Best kinds of footwear for woodsball?

[Tom]

No one has mentioned Baseball boots ( or cleats as the Yanks call them )- they are a great compromise between grip and comfort..

I wouldn't have thought baseball boots were cleats - (do bear in mind that I'm an old man and may not be up with youth talk these days) but baseball boots have soft rubber soles, cleats are more like football boots referring to the 'cleat' similar to studs

I have played in many forms of footwear: the main elements being comfort, support & grip

Most appropriate for general woods are army boots, or something similar such as walking boots
These provide ankle support, especially for rough ground, have good tread for grip and are comfortable if broken in for you. But some may find them heavy

If you want speed then the grip of any cleated sports footwear will give the grip for sprinting starts and to keep gripping while running. If they do not have ankle support then the extra grip can be bad (see note below)

If the cleats are hard this can give you zero grip on hard surfaces such as Tarmac or wooden floors, steps and bridges

I have a pair of old school jungle boots which are ideal in the right situation - but absolutely wrong in woodland. They are the type with extremely soft rubber soles (not tough ones for punji stick traps). The grip on wood of concrete is excellent, but I can feel every stone underneath

Water resistance is a matter of preference - the vast majority want dry feet so are after water resistance but with breathabilty to keep feet good. For paintballers we wear the boots for one days play, or a weekend with breaks. Military users in a warzone may be wearing them 24/7
Good socks and a regime of changing them is the winner
Some people are inclined to jump through rivers, or even walk down a river.
Unless you are wearing waders or seal the top then this means you will get them wet. Bring spare socks to freshen up, and if you are inclined to walk through a river then look at socks that will look after your feet



Note: the extra grip of cleats can be bad in certain situations. Depending on the intended sport/type of runner they are designed for some cleat designs are optimised for turning, EG to grip solid for the moment that when running in one direction and want to turn 90 degrees. If they do not have ankle support then your ankle could take all the energy in the twist of that turn - and you collapse in a heap

 

[ellio7t]

i just use football boots, they are fine if your on a budget

 

[MorphMann]

A few people have kinda said what I'm gonna say but here is my tuppance worth....

Everybody who plays woodsball, knows that with the terrain that you are playing in, you get trip hazzards. They may be either gradients, or foliege or other items on the ground.

With this in mind, you have to have ankle support in your footwear, and so a boot is a must.

Add to this the possibility of puddles etc, and then you have to have the boot waterproofed.

I therefore also go for the millitary style boot.

 

[MC0629]

Magnums. Never an issue, even though mine are now 7 years old

 

[Canon Fodder]

Industrial steel toe cap boots, same style as a hiking boot. Last pair cost £13 and lasted ten years of once a month walkons before the soles wore through.

 

[MorphMann]

Industrial steel toe cap boots, same style as a hiking boot. Last pair cost £13 and lasted ten years of once a month walkons before the soles wore through.

I had steelies for my last boots also

 

[PaulBox]

football boots normally but military style boots if it is raining, snowy and just slippery

Football boots sounds like a good idea to me. Any problems on wooden stairs?

 

[Canon Fodder]

Too many rocks and tree roots for football boots.

 

[MorphMann]

Too many rocks and tree roots for football boots.

Exactly, I go back to what I said earlier. You need to protect your ankles

 

[Tom]

Football boots sounds like a good idea to me. Any problems on wooden stairs?

Football boots with a hard stud, or perhaps other studs will have problems with wooden stairs, bridges, towers, etc

And to repeat a few people's comments:
Ankle support ankle support ankle support

And to reinforce that statement, if it were not for me changing from shiney office shoes to boots yesterday to put tree cuttings into a van, then picking up a heavy box I would now have a twisted ankle following putting my foot into the one hole in an almost perfect lawn. (And I didn't drop the box)