For those of you that don’t know me, it’s important for you to know from the start that I have found immense use out of 5.11 Tactical Gear. My pants are 5.11, I own three pairs of 5.11 boots, I have 5.11 bags, and a 5.11 plate carrier. I have nothing against 5.11 Tactical.
But these sneakers.
5.11, please forgive me, I’m about to destroy these absolutely awful shoes.
Style
When I ordered these shoes, I was PUMPED. Multicam Black, puncture resistant shoes? Heck yeah. Oh yes, please. I never buy shoes that look great. Function over form is my mantra. But 5.11 shoes that looked amazing AND where supposed to function well? With their reputation, surely they couldn’t mess this up. And these shoes look fantastic. I mean, they’re beautiful. The stitching looks amazing, the design is incredibly stylish, and I got a lot of comments about how good they looked, which NEVER happens to me. They shipped fast, and before I knew it I was tearing open a beautiful shoe box of multicam goodness. It was an amazing moment!
Comfort
Aaaaaaand then I put them on. I frowned. Doesn’t feel quite right. A little flat footed, and a hot spot on the outside of my small toe and the front of my big toe. I shifted my feet. Ouch. I shifted my feet again. Nope, still bad. I thought maybe I just needed to break them in, so I proceeded to walk around the house for a bit. Still pretty terrible. So then I got up, put my boots into my backpack, and headed to work. And after about an hour, I had to take this suckers off, with a distasteful flavor in my mouth. I didn’t even want to look at these things. To call them shoes is a compliment for which they are not deserving. When I got home, they went directly back into the box, and an exchange was made for a larger pair. After all, maybe if I get a larger pair, those hotspots would go away?
Fast forward two weeks later. Again, I tore open a box of 5.11 footwear that I just knew was going to feel amazing on my feet. And yet again, I felt the hot spots on my toes. Not as bad this time, and maybe I could live with it if I gave them a chance. Now, several months later, I have to say I’m still not happy with them. In fact, I’m pretty sure I hate them. It’s the first time I’ve been unhappy with a 5.11 product, and honestly, I’m pretty sad about it. No, there’s no perfect product, but the outright discomfort is something I just can’t forgive.
Quality
Another aspect I’m disappointed by with these shoes is the poor quality of the inside of the shoe. Namely, the fact that after wearing them for only a few months, the heel of the shoe has already started coming off. On both sides. What’s happening here is that the plastic heel inside the shoe doesn’t come all the way to the top of the external heel, and so when you walk, it’s rubbing along the fabric caught between your foot and the heel, until there is no fabric left. Once you reach this point, the plastic heal is rubbing directly against your skin or sock, leading to yet another hot spot. Yuck. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.
I can’t in good conscience give these shoes a good review. I hate them with everything in me. I wanted to love them. I really wanted to. But after buying a size larger than normal, and watching them fail over the past six months of light duty… No. No more. 5.11, I hope you can forgive my honesty. I promise I’ll write another positive review for you in the future.
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