Training Boots

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Dienekes

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I would like to start a thread about a problem that I was facing, but have solved. I believe it would benefit others in my situation and save them a lot of time and misery.

I have been looking for a good pair of boots to ruck in while preparing for SFAS, and found it is not an easy task for someone not already in the Army or near a commercial retailer that has military boots available. There is a military surplus store near me, but they only sell Rothco boots, and in all my searching I have never seen them referenced anywhere on any site other than a Rothco retailer. Thus, with the information I had, I could only conclude that they are of poor quality and not recommendable.

The packing list for SFAS states,
"2 pr. Boots, Army issue IAW AR 670-1, see note #3"
"# 3- Boots must meet Army regulation (to see if a boot is authorized go to our MilSuite page (SFAS Course)."

I have also seen other testimony that any Army regulation boot is allowed. In light of this, I felt it was a poor decision to go with a boot that has not been recommended by people who have attended and been selected since I may be bringing this boot with me.

Many people say that it is bad to buy a boot online that you have not tried on first. I agree, but there is not a retailer that sells military boots(other than Rothco) within 3 hours from me.

It wasn't until after screwing up and buying boots that were slightly too large(because they were on sale, and I thought the fit would be close enough), that I found this:

http://uspatriottactical.com/sizing-charts/ which describes the general sizing of most applicable boots.

I would also like to save all prospective 18x's in a similar position some frustration and a lot of time by sharing the boots that I have seen suggested the most. Most people suggest Lowa or Asolo, but I don't believe most 18x will need these as they are much more expensive than the more widely used options:
Danner- Tachyon, TFX
Belleville- 390, 310, 320 One Xero
Rocky- S2V any variant
Garmont- any T8 variant
Nike- SFB
Altama- Exospeed, Ripple Soles

I would have been ecstatic to go with the Army "issue" boots that many others also suggest. However, it was impossible for me to find what brand(s) the Army issues as they are unfailingly only referred to as the "issue" boots or "whatever your CIF is handing out". For someone not in the know, that is extremely unhelpful. I hope this will help someone off the street looking for some good boots to train in.
 
You don't need t prepare for selection before you are even in the military.

You have 11 weeks of OSUT and 3 weeks of BAC minimum between your ship date and getting to SFAS.

What you do 4 months before hand won't be that big of a help.

Show up to basic really good at push ups, sit ups, pull ups, and running.
 
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The boots are for rucking because rucking in tennis shoes gave me knee pain, and to develop calluses on hotspots derived from the boots.

I assumed any preparation for SFAS would also adequately prepare me for the challenges that lie before it.
 
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