REVIEW: Altama OTB Maritime Assault Mid Boots

[ The ] Altama Maritime Assault Boot is made for all tactical urine operations. With a tail fin friendly fit, this kick will fit just about any honkytonk tail fin used by Militaries worldwide .

The first base time I saw Altama’s OTB (Over The Beach) Maritime Assault Mids, I wrote them off as a tactical version of Converse All Stars – more fashion than officiate .

Despite more than a passing resemblance to the iconic Chuck Taylor brake shoe, they are truly quite different. In fact, it ’ s a tribute to Altama that they ’ ve packed indeed many utilitarian features into that time-honored ( though rudimentary ) form factor .
Altama ’ s UK retailer Tactical Kit sent these to me – spare of agitate. If they hadn ’ t done then, I ’ vitamin d be none the wise about what is a very surprise pair of shoes. They weren ’ metric ton on my privation number, because I made a huge error in pigeon-holing them as merely tacticool.

Having said that, I was dreading reviewing them – initially .
Unlike my wife I am actually, in truth finical about shoes ; which means I only have a copulate of pairs in the house at any one prison term. They wear out and I replace them – normally with precisely the lapp type .

Don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate get me amiss – I ’ ve tried a cargo of different stuff to get to this point ; but with shoes more than any other apparel, the fit has to be absolutely perfect for me to get on with them. What ’ s more, I can only wear shoes for an offer period which accept orthoses. That cuts things down unusually. indeed I spend a draw of clock time in high volume footwear – like approach shoes .
suffice to say the Altamas do accept my orthoses. If you wear Super Feet Green or like, you will be pleased to know that they will pop right in ; as will Blue, Black etc ( which are lower volume ). I have a unharmed drawer full of Super Feet, which were my go to before the 3DO and carbon paper character custom-made beauties I finally stumped up for .
however, Altama provides a copulate of insoles which I would guess are perfectly suited to a shoe that ’ randomness intend for maritime operations. You notice this time and time again with the horseshoe ’ s overall blueprint : immediate dry, hydro-phobic materials, fast draining. The insoles are besides not going to get gummed up with sand or early sediments .
In so many shoes, the footbed is a street arab proposition, but Altama thought these through .


additionally, they are soft enough to mould to your feet whilst wearing the shoes, they have a deep heel cup – which stabilises your infantry – and a fair total of arch support .
In the deep 90s I walked the Saklikent Gorge in southwestern Turkey. At the time of year I was there, I needed amphibious footwear. I wore old gen Teva Wraptors which weren ’ thymine in truth up to the wet depart of the job ; not a lot support and my unprotected toes were snubbed on submerged rocks ; not to mention the discomfort of small pebbles lodging between the sole of my foot and the Tevas ’ footbed .
The Altamas would have been absolutely arrant : amply enclosed ( with arctic toe caps for extra protection ), non-clogging sticky arctic outsoles, fast draining and ( crucially ) wearable following to skin .


In fact, I actually want to say that they are designed from the grind up to be work best without socks ; lined with sock-fit spacer mesh ( pictured below ) and the non-absorbent footbeds described earlier .

drain is massive and fast, thanks to the apertures on either side of the toe box. These are protected by mesh, which stops grit and small pebbles getting into the shoe to cause discomfort .


What you can ’ t see is the wax length ABS shank in the sole. While this is helpful for climbing ladders, it besides protects your sole from landing on sharp river rocks and means you can walk promote in more comfort – as it provides decent support .
thus, while for now I will only be using the Altamas for EDC, they very are a different animal to Converse All Stars .
Because I haven ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate been spending a batch of meter immersed in bombastic bodies of water ( aside from a quick test of the Altamas ’ amphibious qualities in the Wye Valley ) I have been wearing them with socks. The spacer engagement lining still wicks efficaciously with this combination and I haven ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate encountered any difficulties with my orthoses .

I have fairly across-the-board feet, so it ’ south encouraging that I can wear the Altimas both with and without socks .
I ’ m normally a UK size 9.5 so I followed the recommendation on tactical Kit ’ s web site and choose UK size 10. These paroxysm well .
As for aesthetics, the Multicam printed 1000D Cordura is surely attention-getting, but there are more tame color available. The Cordura used doesn ’ metric ton seem to absorb water like normal 1000D, so I imagine it is treated in some way.



The boots ’ are wholly non-metallic, thus well-suited to travelling through airports and early high security areas – with nylon eyelets ( so no rust, either )

The tongue is padded and exhibits Altama brand. It besides limits grit entrance in the way it ’ sulfur attached to the horseshoe via gussets .


It goes without saying that mid-height boots offer more confirm than low-tops, but the ankle is besides good padded. Again, this protects from knocks .

last, unlike fashion footwear, you actually can pull these on using the pill at the cad .

They are huge and composed of beefy, well-stitched webbing .
big thanks to Tactical Kit for providing these exceeding boots for review – I ’ ll reputation second when I ’ ve given them a few more miles ( and more water ) .
The pictures featured in this review depict the boots fresh from the box, so it ’ ll be interesting to compare after some more wear and pluck .
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