Combat boots
Combat boots are laced combat boots of paratroopers and the skydiving used boots. Today urban scene and subcultures also use this shoe shape.
The paratroopers of the Wehrmacht, but later also the hunting commandos and members of the hunter units , were equipped with laced combat boots. These had a lacing and therefore a firm fit. During the war, the black-colored combat boots were revised once. The first model had a grained upper leather and a twelve-hole lacing with leather laces on the outside. A heel and a half sole made of profiled rubber were attached to the sole, which was also made of leather. In the second model, which also consisted of blackened, grained leather that Zwölflochschnürung was already like modern combat boots on the instep been moved to a rubber sole has now been waived. In this model, flat-ground steel pins reinforced the sturdy leather outsole.
Modern boots are flexible, padded on the inside and have a tighter fit on the foot and ankle to support them when landing in a parachute jump. Some models are lined with foam inside the shaft. They have eyelets instead of hooks for the shoelaces so that the suspension lines cannot get caught in an unstable jump. The hooks of combat and mountain boots that are used for parachuting can also be covered with a parachute jump suit or gaiters for the jump, or with duct tape as a makeshift . Sports boots for parachuting have a more elevated shaft than sports shoes, but have become uncommon. Usually only sports shoes are worn.
Other uses of the term
In general German usage, the term " combat boots " is also used colloquially for laced combat boots , since the laced combat boot , which was only issued to the Bundeswehr from 1972 onwards, had the combat boots developed before the Second World War as one of its models and there were clear similarities. For this reason, the laced combat boots issued today to all branches of the armed forces are also referred to as "combat boots" in urban scene and subcultures. Some scene and subcultures that wear real or imitation Bundeswehr boots are skinheads , punks , goths and metalheads . Because of the use of robust materials, combat boots are similar to safety shoes , but are not approved as such in most classes.