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Digital Combat Boots Out In The Wild

Officers of the Eastern Field Command with their digital combat boots at the farewell parade for the Army chief on February 23, 2023. TD

SHAH ALAM: Back in July last year, the Army’s Logistics Headquarters floated a quotation notice for the supply and delivery of non-scale clothing (pakaian bukan skala), digital combat boots. It is unclear why the notice stated that the boots are non-scale clothing.

The notice stated that the 1111 pairs should be in digital camo; made of microfibre PU and comes in standard sizes. It must also be comfortable and durable; anti-slip and safe; fast drying, light and flexible. According to Eperolehan website, the quotation notice was awarded to PNA Holdings Sdn Bhd with a contract of RM499,950.

Army chief Gen Zamrose Mohd Zain and the officers of the GGK at the farewell parade on February 2, 2023. Note their boots.

It is likely that the digital combat boots have been distributed to its recipients as they were worn by some high-ranking officers at the Army chief farewell parade at the Muara Terang Camp in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak on February 23. The parade was held by the Eastern Field Command.
Army chief General Zamrose Mohd Zain arriving at the Muara Tuang parade ground. Note his boots and the digital combat boots by the other officers. TD

Malaysian Defence was told that the digital combat boots will become standard issue soon with the first batch going to high-ranking officers first. The rest of the Army will also get them once they are procured. Unfortunately, it is unclear what is the make of the digital combat boots seen. AFAIK, soldiers, and officers can purchase non-standard boots, but these cannot be worn during parades and other ceremonial duties for obvious reasons.
Updated with added information.

— Malaysian Defence

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Marhalim Abas: Shah Alam

View Comments (21)

  • Saw plenty of shops in Kompleks Pertama selling what looks like combat boots. Whether they are legit or not I cannot tell.

  • "Whether they are legit or not I cannot tell"

    Fine line between whats legit or no; especially with private purchase stuff. As long as it's popular with troops. In the past the gold standard with boots were Danner, Matterhorn and Altberg. All were non issue but very desirable by troops.

    Like everywhere else there's cheap and not so cheap stuff in Pertama. You get what you pay for. A decent brand is Magnum; it's not that expensive and is worth what it's paid for.

    Ed,

    Maroon boots have been around for a while now; mostly with airborne units. What I hope we'll never get are camo berets ... A big no.

  • "Fine line between whats legit or no"
    That is interesting as I have no first hand experience wearing ATM issued boots so I couldn't compare and tell which is a proper combat ones, a lot I seen there looks like Timberland hiking boots so I'm skeptical of their genuine purpose. I will have a relook on Magnum when I'm back there.

  • '' looks like Timberland hiking boots''

    Which are great for hikes and camping but not to be worn for hours or days on end. Quite often commercially produced boots [like the brands I alluded to] are much better in terms of comfort and durability compared to issued boots. Magnum is considered entry level; affordable but cheap and is/was used a lot by SWAT teams and such.

    Boots that were quite comfortable were the rubber soled canvas ones worn up until the early 90's by the army and Field Force. It was a locally produced variant of the British 44 Pattern boot. At one point it could be seen widely used by grasscutters. What came after and was standard issue for years was a locally produced version of the U.S. jungle boot [as worn in Vietnam] - uncomfortable.

  • Is that the one I was referring to? Green canvas and rubber soles. A copy of the 1944 Pattern [introduced for tropical conditions] boot which we had during the Emergency and used for many years. Up until the early to mid 1990's you could still buy it and it was popular with grasscutters and labourers.