"OTB" (Over The Beach) Footwear

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Waterwings

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Northwest KY. Fairweather angler
I'm always on the lookout for some decent shoes to wear while on the boat, because usually I end up getting my feet wet while loading the boat. Normally I wear a pair of deck-type leather shoes which I normally put through the paces when fishing, mowing the yard, etc, etc. I found the OTB site while surfing the net tonight. Might be kinda pricey, but I figure so are the Columbia low-quarter water-type shoes I've been eyeing for awhile. My dad, who was US Army Infantry, always told us "...take care of your feet, and they'll take care of you". Good advice in my book. Here's the website for the OTB footwear (designed for the US Navy SEALs at their request I might add). :USA1:

https://www.otbboots.com/main.html
 
I have a pair of those shoes some where... I think the one's that I have are called Poseidon or something. They gave us some of those for our R&R training...

The boots that I'm wearing fishing right now cover my calves, I think I got them from Bass Pro, Buck Stalker I think is what they are called. Very comfortable, and very warm. In the summer time, I'm in shorts and no shoes.. and if I do wear shoes I'm wearing Crocs.
 
Be careful with Crocs. When I was shore fishing I went wading in a river with my Crocs on. I got out of the water and had to step up a few large rocks. Done it dozens of times without issue until this day. The crocs didn't slip themselves, but since you are supposed to get Crocs that are a little loose, my foot slip inside the Croc, and the heel strap broke, I fell, dropped everything, foot slid down the edge of the rock and I had some nice cuts on the bottom of my feet and toes. Never again will I wear Crocs in water (which is what I bought them for in the first place). I am going to buy some more secure shoes. I was looking at some Solomans.
 
Waterwings said:
Have thought about getting myself some Crocs due to my dang feet hurting from being on them all day at work, the Crocs look real comfortable! :)

I also have a pair of crocs and I love them. Really comfortable, and as long as you get the correct size for your feet, they surprisingly don't really move around on ya.

But like Shadowwalker said, I wouldn't wanna go wading in them, but for just getting in and out of the boat and just have something to protect the bottom of your feet, they're perfect. Only other thing about them is that my feet tend to sweat just a tad due to the fact the shoes are made of some sort of rubber material, but its not that bad....you can just slide your foot back a little and give them some airflow and they're fine. I really like mine though.
 
Waterwings said:
...They gave us some of those for our R&R training...


You guys had to train for R&R? The Navy always just gave us a warning about what parts of foreign ports to stay out of. We trained after we found the off-limits places lol.

J/K Russ! 8)

There are so many comments I have rolling through my head about the Air Force, but as it is Christmas Eve. I'm gonna be nice. WW we never trained after either, just lined up for shots at medical.

As far as shoes in the boat I wear a pair of New Balance 640's, I think they are considered cross training shoes. I don't get out of the boat unless it's at a dock or pier, so they work great for my application.
 
Let the comments roll about the good ole Chair Force!! It doesn't bother me at all... I sleep in hotels for our 2 weeks training, eat at nice restaurants, played video games in our shops, watched movies - what a wonderful military! Of course, all of this was after I was a PJ (pararescue)... I did Satellite Communication until they shut our unit down a year ago, so anybody who wanted to call home would usually find out who we were overseas and then would give us the all kinds of stuff just to be our "friends". Of course, what I worked with was a 20' antenna, so we were always away from the base because of our big bullseye.

The R&R training I was referring to was where we were stationed at right after 9-11 (Masirah Island) It was a special ops base, but they would send a lot of guys from the frontline there for R&R. They gave us these shoes because when we went to the beach, you had to be careful where you stepped because of all of the rocks and anything else that would tear your feet up. These held up pretty well, but most of us fished during our down time. Really good fishing there too, of course most of the fish had teeth. We had to improvise our fishing rods when we first got there.... clothing hangers with sharpened points were formed into hooks, the inside strands inside of parachute cord that we braided was the fishing line, and the only thing we could find for poles were these long thorny bushes that we cut the thorns off of. You couldn't break the poles, and my guess is they were equivalent to ML rods. They did pretty good though.. we used live crabs that we caught for bait.. didn't need any weight, the current would pull all your line out to sea, but pulling the dang things back in were a headache... 2 people fished at a time, the guy holding the pole and the other guy pulling in the line. After about a month, we got our first shipment of rods/reels from Shakespeare after we sent them an email asking them to help us out.

As far as crocs go - I finally found a pair that works for me. I don't get a size thats a little loose, I got the exact fit, but this new pair I have has a velcro back strap and that has made all the difference in the world. Those are the MOST comfortable pair of shoes I have and wear them with everything.
 
If I am not at work, you will find me in a pair of Croc Athens in the summer.

crocs_athens.jpg


They make for great boat shoes but like someone else said, be careful when you get these wet as your foot wants to slide.
 
Russ,

I have students in my jrotc classes (always the guys of course) who say they want to do hi-speed (waterborne) stuff in the military, and I tell them "here are the options"........SEALs, SWCC, PJ, Navy Diver, Force Recon, SAR (Navy, USCG). I always do my best to explain the PJ's, but I have little info to provide, but always tell them to get ready for some heavy-duty stuff, and they better start PT'ing real quick! 8) . Thank you for your service! :USA1:

"WW"
USN (Ret.'92)
 
Waterwings said:
Russ,

I have students in my jrotc classes (always the guys of course) who say they want to do hi-speed (waterborne) stuff in the military, and I tell them "here are the options"........SEALs, SWCC, PJ, Navy Diver, Force Recon, SAR (Navy, USCG). I always do my best to explain the PJ's, but I have little info to provide, but always tell them to get ready for some heavy-duty stuff, and they better start PT'ing real quick! 8) . Thank you for your service! :USA1:

"WW"
USN (Ret.'92)

The PJ unit I was attached to was a Guard base and it was the 123rd STS in Louisville, KY. The training is intense... 20 of us went in, 8 of us lasted through it. Most people just aren't mentally tough enough to handle what you go through. You just have to take it and roll and keep in the back of your mind that you're not going to die with all the training you go through.

I was a Combat Controller - here is a good start to show them what they need to be able to do https://www.specialtactics.com/cctapprentice.shtml... And just because those minimums look easy - think about doing all of those in succession without breaks. It's all a mental game - your body can handle it, but can your mind??
 
Whew! Tough entry requirements! My nephew (a hard-charging, physically fit 19 yr old) recently graduated Navy Air Traffic Controller school in Pensacola, and I saw him this past weekend when he was home. He mentioned he would like to be attached to a Marine unit as a ATC. He did the SEAL Challenge in Boot Camp and passed all of the events except the swim (500 yds I believe) due to his time. He's a strong swimmer, just couldn't get the time down. I told him that at least he had the gonads (I used a different word) to try it, instead of sitting on the sidelines and just wondering if he could do it. He is now on his way to his first ship, and I'm sure he'll do well, if he doesn't get bored, lol.
 
Waterwings said:
Whew! Tough entry requirements! My nephew (a hard-charging, physically fit 19 yr old) recently graduated Navy Air Traffic Controller school in Pensacola, and I saw him this past weekend when he was home. He mentioned he would like to be attached to a Marine unit as a ATC. He did the SEAL Challenge in Boot Camp and passed all of the events except the swim (500 yds I believe) due to his time. He's a strong swimmer, just couldn't get the time down. I told him that at least he had the gonads (I used a different word) to try it, instead of sitting on the sidelines and just wondering if he could do it. He is now on his way to his first ship, and I'm sure he'll do well, if he doesn't get bored, lol.

Tell him not to give up - keep practicing. I sucked at swimming until someone showed me the proper way to use my legs.. You speed up and don't tire yourself out. I don't know how to explain it, I only know how to show it
 
russ010 said:
Waterwings said:
Whew! Tough entry requirements! My nephew (a hard-charging, physically fit 19 yr old) recently graduated Navy Air Traffic Controller school in Pensacola, and I saw him this past weekend when he was home. He mentioned he would like to be attached to a Marine unit as a ATC. He did the SEAL Challenge in Boot Camp and passed all of the events except the swim (500 yds I believe) due to his time. He's a strong swimmer, just couldn't get the time down. I told him that at least he had the gonads (I used a different word) to try it, instead of sitting on the sidelines and just wondering if he could do it. He is now on his way to his first ship, and I'm sure he'll do well, if he doesn't get bored, lol.

Tell him not to give up - keep practicing. I sucked at swimming until someone showed me the proper way to use my legs.. You speed up and don't tire yourself out. I don't know how to explain it, I only know how to show it

Now that you mention it, I believe he mentioned something about how he used his legs that was not correct. He's tall, about 6'4", and I wonder if that has anything to do with his "style". He said they could only use two strokes during the tryout. I think he said the breast stroke and a side combat stroke, but I could be wrong. I know he runs every chance he gets and works out at the gym. I told him good thing he was going to a carrier (USS Carl Vinson), as they will have decent workout gear, and plenty of room to run........................on the flight deck, lol.
 

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