MEDIA RELEASE
New Army Boots March In
The Australian Army is set to step into its first new boots in almost fifty years featuring a revolutionary new design that has been heralded as the most advanced combat boot in the world. User trials, just completed at Canberra's Royal Military College (RMC), have found wide acceptance for the new boots amongst service men and women. RMC cadets and staff were the first service people in Australia to wear the new boots.
While the old boots have taken the Aussie soldier through the major campaigns of the last half century from Kokoda to Korea through to Vietnam, Somalia and the Persian Gulf, they also posed a host of problems – the old boot absorbed moisture like a sponge, was a hotbed for fetid growths and was often a very poor fit resulting in twisted toes and blisters.
Mr Rob Darby, project officer at the Army Technology and Engineering Agency (ATEA), says that the new boots are the result of new techniques and technologies that were previously unavailable and will combine all the latest high quality design features. "The new boots are lighter, more comfortable, far more water resistant, dry out quicker, breath freely and are superior to any product currently available on the market" he says.
Made to the highest technical specifications, the new 'Terra' combat boot, which reaches half way up the calf, has dual density rubber soles for better shock absorbency, parachute chord strength lacing and fast locking eyelets which allow the wearer to 'lock off' the area to be kept tight on the lower part of the boot. The new boot also offers a choice of moulded footbeds for additional comfort – either tropical climate or cold climate footbeds – and a velcro pocket in the tongue that incorporates a teardrop cushion which can be replaced for comfort, depending on the conditions and the individual wearer's choice.
Helping the new combat boots place both feet very firmly in the 21st century is a new foot-measuring device that gives very accurate sizing (within five millimetres). This new device was designed and developed by a Melbourne company and it is a development that Paul Boudville, the podiatrist contracted to the Department of Defence, is particularly happy about. He says the most important thing, from a medical perspective, is a good fit and how this effects the biomechanics of the wearer.
"The new measuring device is essential in getting the fit exactly right which in the long term means less lower limb problems for the wearers and less visits to the podiatrist" he says. Previously the sizing was the old UK system which has now been replaced in favour of mondo point sizing which allows for a wider range of fittings – from two-and-a-half right up to a hefty size fourteen as well as half sizes and a range of length and width fittings.
The unique combination of kangaroo and Australian cattle leathers used in the new combat boot was devised by scientists from CSIRO's Leather Research Centre in Melbourne. Dr. Louis Kyratzis at CSIRO says that his brief given from the Australian Army was for a " high performance leather that was waterproof, highly breathable but still tough and strong."
The answer was a combination of kangaroo and cow leathers – cow for its thickness and substance and kangaroo for its extreme toughness. "We paid particular attention to enhancing and preserving the strength in the cow and kangaroo leathers and we instilled exceptional waterproofness in the manufacturing process while still preserving the breathability", Dr. Kyratzis says. The process involves treating the leathers with a silicon compound which in turns makes the leather more water repellent yet still able to 'breathe'.
Numerous flexing and waterproofing tests were also undertaken by CSIRO to ensure that the leather lived up to the specifications taking particular note of the Army anecdote that "one kilo on the foot is equivalent to ten kilos on the back."
The new boots bring together a range of local companies and technologies and will result in a 98% Australian content. The manufacturer will be Red Back Boots, Sydney, the lasts were made in Melbourne and BB Engineering, also in Melbourne, were responsible for designing and making the new foot measuring device.
The additional spin off for local industry is that the new boots could also find a ready market with farmers, miners and outback workers as well as hikers and bushwalkers. There is even potential for the Australian footwear industry to become a major supplier of export quality tropical boots to military and police forces across the Asia-Pacific region.
The new combat boots will “kick off” with an initial production run of 67,000, which will roll off the production line early in 1999. Annual production is set at 30,00 pairs.
Further information . . .
Declan Mc Grath: (02) 6265 3960, 0419 448 100