My days of amphibious reconnaissance are long in the past, but I do still occasionally need a shoe for the water. Summer in Idaho offers all manner of fly fishing, rafting, and panning for gold with none of the drawbacks of a sub lockout. After a few seasons of sand all up in my gym shoes, I recently went hunting for something else. To my surprise, I found a very cool solution from Altama, that old legend of the combat boot world.
The Altama Maritime Assault Boot. MSRP: $129.99.
I have plenty of experience with Altama, they made the best jungle boots around during my military career. As a retiree though, I wouldn’t be caught dead in a set. So it was rather surprising to find something as sexy looking as the Maritime Assault Boot in their catalog.
The Maritime Assault Boot is designed for water-intensive missions. It looks like a Chuck Taylor All-Star that got rebuilt by DARPA and that isn’t a bad thing. Back in my day, when the ships were made of wood and the men were made of iron, we actually used real Chuck Taylors quite a lot. You weren’t a good Recon Marine until you had a set of murdered out black Chucks, mostly bleached white from the sea. It was the best thing available, but they did have drawbacks.
Kiddie pool, for science. Obviously.
From what I have seen, Altama fixed all those problems. The drain holes on the OTB are massive and covered in a fine mesh. This causes the shoe to drain very quickly and also keeps sand and silt from creeping in. If you want to have the opposite of a good time, walk all night with and an 80-pound ruck and sand between your foot and shoe sole.
SEE ALSO: Don’t Cheat Your Feet! Check Out Zamberlan Gore-Tex Boots
The OTB is made of advanced materials that dry fast, a significant step up from the ’30s era canvas of a Chuck. But the improvements don’t stop there. The pull loop in the back of the shoe is gigantic, for when you need to snap link them to your ruck with your fins.
Fine for most gym workouts.
The boot also has a real sole with lugs and everything. The wet traction is excellent, be it river rocks or a wet ship deck. My favorite part? They make them in men’s sizes. I wear a 14 Wide in most brands, which makes my shoe selection rather limited. Everything on the boot is double stitched and the toe cap is bomb proof.
Features
- Maritime Assault Boot for all tactical water operations.
- Air mesh linings help wick away sweat and other moisture quickly from your foot.
- Full length one piece ABS shank provides stability and support when climbing a caving ladder.
- Non-shine rust-proof lace hardware.
- Ultron PU contoured insole will not absorb water.
- High abrasion quick drying 1000D Cordura quarter panels offered on both solid colors and Multicam.
- Front non-metallic drain ports allow for water to drain easily when flexing the boot.
- MSRP: $129.99
Almost dry at an hour past submerging.
All well and good, but most of us aren’t interested in how they perform attaching limpet mines. Well, good news on that front too. The Maritime Assault Boot is one of the best all-around shoes I have ever bought. For the gym, range, or general monkey business, they are awesome. The same material that lets the water out provides airflow to your feet, and they are extremely comfortable. They look good, with just the right amount of angry Veteran flair. They say “Yes, I have shot a terrorist in the face, but more importantly I liked it.” Not, “Please don’t use fireworks near my house, I have PTSD from being in the band. And can I have a 2 percent military discount on this Slurpee?”
If Multicam isn’t your color of choice, they are also available in Black, Black Multicam, and Coyote Tan. As well as high top and low top. For about $130, this is one of the best buys I have made in a very long time and I can give these a rating of highly recommended.
For more information visit Altama.com.
NO SUPPORT…………..for ankle, lower foot or toes.. hardly better then flip flops. no protection from sharp objects, and that includes the feeble sole. AAAAAHHHHH over a hundred bucks……………..have you people gone made?? your feet are what touches the ground…..with out them you are a liability a hinderance no good.. twist your ankle even slightly and carry that 80 lb. RUCK..ahhhhhhhhhhhh
Clay your writings are informative, witty, contain real-world experience, and are just damn entertaining to read. Having been in the service myself, I feel your past experiences bring a valuable insight to the testing and review of the products you write about. Being a very outdoorsy guy myself (hunting, fishing, shooting), I always base my opinion of a product on real-life use or at the minimum how practical it would be based on my past outdoors experiences and how much that product might have been a help/hindrance to me. Great review.
I love my Bates sidezips, but these seem like they might be the perfect upgrade!
Clay, I can\’t remember an article of yours that didn\’t make me laugh a couple times.
I like monkey business.
You can get them online for $79.99. I have two pair!
For those critical of Clay’s writing style, I’ll tell you what I tell my grandkids “use the D_ _ N Off, Delete, Change Channel, Return” or whatever button you use to go someplace else……..
“Dude”, You need to focus.
A – show some respect to a veteran.
B – knowledge is gained from experience.
Clay, carry on.
My comments were meant for “SuperG” but for some reason it didn’t post under his header.
Those of lesser mentality and fortitude often find self worth in demeaning those with the scars of battle. If you haven’t been there and done that..FOAD, SFMF
Not practical for fall/winter hunting…2-3 hours of cold wet socks could be dangerous to your feet
not practical for fall/winter hunting at all, way wrong tool. but awesome for summer adventures.
IMO, there is NO ‘all season’ boot or footwear, period.
Winter wear requires completely different specs.
Great review. Linking your past experience to the everyday utility of these shoes proved useful to me and I appreciate your allowing us to take advantage of that past experience.
Thanks brother. I felt it was relevant to the review. for you guys in the Southeast, these are mandatory like Metallica.
Dude, stop living in the past and focus. If you are going to review a shoe, talk about the shoe, not about your past. It’s getting tedious.
For those of us who served (10 years USMC – 0311/31), those were some of the best years of our lives. As for Clay, his past experiences lends insight to the shize he reviews…would you buy a commodity from someone who has no real World experience in what he/she’s hawking???
Don’t be a hater cuz you were a non-hacker. I personally like how Clay melds his past experiences into the gear he reviews even though he went over to the “Dark Side” (US Army) after leaving The Suck…just kidding Brother – Semper Fi
Dude (SuperG, like that name doesn’t have any connotations of narcissism) word of advise, do not use the word focus with Clay, you would never want that. Snowflake keyboard operators like you have no clue of real world experiences, don’t go where you don’t belong and just view them on some other more kinder gentler channel if this is too strong for you. There’s got to be a sneakersforsnowflakes.com somewhere out there for you. Thanks to Clay and his sacrifices you have the freedom of choice to go elsewhere!
Super Democrat is his name so what do you expect?
IM WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!!
Because his past experiences with footwear has no bearing on the subject??
So, we should take advice from someone who hasn’t been there, done that?
Do you see the VERY Major flaw in your thinking????
So much for experience making wisdom, hell with that attitude everyone can be an expert.
That would make me the smartest man in the world.
Even after being married twice!
Hey guys, ask me anything, I know everything, because I’ve only been wrong twice, and both times I said “I do”!
LOL!!!!!!!!!