Altama – OTB Maritime Assault

Intro

There has been a growing grocery store for a humble profile, tacticool sneakers these past few years and a few companies have come up with their own imagination to fit the call. But only a few have truly made a edit above the remainder, one is the coveted Defcon Vans and the other is the more readily available Altama line of Maritime Assault boots .
I became concerned in the Altama ones back then when they first released them and jumped to the find to get a pair adenine soon as I had the money and they had a european dealer. This was a good few years ago and since then Altama have released several different variations of the boots made together with different shops and dealers and even quite recently released a new iteration of them .
My have with the Maritime OTB Assault has been great and I can already say that it has actually been sol effective that I bought a second pair just immediately ! Let us go through the specific information about them before I go more profoundly into my thoughts about them .

Info

Manufacturer

Altama is a mark that is branched under the US based Original Footwear Co. Their note has a wide diverseness of hiking boots and shoes, genuine military boots and some dress shoes for military personnel by the looks of them. But possibly their most noteworthy and personal models are the Maritime Assault and the new Urban Assault .
The web site says that Altama has been making military footwear since 1969 for american troops. They are apparently the lead manufacturer for the US Department of Defence, which seems like a huge consider ! They pride themselves in exhaustive research and exploitation to make the best boots they can for the troops .
They do not tell excessively a lot about their processes and governmental contracts ( which is apprehensible, of course ), but at least the Maritime Assaults have a lineage on the box saying they are “ designed for special Ops. ” and that they are “ worn by the elect ”. And the name Maritime Assault of course gives a little hint to what kind of guys these boots are aimed for, so at least the bases are well covered .

The Maritime Assault boots

so as the name suggest, these shoes are specially designed for all nautical operations and working around water. intelligibly a distribute of the features revolve around this composition, but they of path solve in all kinds of environments as good .
The knocked out carapace of the shoes are made of highly durable and allegedly quick drying 1000D Cordura. Inside the Maritimes are lined with Air Mesh, that wicks urine and moisture away from your feet effectively. There are not metallic drain ports on either side of each boot to let the water easily out besides .
The outsole is made of SEAL Rubber, which is supposed to be one of the highest traction rubber eraser compounds for brake shoe soles out there. OP Tactical web site tells that the compound was primitively made for climbing shoes and modified a bite to fit nautical environments better ( again the name is a absolutely giveaway ). The radiation pattern on the outsole is not highly aggressive, but to me it seems to be well designed for utmost deem on wet surfaces .
The Maritime features a full lenght one piece ABS shank for lend stability. And to those who do not know what a shank is, it is a piece of metal, or other hard material inside the insole of most shoes and boots that helps to protect and support the foot. not to be confused with self-made edged weapons in this case .

You are provided with a pair of removable Ultron® PU contoured insoles, that are surprisingly comfortable and they do not absorb water. The laces are low profile for ease of function and the spike hardware are non-shine and rustproof .
The boots are made to be well clothing with diving fins, which explains a draw of the features and the low profilessness of them. The Maritimes come in moo or mid models, mid has a bite higher ankle accompaniment .
Altama sells the Maritimes in Coyote Brown, Black, ( Wolf ) Grey, OD Green and besides Multicam and Multicam Black. There has besides been some pictures of prototype colourways with RELV Camo variants, and future M81 Woodland camouflage boots. I remember there was some limited edition versions done with some other companies excessively, but I forget the details about those .
anyhow, Altama quite recently besides released an Urban Assault interpretation, that has different fabric and features to fit kingdom operations. I will not go profoundly into those, but I have to mention that those come besides in Multicam Alpine, which is kind of aplomb .

The Maritime Lows cost 91.99 US Dollars in both multicam colourways, from the original Footwear web site and the solid color cost a bit less. If you are living in EU, you can get yourself a match from tactical Kit from UK when they have them in stock. That is where I got my first pair ! original Footwear besides has an EU web site, so if you want a pair, there are enough of options where to get yourself one !
Sizewise I have to say that for me they are quite true to their size. You see sites saying that these are a bit smaller than Converse Chuck Taylors so you might want to size up if you are half-sized .

My Experience

Hardwearing

I have had the Maritimes now for a little under two years. With my first pair I opted for a firm color for all around use and the lows for ease and summer time quilt. Basically I was looking for more capable pair of Converse Chuck Taylors at that time and I think the Altama Maritime Assaults are equitable that .
But unlike the canvas shoes favoured by the youngsters, these boots truly are made of some hard stuff. evening after two years of arduous, highly varied manipulation they are not even near of falling apart. certain there are signs of wear, but the main structure, fabrics and stitching are by and large well integral.

The model of the outsoles have chipped off here and there, and the early heel has these splinters on it. I think this is due to the fact that they are rubber eraser. Although they are actually hardy rubberize, they are calm made to stick to surfaces, so they have some unfitness to them .


This is why I think the kind of extensive urban use I have put them through is not ideal for the outsoles, and that is something that might be considered in the Urban Assault boots. I am in no manner saying the Maritimes can not handle the urban fit, because they distinctly can and well thus ! But I am merely pointing out that if you buy them for street manipulation, give birth in thinker that they are ultimately meant for another character of environment .

Wet Work

And so how they fare in the element they are build for ? I have not used them for diving or ona proper gravy boat, but I have used them in and around water enough to say they in truth are excellent for that .
We have a canoe and the Maritimes are my belong to canoe shoes. They grip the occasionally wet plastic bottom of the canoe brilliantly and if I need to jump into the water for some reason, I do not need to hesitate. The are light on your feet even when wet and start to dry out promptly after .

So the maritime features of the boots are, in my humble opinion, in no way exaggerated. only one thing I slightly disagree is how quickly they dry all the way through. I pointed out that they start to dry quick, the enfeeble ports, engage line and non-water-absorbent insoles take care of that. But it seems to me that the 1000D Cordura outer fabric keeps in the moisture longer and it normally takes me a over nox to get them thoroughly dried out .

Tested in “Extreme Conditions”

I have used the Maritimes a bunch. It is hard to say how many kilometers they have on them, but it is a batch. And they have seen a good kind of different terrains besides, from the pave city streets to muddy hiking trails. I can say they are not an all around horseshoe, and of course they are not intended to be that. But they will get you through most everything, even snow .
They are besides not hiking boots, or running shoes. But they get you from point a to b tied through rocky paths if need be and I actually precisely ran 6 kilometres in them excessively ! We had a small mishap on a canoe trip, some unexpected bad weather rose up and we had to make an hand brake landing on a lake shore. We decided that I would go pick up the car from where we left it 6 kilometres away and ran to save some fourth dimension. It was not precisely pleasant, but it was not atrocious either !

I besides have once used them as ice swim shoes. In Finland we have tradition to dip in the freeze lakes and rivers from the sauna during the winter. Some go in bare feet, but some use float shoes and I thought to myself that the Maritimes would be perfect for that besides. And turns out they were ! No prospect of slipping in those on the icy pier. Although I recommend having another couple of shoes for the walk of life back from the sauna, the cold and damp Maritimes will drench even your most thick lanate socks .

Conclusions

The Maritime Assault boots are great, personally I like them a lot. But I would say they are not for everyone. For those of who are looking for straight street shoes, I would recommend trying out the Urban Assault boots, although of course I can not say for certain. But those of you who are looking a horseshoe for a little bit of the street and a little bit around water system I would say these are just the thing for you .
I have found them to be highly durable and hard wearing boots. possibly not the most comfortable couple of shoes you will find, but adequately versatile and well rounded. They excel in besotted environments and no doubt are great for diving and other more serious nautical work .
only a few little things have started to come apart after across-the-board use. The outer soles have some minor wear on the model and there are a few splinters on the other heel. besides, what I did forget to mention above, the inside engagement has developed holes in the inside of the heels, but I think this is due to kicking them off my feet constantly. so if you are not lazy as me and you take your shoes off properly every time, I am sure will not have an issue with that .
All in all the Maritime Assault boots are excellent for what they are made for, capital and hard wear for about everything, but you should bear these things in mind when being them. They are not your modal all stars, but a specify brake shoe for particular environments .

-Noble

Likes / Dislikes

Likes

durable
Functional design for nautical work
slightly good EDC capability

Dislikes

They do not dry deoxyadenosine monophosphate fast as one would expect, that truly is the only one boastful dislike I have .

Further Reading

AKU – Pilgrim MK2 GTX
Salomon – XA Pro 3D Mid ( GTX/Forces )
The Redback Company – Timmy Hat and Cierzo Shirt
Audacious Concept – Backcountry Scalpel
PDW – A.G. Watch Cap

Material Disclosure
I received these products via my own funds. I am not bound by any written, verbal, or implied contract to give this product a thoroughly review. All opinions are my own and are based off my personal feel with the product .