Thanks to UKMC Pro for supplying boots on test UKMC Pro: www.ukmcpro.co.uk, 02392 838800
THE WILDCARD: MIL-TEC GERMAN PARA BOOTS PRICE: £49.99 First impressions Just sticking my feet into these heavy, chunky boots made me want to go and give someone a good kicking. With steel-capped toes, thick sole and all-leather construction they would be ideal for it. I refrained, though, took them back off and gave them the once over. They look well-made boots, incredibly solid all round, and I was pleased to see the uppers are double-stitched to the soles. On again, and they’re not the most comfortable boots around. German engineering for you, that.
Woodland These first saw action at a woodland venue the day after the snow visited, so had their work cut out. As often happens in airsoft I was soon caught up with the adrenaline of it all and essentially forgot about the comfort issues, so they can’t be all bad. It wasn’t until the trudge back to the Safe Zone at the end of the day that I felt the sizable blister on my
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heel – should definitely have worn heel pads with these. At one point I found a nice bit of boggy water and stood in it for a good five minutes, with the water rising up above the join of the sole. A later check showed water had seeped in but I didn’t notice at the time. If you’re not in standing water for any extended period of time I don’t think it would cause problems.
Indoors Things were a bit different once I’d given them a good scrub, buffed them back to a shine and taken them indoors for a run round. The very thing that made these such good performers outdoors was half the reason I struggled with them indoors. Fortunately I’d remembered heel pads this time so comfort was no issue to begin with. Once game on had been called and I’d ran with the rest of my team along a corridor and up a set of stairs I knew this still might not work out great though. They’re too heavy, clumpy and ungainly for this sort of thing.
Summary This whole review has ignored one of the biggest selling points of the German Para Boots – that is, they are German Para boots. If you’re putting together a WWII ‘baddies’ impression you pretty much have no option – but it’s good to know what you’re getting yourself in for, eh? I’d happily wear these on a woodland skirmish again. I’d even take them on a longer outdoors event if I was well-prepared and it wasn’t too wet (they take a good while to dry out, far longer than the Mil-Coms). But if the majority of your airsoft is done indoors I wouldn’t recommend these, unless you’re more likely to spend an hour hiding in a corner than chasing around corridors and staircases. In terms of construction they are pretty hard to fault. The laces started to shred after an hour of use but that’s pretty common with cheaper boots. Get yourself a set of sturdy laces and heel pads and these German beasts are ready to rock.