Combat Boot Archives 7 ~ MAGNUM Desert Lightweight Patrol Boot

The following Footwear Archive article on MAGNUM combat boots was published in the May 2013 issue of the now out-of-print COMBAT & SURVIVAL Magazine, writes Bob Morrison.

 

Archive: The latest [2012] contract to re-equip Britain’s armed forces with combat boots covers five different categories and two separate manufacturers using their own last designs will supply each category to ensure a higher percentage of troops are able to wear off-the-shelf footwear than if only one manufacturer’s products had been selected. In theory every soldier should be able to choose the one of two boot designs that better suits his or her feet (both male and female sizes cobbled on different lasts are also being catered for) thereby reducing the percentage of troops requiring specialist non-standard combat footwear and subsequently saving money.

 

The five boot categories procured by UK MoD are: Cold Wet Weather, optimised for all-year / all-seasons and excessive use; Combat High Liability, the standard infantry boot which is also optimised for all-year / all-seasons use but is not intended for extreme cold climate wear, Desert High Liability, the standard infantry boot which is optimised for arid theatre use; Lightweight Patrol, the rear echelon boot intended for temperate climate use and only procured in comparatively small quantity; and Desert Lightweight Patrol, the rear echelon boot intended for arid climate use. A sixth category, Jungle, was also included in the tender requirements but this procurement is being dealt with separately.

 

A few days before the Easter [2013] break MAGNUM couriered a pair of their new brown boots which are being supplied for the Desert Lightweight Patrol category and we immediately started wearing them, even though the sunny climate in the UK was far from arid.

 

A variation of their already popular DESERT SCORPION, previously issued to operational UK Forces in Tan, this is a boot design we are already very familiar with, so it holds no surprises and we don’t need to beast it to check it is fit for purpose (note as the boots illustrated are pre-production samples the colourway may not be exactly a 100% match with the full production batch but it will be very close).

 

The MAGNUM SCORPION has suede leather and 1150 denier nylon uppers, a Breathe Right lining to maximise breathability and comfort, silver-based Agion antibacterial treatment to inhibit the growth of microbes, Magnum’s own sturdy and self-cleaning tread pattern with purpose-designed flex groove, a composite toecap and a penetration-resistant plate under the removable contoured insole.

 

As many military and police readers will have previously been issued with the SCORPION, which is also available in black leather and nylon, and as we have previously trialled this design, there is not really much more to say; except maybe to note that once broken in the first version of this boot in the Tan colourway could be a bit floppy beneath the ankle but this was modified on later batches with additional vertical strengthening.

 

My initial impression with these lightweight boots, which tip the scales to just under 700 grammes apiece for UK Size 10, is that they do precisely what it says on the tin. I foresee my pair getting a lot of use over the summer months.

{ images © Bob Morrison 2013 }