OTB Boots
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.