Altama Foxhound

With the update of the Army's uniform, it was time to get some new boots.  I went for Altama, as I had such good luck with their Exospeed boots.

These boots were equally as comfortable pretty much right out of the box.  As is the case with all boots, these got more comfortable as they got broken in.  Good traction, and resistant to stains so far.

They've also held up well in the 6 months that I've owned them.  I've gotta be transparent and let the gentle reader know I don't go on long patrols or road marches with them, but do a decent amount of walking around the area I'm at.  The boots don't show any signs of stitching coming undone or other wear issues.  They're not "lightweight" boots like jungle boots but haven't noticed sweaty feet even when the temps get up to 128 F.

The only thing I've done with them was replace the laces with 550 cord.  Not that I had issues with the laces, but I have had issues with other boot laces and this seemed like a prudent thing to do before a deployment.

They clean up easily and look almost new when dry.  It was mostly a matter of getting the surface dirt off that made them look more like a light tan boot than coyote brown.

I'm very happy with this purchase and would recommend them to anyone.

Kershaw Ken Onion Blur

This is the Kershaw Ken Onion Blur.  It's an assisted opening knife, with some cool grippy material on the handle.  I opted for the non-serrated black blade.

After playing with the assisted open feature, which is lightening fast, I really liked how comfortable it felt.  The curves of the handle seem like the conform to your hand.  The blade is easy to deploy and it's a good length without seeming too big.

Not surprisingly it came razor sharp from the factory and I haven't had to sharpen it yet, although I've only used it to open boxes and such.  I like the fact that the users manual actually recommends the sharpening angle. This is helpful for me as I struggle with the correct angle sometimes.

About the only thing I question is the liner lock.  It works fine, but doesn't seem to engage the blade very deeply, as compared to my Emerson CQC 10.  I haven't had an issue with it, but I'd be careful with it if I was doing some hard work with it.

Overall a great knife.  It carries well and I don't even know it's in my pocket.  It's got enough heft to it to feel sturdy but not feel heavy.

It will be a strong competitor as my favorite knife, up against the Emerson CQC 10.