Customer Reviews

Oakley Men's SI Assault 8" Hiking Boot,Desert,11.5 M US

5 star:		(0)
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3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

i had the first SI Assault from Oakley back in 2002, that pair of boots really served me well. So, I decided to get a second one. Guess what? Oakley quality degraded throughout the years. The sole came off only after a few months. I also used to have an e-Wire sunglasses, that was a classic! But when I got to the newer ones, the film of the lens peeled off easily. Same goes with their bags; the handle of their backpack suddenly broke - and worst, the local dealership here in Manila won't even give me a warranty!! After several years of using Oakley, I decided to finally dump the brand and buy no Oakleys anymore.

Currently deployed to iraq, been in country a little over a year now. Cannot even begin to explain how comfortable these boots are compared to the pair of Bates i was issued. Half the weight and they fit perfectly. Took about 3 and a half months for the tread to wear completely flat in the sand. Still wearing the same pair. If you want something easy on your feet than these are it, just do not expect them to last long if you are going to be abusing them much.

I like these boots very much. They are probably the most comfortable boots I have worn, However. In February of this year I ordered a pair of boots for work. I started wearing the boots around the end of February, beginning of March. In October, approximately 7 months after I started wearing the boots I noticed a hole had worn in the heal of the left boot. I do not drag my heals when I when I walk. It seems that the rubber on the treads is too thin. The rubber over most the treads is blistering.

I bought these boots 4 years ago for work, they were the best boots I had ever worn, very light, comfortable to wear fitted like a glove. but! after 6 months I too noticed in the heal area the lining breaking apart in both boots? I was careful to look after the boots and was not tough on them. I rang Oakley and they arrange to have them sent back and send me another pair. they said the boots were faulty causing the heal to wear very quickly. good service I thought from Oakley. I received my new boots and yet again after about 6 months the heal lining had worn thru?

Oakley 8" Assault Boots - Temperate

There are several different Oakley assault boot configurations and it isn't because they're made in different countries. There's a temperate climate boot that does not have stitching all around the outside of the sole, and it is a much warmer boot. It's available in black or desert tan. Then there's the desert boot only available in desert tan. This is made of a lighter material with stitching all around the outer sole.

The boots I purchased are the black temperate climate boots made in China. I found that they're sized about one half a size smaller than athletic shoes. I normally wear size 12 sneakers, and I had to step down to size 11.5 with the Oakleys. The leather construction is cheap, as in $30 worth of cheap. It feels like the fake leather they use on cheap belts or wallets, nothing like the leather used on military issued boots.

There's a sticky leather used around the inside of the boot neck and at the heel. The heel leather tends to peel off. The rubber used for the sole and around the forward part of the boot is of medium stiffness, but the boot still needs break-in time to feel flexible. The ankle area feels extremely stiff out of the box and Oakley should have gone to an all-Cordura material for flexibility. The soles are still rather thick and don't feel like sneakers. They also make a lot of noise when wet and they also squeak on polished surfaces. The tread compound appears to wear easily.

The price of these boots was definitely not commensurate with the manufacturing quality. I've read numerous complaints from owners regarding the boots falling apart within 6 months and I don't have any reason to doubt these reports.

I noticed quite a few movies that had main characters sporting Oakley's latest accessories (backpacks, optics, footwear). Terminator Salvation was one of them. John Connor seemed to show off the Oakleys whenever possible, but in a manner that made it seem like the boots were uncomfortable.

Pros: Fairly stylish, soles have decent traction on rough surfaces, feels light weight

Cons: Still needs break-in time, felt very stiff, still did not feel like running shoes, ankle area was too tight, cheap construction and materials, extremely high price tag - most "military-spec" boots are available at a lower cost

Overall: 2/5 stars, you're paying the price premium for the Oakley brand

I purchased two pairs of the Oakley Special Forces Elite Special Issue desert combat boots along with the converse Desert boot and tactical research desert boots. I rotated the boots daily so the liners would stay dry and to reduce smell and the risk of jungle foot. I wear the boots for PT and bike rides. At the 60 day mark of wear in Iraq through the end of summer, fall and rainy season of middle Iraq, the heel cup liners on the inside of the Oakley desert combat boots started ripping in both pairs of boots at about the same time. This eventually (in 4 more wearings each) allowed the foam padding to abraid piling onto my socks and then exposed the hard plastic heel form in the inside of the boot.
For the first 58 days, the boots were light, comfortable, looked good and withstood 3x weekly convoys in Cougars and Mraps, walks over the gravel and desert, climbs in and out of broken shells of buildings. Once the heel liners wore out at day 60 of use, the boots hard plastic heel cup has such a hard sharp edge that the discomfort makes the boots unwearable/unseviceable.
The Tactical research boot continues to hold up after 80 days of 12hr/day wear. There is some peeling to the TR outer heel leather wrap where the stitching has given way (I put my feet under the seat across me in the RG33s and Cougars ( who doesn't?)
The Converse desert boot has lasted 2 1/2 months of daily wear. The Converse desert boot has a wide mid-foot last so I recommend it for trial for my soldiers with flat feet that are wide in the middle with the collapsed arch.
At over $135/pair and only 60 wear days of life even when rotated between 4 pairs of boots, I will not recommend these Oakley boots to my junior enlisted unless they can afford to order new boots every two months of daily wear.
Hopefully Oakley will crack the code on their boot design/manufacturing quality control.
I had four pairs of Blackhawk desert wear combat boots. The boots are great for garrison, light comfortable and you can run in them. There is a heel cup liner problem with these also but the liner wears out at about the 7 months of (14 months for two pairs changed every other day and limited wear on the weekends and DONSAs, 12hr-day) wear mark before the hard plastic heel cup is exposed making the boots unserviceable. The plastic toe shield once scratched by wire, a brick or the metal edges in the MRAPs splits and exposes the inner liner of the toe of the boot that quickly tears and exposes your toes. A dab of shoe goo will hold about two months on the sidewalks in garrison or about 1 week in the desert. Another consideration that could be a problem is that the steel mesh shank that supports the arch has two rivets that hold the shank to the sole of the boot. The shank is too narrow to be protection from punji stakes. The rivets are inserted souch that as you cycle your foot roll over the sole of the boot, the rivets loosen with edges that "peel" up to expose a ragged circular lip that has been cutting through the boot foot insole liner. Thankfully the toe box failure and the resultant failure of the boots as a whole came before the metal edges bit into the bottom of my foot. The metal edges stand up about 3mm and the insole of the boot probably collapses to 3.5mm with running or climbing stairs/ladders.

I used two pair of the Oakley Assault boots for a year long tour in Iraq. I rotated my boots so wear was distributed. I used a soft brush after each mission and after a normal duty day. I kept loose threads trimmed and the ends tacked down to prevent unraveling. Additionally I aired the boots and inserts out daily.
PROS: Very comfortable. I wear a size 9 regular width, but I got the boots in extra wide to allow for foot expansion in the heat.
CONS: Rapid tread and thread wear. My job involved about 50% walking and 50% riding. I experienced considerable tread wear 4 months into my tour. Threads began working loose about 3 months into my tour. I replaced the boot laces on each boot twice. By the end of the tour I had bald tread and uppers that had separated. A local cobbler stitched the uppers together to get me through the last month of my tour.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: My experience was YOYO. (Your On Your Own).
OVERALL OPINION: Great garrison boots at a much lower price point. My only other caveat is the squeek the boots make on linoleum type floors. Very unnerving when your trying to stay quiet.

I too had some Oakley boots back in 2007-8 and wore them in a regular size and I still have them with the sole worn flat and glue gunned the inside stitching to cover them from rough terrain cuts where most boots usually blow out. They are comfortable and well broken in to the point of their life's end and I have thrashed them hard.

So, I forked up the cash and ordered a new pair of Oakley's in my size this summer to continue the tradition and comfort and rotate them with my other pairs of well broken in boots. Only, the new Oakley pair I got had way too much padding that heats up your foot and it does not feel like the same Oakley boot system even after breaking them in for 3+ months it fits way too big to the point of me putting another insole on top of the ones inside to take up the extra room and it is still labeled the right size on the boot tongue. It feels like I am wearing platform shoes!!!!! ------- Not Good!

Save your money until Qakley does some quality control - change some management positions - and produce the same boot quality they did back in the past.

Belleville 390 Des (cool in desert), Newer Rockies S2V (little hotter in desert)will get my hard earned $$$$$$$ from now on.

Spend your money on their Oakley sunglasses and get your boots elsewhere, the sun has set on this product from what it used to be.



Pros:
Name, Tan, Cushion Sole

Cons:
Too big in size, one size larger than what you order (up a whole size) too much padding that equals heat in a desert / hot environment and sweaty feat where other boots cushion and are cooler. Not what they used to be in quality control for the cost they are selling them at. There are other name brand boots that offer better features for a lower price to spend your hard earned money on.

Bottom Line:

Leave this product to the chicks dig it gear crowd and save your money for some better boots from other manufacturers.