I was just speaking with a guy that was wearing a pair of Frogskins and discussing Oakley. He asked about my SI Boots and said his Seargent told him he was not allowed to wear them in in Uniform because he is not "Special Forces".

Nik Gutscher (DisturbedEarth - 4/5/2005 6:51:10 PM)
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oh man. i fully plan to wear them when i'm active duty, assuming i can ever afford them. but i'll be an officer so i don't think i'll have too many people restricting what i wear.

John Heins (john - 4/5/2005 11:44:13 PM)
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Dude....I'm assuming that SI is standard issue....and MI is military...lets us know what happens - and if there is anyway we can get the military version from you, there are a bunch of us iterestsed...

Nik Gutscher (DisturbedEarth - 4/6/2005 2:00:39 AM)
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It will probably be the same as back in 92 the Marine Corp authorized certain units to wear these black timberland boots that looked very similar to the old issue jungle boots. The only diffrence between the military version and the civillian was the lack of the timberland tree emblem on the heel. At the same time the Army came out with the Matterhorn Gortex boot. Both the timberland and the matterhorn were only issued to certain units but were authorized for wear by any Marine as long as it was for use in the field meaning MCX and NEX (Marine Corps Exchange, Navy exchange) sold them and if you had the $$ you could buy them, the timberlands i believe went for $180.00 and the matterhorns for $220.00, im sure AAFES (army airforce exchange services) sell the Oakley SI for any one in the military to buy but i am sure they only issue them to certain units i still have friends in the Marine Corps, some in FAST company, which can be considered "Special Forces" in the Marine Corps and they do not wear the SI though they have seen Seals wearing the desert versions.

jose martinez (crmnjst - 4/6/2005 8:22:03 AM)
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I have a buddy in Iraq right now I talked to him last night he is gonna price all the SI boots and let me know what they run for at the base and what he can get them for. I dont know if its cheaper or not?

Tim F (Meat445 - 4/6/2005 8:45:29 AM)
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I had asked a few soldiers who had just returned from Iraq about the SI Oakleys and Boots and they said they saw no one in the SI specs (but soldiers there where wearing every other Oakley in existance) and they themselves wouldn't be permitted to wear the boots if they were made for Special Forces. The actually told me a lot of our guys are running arounf over there in cut offs and sandals. Interesting.

On a side note, I actually found the SI boot, along with laceless Teeth in a local sporting goods store and they were both drastically marked down. They just didn;t have either in my size.

Phil Barket (kingphilbert - 4/6/2005 8:50:46 AM)
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Awesome article about the SI Assault boots and even has some pics of unseen prototypes (not to mention other interesting items):

http://features.freshnessmag.com/2010/10/12/an-american-original-oakley-military-footwear-program/

Wow. That's a great read.

I liked the vibram sole on one of the shoes. and the LSA boot, if that's ever made, I will need to get.

Also digging the mossy green colour on some of them.

Mike

That "hemp" shoe is cool.


D

Thanks Oak. That's a great insight on the O and their military products and relationship with the Armed Forces.

awesome link! I love the hemp idea too, I love the Lance Armstrong angle as well because people never believe me about that when I'm preaching to them about Oakley lol

I've converted a few already but a lot of people question why I'm so passionate about "a company that makes sunglasses", until I make them realise that it's not just about the brand but what it stands for, it's a company that WILL go above and beyond what other companies do.

How many other companies will pay for cancer treatments for an athlete who may have never got back into his sport? How many other companies plough so much into R&D to make sure that the customer gets the best they can? How many other companies would even dare come up with things so far out of the box like the Medusa and OverTheTops?

I don't care what others wear, I'm Dorian and I'm proud to wear Oakley :-)

LSA should go into production but for military only.