How To Choose The Right Size Tactical Boots? 2 Most Important Steps

Choosing the right tactical boots has never been easy, you need to pay attention to many criteria such as durability, safety, flexibility, convenience, appearance, and especially comfort.

Why is comfort the most important criterion for choosing the right tactical boots? Because most tactical boot buyers want to have a pair of boots that are powerful enough to serve their strong activities.

Tactical boots can be used for outdoor sports activities (hiking, travel…), or jobs that require strong and durable boots such as police, the military, law enforcement… All of these activities or jobs require tactical boots to provide great comfort.

And one of the key factors in making a comfortable tactical boot for the wearer is choosing the right size.

Today, we are going to tell you how to choose the right size tactical boots on this important topic.

Shall we?

How To Choose The Right Size Tactical Boots?

We’ll show you the two basic steps to find the perfect size tactical boots for your feet.

Step 1: Determine the size of your foot and the size chart of the tactical boot brand you are about to buy

First, determine your foot size, put your foot on the paper and use a pen to mark the end of your heel and the tip of your longest toe. Measure this distance and you have feet length.

Then measure the width of your foot. Usually, the ball of the foot is the widest part of the foot. Use exactly the same method as above to mark and measure the widest width of your foot.

Once you have determined the size, spend some time searching for the size chart of the tactical boot brand you intend to buy.

Note that every brand of tactical boots has a different size chart. Many people make the mistake of using a brand’s size chart for other brands of tactical boots.

Then use your foot size to compare with the size chart and make the best decision.

See our example:

This is part of the size chart of the Danner brand – a brand with excellent tactical boots.

You can search for the size chart of each brand on their website.

Size Conversion

Based on this size chart, I can choose a pair of tactical boots for myself.

Example: I’m male and I’m American. After measuring, my feet are 11.41 inches long.

So, based on the size chart, I’ll go with the US size 11 tactical boots because it’s the right length for 11.46 inches feet.

Looking at the size chart, you will see two numbers with the length of 11.26 inches and 11.46 inches – these two numbers are closest to 11.41 inch (my feet). Remember one thing, always choose a larger number.

If the size of your foot is between two standard sizes, then it is best to choose the larger size to ensure the best comfort for your feet.

Another thing you should keep in mind is that if your two feet don’t have the same size, choose the size of the tactical boot according to the size of the larger foot.

Consequently, my feet are 11.41 inches so I opt for Danner’s US 11 size tactical boots (with the standard 11.46-inch feet).

However, the tactical boots can fit the length of your feet, but what about the width?

Danner Boot Width

For one thing, though, most brands of tactical boots don’t have a Width Chart. They base on the length of their feet to come up with the right foot-sized tactical boots.

This may be true for people with normal feet (more than 90% of the population has normal foot sizes), but it may be wrong for people with wide or narrow feet.

If the tactical boots brands don’t really have a size chart for the width, you can use the width size of your regular shoes or your tennis shoes.

Or, for extra safety, call the brand’s customer service directly. Say the width of your foot and they’ll give you practical advice.

Anyway, it takes a little bit of money and time to make phone calls rather than return the tactical boots. You’ll have to wait for a few weeks and more shipping costs to get another pair of tactical boots. It’s really time-wasting!

Now, I measure the width of my foot.

My foot is 4.3 inches wide – that means my foot is wider than the size 11 of a normal foot (based on the Width Chart of my tennis shoes, the width of my foot is size EE), so I’ll go with the 11-Wide tactical boot.

However, things don’t stop here …

Step 2: Read reviews of previous buyers and product descriptions

The little problem is, even if you have the exact size of your foot, and choose the right tactical boot size, you can still get a tactical boot that is… too tight or too loose.

Yes, the problem is that the size of the tactical boots themselves sometimes don’t match the size suggested by the manufacturers. And this is not uncommon, so how to solve this problem?

Reading reviews from previous buyers, I can assure you, most of them will be about the size of the tactical boots.

If tactical boots don’t run true to size, or you have wide (or narrow) feet, read the reviews, there will be advice from the users that you should up size or down size. You can rely on that valuable advice.

Or you can read the product description (if you buy tactical boots at Amazon). The product description usually tells you if the boots run true to size and gives you useful suggestions.

In case no one has bought the tactical boots you plan to buy, you can order the usual size boots. But you should choose companies (or reputable e-commerce sites) with good return policies.

Should combat boots be tight or loose?

You should not choose too loose or too tight combat boots, choose a slightly loose one. This is necessary! Slightly loose combat boots would have enough room for your socks (and possibly even for your pants when you tuck the pants into the boots).

However, you should pay attention to one thing: leave room in the toe box of combat boots. This is important, you need to let your toes be comfortable and flexible.

The distance from your longest toe to the endpoint of the toe of the combat boots should be between 1 inch and 1.5 inches.

Also, you should leave the room at the ball of the feet. When you leave room at the ball of the feet, don’t worry too much about the boots falling off your feet. If the combat boots fit well at the insteps and around the ankles (snugly), the boots will sit neatly in your feet.

If it were me, I would pull the laces so that the combat boots were slightly loose at the top of the foot and tighter around the ankles.

In general, tactical boots are easier to choose than Chelsea boots or cowboy boots as these boots have no laces and cannot be adjusted if they are tight or loose.

Conclusion

We’ve shown you how to choose the right size tactical boots. In short, there are 2 things you need to keep in mind:

First: know the size of your feet, choose the correct size chart for the tactical boot company you’re planning to buy. Then compare and choose the size of the tactical boots that match your foot size.

# 2: Don’t forget to read reviews of the users and the product description. You will find helpful advice on how to choose the correct tactical boot size.

Finally, keep in mind these tips: leave room in the toe box and in the ball of the feet of tactical boots. That makes your feet more comfortable and flexible throughout the day.