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The Thor TC is completely different from the Bushmaster and Ferdelance OTB Tactical Land boots. Rather than looking like a LE or military boot, the Thor TC looks more like a commercial light hiking boot at first glance. It was designed as a CQB boot for SOF units that wanted a boot that wouldn’t scream ‘military’, and wouldn’t look out of place amongst civilians. While it looks like a hiking boot, the Thor actually has it origins in a climbing boot, or more specifically, an approach boot. An approach boot has some of the characteristics of a hiking boot and rock climbing shoes – it’s comfortable for light hiking but has a more flexible and sticky rubber sole for maintaining traction on steeper grades or rock, or walls, stairs and ladders. The Thor TC is best described as an ‘assault approach boot’.

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When I reviewed the OTB Tactical Water Boots above a year ago, I mentioned to Dan Ellis that it’d be cool to see land versions of these boots. Apparently, quite a few people were thinking the same thing, as Dan said that a line of land boots was in the works. Well, OTB Boots recently released their line of Tactical Land Boots, two of which are based on their Tactical Water Boots and the third a completely different boot.

The three Land Boots are the Bushmaster, Ferdelance (named after members of the viper family) and Thor TC. The Bushmaster is a mid cut 7″ boot while the Ferdelance is a taller (approx 9″) combat boot suitable for uniform wear. Both are available in Black and Desert Tan. The Thor TC is a mid cut boot that is patterned after a climbing boot, and designed for speed and agility. It comes in Black and Camel/Black. The black boots are aimed more at SWAT/law enforcement and foreign militaries that use black boots, while the tan versions are already in use in Iraq.

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One of the latest products from UK Gear is the PT-03 Desert running shoe, the Hot Environment version of the PT-03 featured above. UK Gear actually introduced two training shoes for extreme climates; the Desert and Winter Shoes. Both were designed and developed in association with the British Army Physical Training Corps (APTC) and were tested in the extreme heat of Afghanistan (for the Desert) and cold of Norway (for the Winter version).
The sand proof PT-03 Desert running shoe is specifically designed for hot and arid environments with an optimal temperature range of +77 to +122°F. It took over a year to develop with the APTC before going through final testing with the British Army in the harsh terrain of Afghanistan. One of the more unique features of the PT-03 Desert is that it accomodates optional detchable gaiters to keep the sand out and protect the foot.

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Over the years, Dan from OTB boots has worked with the SOF community on different types of specialty footwear, and was approached by the U.S. Navy SEALs to develop a line of boots for use in and around water. The result from this request and focus groups with SEALs was the line of boots named OTB, the military acronym for “Over The Beach”. Although OTB was initially formed to provide tactical footwear only, they’ve expanded their line of footwear to include civilian applications as well such as diving, fishing and hunting. Note that these are not water-proof boots; they are not designed to keep water out. Rather, they are designed to let water out as efficiently as possible, following complete submersion of the foot, where a water-proof boots is useless once the water level is higher than the top opening. OTB boots are not meant to replace hiking or combat boots, or for humping miles over dry mountainous terrain with heavy loads. They’re meant to be used in and around the water – on boats, the beach, oil rigs etc, and situations where the user is exiting a wet environment on to land.

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The first commercial product ever to be produced in association with the British Army is the UK Gear PT-03 running shoe and bears the Army’s crossed-swords logo inside the tongue as a symbol of its endorsement. The PT-03 was developed by UK Gear over a period of 18 months, part of which instructors from the British Army’s APTC (Army Physical Training Corps) advised on its design and tested it. It was designed as a high performance running shoe for use on track, road or trail.

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