I’ve always been a fan of flops and walked way too many miles in them. However, Combat Flip Flops‘ tag line speaks the truth. They’re bad for running and worse for fighting.

Started by two Army Rangers and a Bass player from Montana, Combat Flip Flops was born on a trip to Afghanistan in 2010 where a Afgan-owned boot factory worker was seen wearing a makeshift pair of flip flops using the sole of a combat boot.

Combat Flip Flops’ goal is to manufacture in Afghanistan with the belief that a strong economy will sustain the gains made over the last decade. As international forces withdraw in 2014, the mature Afghan National Army and Police are taking the lead. Footwear manufacturers in Kabul depend heavily on military contracts, so any decrease in volume has a huge impact on operations. Unfortunately, the decline came faster than expected and the plant where Combat Flip Flops were about to begin production, could not sustain operations on supplemental flip flop volume alone.

In response, the Combat Flip Flop team went to work in December designing and building a micro-manufacturing facility in Issaquah, WA to fulfill the backlogged orders. While current production is in WA, the team intends to expand production to Afghanistan, Libya and Syria in the next few years, based on demand.

Tuck Tuck

While I wear flops on a regular basis, I’m always diligent about having a pair of shoes or boots in my vehicle for situations when flops just won’t cut it. That aside, the pair of Tuck Tuck Combat Flip Flops I’ve been kicking around for close to a year now are probably THE most comfortable pair of flops I’ve ever owned. I’m not just saying that for the sake of a good review either.

The cushion in these is worlds above any other pair I’ve owned, they’re squishier than Apu’s Quick-E-Mart! Thanks to a nice suede deck, they’re also soft. I’ve worn most all of the major brands of flops; Flojos, Reef, Rainbow, you name it. One of the biggest differences between those brands and Combat Flip Flops is wear. After a few months the foam wears out and my feet leave impressions in the decks. With this pair of Tuck Tuck’s I haven’t noticed that at all and they still feel as comfortable as the first day I started wearing them. The combat-boot grade rubber tread has hardly worn at all either.

I will say this, there’s no way anyone will miss seeing you while you’re wearing these. To quote the Tuck Tuck description on the Website, they’re “visible from space on a cloudy day.” The other features include a patent leather upper, EVA medium density midsole, quilted suede deck and chrome poppy hood ornament for extra bling.

The Combat Flip Flops lineup includes men’s and women’s flops with a few styles to choose from. Adorned with embellishments like chrome poppies and hand grenades, each model ties in to the Afghan culture and creates a connection with the wearer. Non-traditional assembly methods are also utilized, including old aircraft ovens and old school hand-labor.

Check out Combat Flip Flops online to pick up a pair today, just don’t blame me when people start staring at your feet!

What to wear, what to wear? The answer to that question has eluded me over and over again when it comes to knowing what to buy for range wear, camping and other outdoor activities.

More often than not its hard for me to find outdoorsy clothes that don’t have flower prints, bedazzled sparklies or the color pink splashed all over them. My goal has been to compliment my wardrobe with active wear that truly suits my taste instead of just conforming to what the mail order catalogs tell me I need.

Fortunately for me, I’ve found that apparel from the tactical industry works great not only for when I go to the range, but also when I go hiking and camping.

Magnum Boots

Finding comfortable outdoor active-wear clothing and boots that fit my build has also consistently been a challenge for me. The average starting size I’ve found is 4-6 in women’s clothing and a size 6 shoe in a lot of outdoor catalogs and stores that I’m familiar with. Sometimes I see the word ‘petite’ added in, but that doesn’t always translate to a stylish and comfortable fit for me.

Recently I received some great items from Magnum Boots to review; the RD Long Sleeve Shirt, advertised as a “tactical shirt that keeps it’s cool” and the Stealth Force 6.0 SZ WPI mid-cut duty boot, that’s “waterproof, breathable and lightweight.” I was very curious to see how both items would fit. Was this going to be another brand that didn’t truly cater to the smaller sized woman, or will this be a brand that I can easily go to for a great fit?

RD Long Sleeve Shirt

The RD Long Sleeve Shirt shirt I have is a Size Small in the color Mocha, with sizing available from small to extra-large and color options also in Desert Sage and Dark Navy.  It’s made from 5.4 ounce 100% cotton rip stop, and Magnum Boots has a six month no fade guarantee on their fabric dying process.

Most of the time I wear an XS for a shirt to fit me in the arm length and to not be too big around the torso, so I was a bit apprehensive when I saw the size of the shirt was a standard small. I was pleasantly surprised, however that the sizing of this shirt is true, and by that I mean it’s definitely a small. If you typically buy an extra-small like I do then this standard small size just may fit you as well as it did me.

The shoulder width was perfect for my stature, the chest did not gap or pull when the shirt was buttoned, the sleeves fit great and the length of the shirt is suitable for both tucking in and wearing out. I found the shirt to be tapered enough to be flattering, but not overly snug. Another characteristic that I loved about this shirt was the button snaps held together firmly while I was moving around, but the garment also has the ability to be shed quickly if necessary. There’s nothing more embarrassing than hearing your shirt pop open while you’re in the middle of doing something, but the grip these snaps have didn’t give me any cause for concern.

Texas Heat

I wore the shirt both indoors and outdoors during the heat of the summer in Texas. I was comfortable in both environments, but I was especially curious if the shirt would keep me cool as advertised. Amazingly enough I couldn’t even feel the shirt on me while I was shooting outside in 90 degree weather with a high level of humidity. There are low-profile air vents above the chest area on both the front and back of the shirt that helped keep me cool and comfortable. Other cool features on this shirt are an EEMS (Escape & Evasion Money Stash) pocket that’s found inside the back of the collar and low profile pockets on both the left and right sides of the chest.

Some of my shirts can ride up around the mid-section or under the arms when I’m moving around, but that wasn’t the case with the Magnum shirt. I didn’t have to readjust it even once after drawing from my holster, aiming, firing and re-holstering my firearm. I had my sleeves rolled up below the elbow, without utilizing the roll-retaining snap and button, and the sleeves stayed secure during all of that movement, too.

Overall I found the Magnum RD Long Sleeve shirt to be a very functional and comfortable active-wear garment. If you’re like me then you don’t want flowery prints or pink embellishments on your clothes and accessories when you’re balancing fun with a serious hobby. This shirt provided me with the tactical look that I wanted with a flattering fit.

Stealth Force 6.0 SZ WPI Boots

The Stealth Force 6.0 SZ WPI boots were also amazingly comfortable for me. Let me begin by noting that I have consistently had trouble with high top boots in the past. The high top section typically bruises my legs just above my ankles no matter how I’ve laced them up. I’ve just gotten to where I don’t lace up the top section. I did wear the Magnum Stealth Force boots fully laced up for about 12 hours on one particular work day and I didn’t feel any discomfort or have any bruising. That’s a first for me! However, when I went hiking and shooting I kept the tops unlaced to best fit my comfort level for the terrain I was covering.

The cushion in the soles of the Stealth Force boots is extremely comfortable. My feet never felt tired, the boots didn’t feel heavy after wearing them for an entire day and I felt lived up to the claim of being lightweight. The boots also weren’t overly wide or bulky, which is a good thing because I’ve been known to trip over my own feet on occasion!

These boots had amazing traction which I wanted to make sure to point out. When we went hiking the ground was extremely dry with gravel-like terrain in some areas, which can make for very slippery conditions. But, not once did I slip on the loose rocks while navigating through the steep and winding trails.

Magnum Boots and apparel aren’t just for Military and Law Enforcement personnel. They also work well for women like me who want to be taken seriously at the range and want functional fashion while in the outdoors.

Check out the additional photos below and head over to Magnum’s Website for more details.

For the past six months I’ve been beating up the Magnum Spider 8.1 Desert HPi Boots and loving every minute in them.

They’re well constructed, comfortable, lightweight, breathable and have held up to everything from hiking, running, climbing rope and Fast Roping. Today I’ll give you my unbiased review of what I loved about them and also some things that I’d like to see different in how they’re made.

Spider 8.1 Desert HPi Boots

While the name was definitely something I had trouble memorizing while making the video below, these boots pack a ton of great features! To start off, there was very little required to break them in and fit great right out of the box. They do seem to be slightly wider than other boots I’ve owned in the same size, which I really liked.

I’ve always found that most boots I’ve owned have rubbed against my little toes on the outside and I had none of that on these boots. This of course is my personal note as boots fit everyone differently and your mileage may vary, literally.

Construction

The Spider 8.1 Boots are made of quite a few different materials, Leather/1650 Denier Nylon upper, Tuf-Tec Leather toe guard, Spider Mesh lining SuperFabric and M-PACT Sockliner. The leather and Tuf-Tec toe guard definitely added to the ability of these boots to hold up well in the brush while hiking and resist snags and abrasions. There’s definitely wear in these areas but definitely not as much as I feel there should have been, based on the abuse these boots have been through.

While the 1650 Denier Nylon used around the boot has held up, there’s quite a bit of fraying in numerous areas on the boot. While the stitching hasn’t been compromised where the nylon meets other materials, I’ve noticed the fraying is in the areas with the most wear such as the crease where the foot bends naturally and on the point where the SuperFabric meets the nylon on the Fast Rope System.

The boot interior liner is made of very nice soft and wicking breathable material, the upper is also padded just enough to aid in comfort, but yet not create extra bulk. Made in China.

Lacing

I’ll start off by saying that while the laces are very strong, I don’t care for them. They dig into my fingers when I pull them tightly to lace them up. I wanted to give them a fair shake like everything else on these boots, but I’m a big fan of replacing laces with Paracord for more than just the lace replacement reason. Update: Magnum Boots mentioned below in the comments that they’ve replaced the laces with 330 Paracord and added a locking cleat.

I really like the way the eyelets are designed, with six on each side of the boot and a clear separation between the top three and bottom three. This separation closely resembles the point at which some people, including myself, like to skip a lace to take off some of the tension on boots and allow the boots to flex more. I think the way that Magnum designed the lacing is another reason why these boots are so comfortable.

Fast Rope System

I’d like to highlight a few of the features of the Magnum Spider 8.1 Desert HPi Boots, in particular I’d like to give my thoughts on the Fast Rope System with SuperFabric. We recently completed the testing of these boots by setting up our Fast Rope that we built and I spent some time looking like a kid that can’t get enough of a slide.

We had about 15 ft. in height to Fast Rope from, while no where near the 30 to 60 ft. typical on Fast Ropes, it still gave me a feel for the composite piece at the instep and how well they helped control descent.

The instep piece on each boot creates a nice pocket for the Fast Rope to flow through and the addition of the SuperFabric just above provides a ceramic laced material that helps wear and heat resistance. While after multiple Fast Ropes there are some wear marks, but nothing like what would have been on a boot sole without the added instep protection. The SuperFabric also showed no signs of wear at all.

I found the breaking to be significantly increased by simply locking in more to the rope with the system and allowing me to use less grip to slow descent.

Vent-Guard Sandproof Ventilator Technology

Housed near the natural bend in the foot, the Vent Guard ports on each side of the boot help keep the foot cooler. It was hard for me to tell if this directly added to the breathability of the boots but I’m fairly certain it did.

With most boots, the natural bend point of the foot gets a build-up of sweat that’s a dirt magnet. Each Vent-Guard port has a filter layer that allows air flow, while keeping out sand and other materials. I found this to be an accurate statement and didn’t notice any dirt that accumulated on my socks where the ports are.

While these boots are not waterproof and aren’t marketed as such, the ion-mask hydrophobic surface technology does help keep the boot more resistant to liquids and I feel it’s also aided in how clean these boots have managed to stay regardless of the abuse they’ve been through.

Full Feature List

• ion-mask™ hydrophobic surface enhancement – keeps the materials cleaner and resistant to liquids
• Leather / 1650 denier ballistic nylon upper with Tec-Tuff leather toeguard resists snags and abrasions
• TPU exo-frame reinforcement for support
• Spider Mesh lining for comfort and breathability
• Tested & certified to EN 20347:2004 standard for occupational footwear
• Ergonomically designed
• Metal-detector friendly with non-metallic TPU shank and composite hardware
• Lace storage system on tongue
• M-PACT comfortable contoured sockliner
• Spider outsole with reinforced stabilizers and flexible toe fins to silently stick to walls
• Vent-Guard™ sandproof ventilator technology
• Fast-Rope System with SuperFabric
• Weight – 2 lbs. 13 oz. (both boots together)

In all I really liked the time I’ve spend in the Magnum Spider 8.1 Desert HPi Boots and would highly recommend them. They’re available direct from Magnum Boots for $145 or through their dealers.

Video and Photos

Over the last eight months I’ve been in and out of three different pairs of socks; SmartWool Heavy Crew Trecking, Darn Tough Vermont Boot Socks and 5.11 Level 1 Socks.

I’ve got both positives and negatives for each pair of socks represented here, but first let’s talk socks in general and why you should care about quality.

Protecting your feet is nothing to take lightly and the right pair of socks makes all the difference. You depend on your feet to not only support your body and whatever weight is attached to it, but to also get you to where you need to be.

Selecting the Right Pair of Socks

Nothing ruins a hike, ruck or run faster than bad socks. Well, maybe boot that don’t fit would ruin it faster, but that’s for another article. The goal of wearing socks that perform and fit will is not only to make your feet comfortable, but also to reduce the potential for blisters.

Blisters are the number one cause of a bad day under a ruck and are formed from repeated friction to your feet coupled with heat and moisture from sweaty feet. Moisture + Friction + Heat = Blisters. I’m sure you don’t need me to explain this to you, as you’re an anomaly if you’ve never been blessed with blisters.

While improperly fitting boots are commonly to blame, selecting the right pair of socks is just as important. You want to stay away from 100% cotton socks, which just absorb moisture. synthetics and synthetic blends will wick away moisture and help take one of the three blister causing variables out of the equation.

You also want socks that fit! In the Navy I was issued those crappy one-size-fits-most Wool Dive Socks that are just about useless. In BUD/s you’re constantly wet and those things bunched up big time and the ends of my feet, even when we weren’t running with wet boots. Bunched up socks are a sure way to spawn blisters, so again, get socks that fit.

These socks reflected below were all worn with the same pair of boots, Magnum Spider 8.1 Desert HPi Boots (review coming soon!) and used in everything from daily wear to multi-day hikes in the same pair of socks.

SmartWool Heavy Crew Trecking Socks

I’ve had multiple pairs of SmartWool socks over the years and they’re definitely a comfortable sock, especially these SmartWool Heavy Crew Trecking socks. Made up of 80% Wool, 19% Nylon and 1% Elastic, they truly don’t feel like traditional wool socks.

I don’t know about you, but for me, traditional wool socks get shaped and stiff. By shaped I mean that they almost get pressed into a shape from repeated wear and can make it tough to take them on and off. I didn’t get this at all with the pair of SmartWool socks and with 80% wool I fully expected to.

What I did get was bunching though. Despite the built in flat-knit side panel that’s supposed to prevent bunching, these things crept down to my toes. It wasn’t massive, like Dive Socks do, but it did happen. I really attribute this to how soft these are inside. Don’t get me wrong, I love soft socks just as much as anyone, but I think the softness is what enabled them to slide while my feet were drier.

They were truly the most comfortable socks out of the three reviewed here and I didn’t get any blisters, despite the sock creep. There were some slight hot spots at the bunched points, but I attribute some of the blister prevention to the reinforced sole and heel woven in. I also attribute not getting blisters to my feet. I mention this just to say that tougher feet prevent blisters better, so if you’re training for an event wearing boots, don’t wait until the event to start wearing them!

The SmartWool socks also repelled odor well, I didn’t notice any overly obnoxious odor coming from my feet after wearing these.

Made in the USA from imported yarn

Darn Tough Vermont Boot Socks

I had very high hopes from the Darn Tough Vermont Boot Socks (model #14022) as I’d heard good things about them, but had never worn a pair. They certainly didn’t disappoint! Made up of 69% Merino Wool, 27% Nylon and 4% Lycra Spandex, these surprisingly had more of a traditional wool sock feel than the 11% higher wool content SmartWool socks did.

Not necessarily a bad thing by any means, but there is a slight bit of the shaping that I mentioned earlier with these socks. I did find that they stayed put on my feet, which I feel was helped by the mid-foot support that creates a tighter band all the way around the arch area. Darn Tough Vermont also mentions that they use fine gauge knitting for more stitches per inch and a hugging fit.

The heel didn’t feel reinforced on these socks, but the package states that the heel, toe and foot bottom use 4-ply reinforcing nylon. My feet did remain blister free and hot spot free as well. No issues with odor either.

These socks are part of Darn Tough Vermont’s Military/Tactical line and can only be purchased individually from Tactical Distributors.

100% USA Made – Berry Amendment Compliant

5.11 Level 1 Socks

The first thing that I noticed about the 5.11 Level 1 socks were how long they were, I guess I didn’t notice that I had the 9″ “over the calf” socks, rather than the 6″ socks. They should be called “over the knee” socks though, as that’s where the “one size fits all” socks came to on me. I mention this just to mention it, not to take away from the review of these, as 5.11 makes a 6″ version as well. The 9″ just isn’t for me.

Made up of 80% Coolmax, 8% Nylon, 8% Spandex and 4% Rubber, the 5.11 Level 1 socks are fairly comfortable, yet sparse in some areas. I’ve never worn a pair of Coolmax socks before, but I feel like they actually retained moisture more than the two pairs of mostly wool socks above. Coolmax is the Dupont trademark for polyester and not something I feel competes well with wool based socks.

I actually did get blisters on the back of one of my heels from wearing these socks. I attribute this to the heel area on these not being reinforced like the arch and bottom of the foot is (shown by the white stitching on the socks). There wasn’t any issue with bunching on these at all, but I did feel like they had some stink to them unlike the other socks, especially after wearing them a second day. Coolmax isn’t as naturally stink resistant as wool is.

Made in China

Inherently Anti-Microbial

Here’s a fun fact: Using wool is a natural way to inhibit mildew, as wool fibers naturally prevent moisture from being held in. As bacteria is attracted to smooth positively charged fibers like synthetics, it’s subsequently detracted from the neutrally charged rough fibers of wool.

I personally like wool socks better when it comes to hiking or anytime I’m wearing boots. Both the SmartWool Heavy Crew Trecking Socks and Darn Tough Vermont Boot Socks are good buys, but I’d have to declare the Darn Tough Vermont Boot Socks to be the winner in my testing. While neither are 100% perfect, the bunching of the SmartWool is a turnoff. Comfortable yes, but not what I’d choose on multi-day excursions.

Keep in mind that everyone’s feet are different and this review should only serve as a guideline. Socks, like many other clothing items can be a personal preference and what works the best for the way you were built. Hopefully this helped you learn a bit more about some other options for socks out there. Just trust me when I say not to go out and buy Wool Dive Socks!

Do you have a favorite pair of socks? If so, which ones do you like the best and why?

Hot on the heels (sorry I had to) of our article yesterday on the Danner all-over camouflage A-TACS Boots, Magnum USA has issued a press release with images of their all-MultiCam Sidewinder HPi and Spider 8.1 HPi boots.

These boots have been in development for more than a year with the aid of American, British and Southern Hemisphere Special Forces personnel, which also includes field testing in Afghanistan.

These will officially be launching at SHOT Show 2011 with a June August release date. You can check these out for yourself, if you’ll be at the show, by visiting Magnum USA’s booth (#11164).