago, this Knoxville,
TN-based military contractor introduced the
jungle boot. Late last summer, the company
introduced Guardian GTX, a new series o
ootwear or law enorcement proession-
als. As one o the lightest-weight boots on
the market today, this new line o ootwear
combines comort with excellent traction and
protection against the harsh elements that pa-
trol and tactical ofcers encounter on the job,
according to Wellco.
Wellco incorporated Gore-Tex ootwear
abric into the boots construction to provide
waterproo, breathable protection. We chose
Gore-Tex ootwear abric as the waterproobarrier because o its reputation or deliver-
ing long-lasting breathability and protection,
said Kerry Ferguson, director o marketing at
Wellco and Smith & Wesson Footwear.
While working with Gore during the
design and construction o these new boots,
we ound that their commitment to deliver-
ing high-quality products is backed by years
o expertise in barrier design and some o the
most rigorous perormance testing available in
the industry today.
Continued from page 28
Law Enforcement &
Tactical footwear
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