What footwear does everyone wear for woodsball

[homerj]

I prefer high top football cleats. A couple of areas of the field i play at have mostly dry creeks running through them & the banks can be pretty steep. If it’s wet it’s easy to lose your footing if you’re wearing tennis shoes or something like that.

[Psycho91]

Glad I stumbled in here I need some new footwear, I've had the same soccer cleats for 10 years now, $200 cleats I got for $10 I think I've gotten my use out of them lol

[BrickHaus]

I want to caution anyone who isnt in the know on cleats. They rock for the right terrain, but dont wear them in buildings with wood floors. I learned my lesson one day. i went onto the second floor of a building at a big game years ago when I still wore cleats. Its funny because it was like a cartoon where I went off the cliff but didn't fall until I realized it.

I managed to get up the stairs. I got to one of the walls, popped up fired a few, went to squat and my feet went out from under me. The ground was so slippery from that point, a ref had to help me out of that tower. I was seriously trying to get back up for a minute or so.

Ive also almost eaten it hard climbing over large fallen trees. You think you have grip, use your footing, and it breaks free in a bad way.


Lastly. I have a few friends from my old paintball team. I went to a traveling game with a couple of the guys younger thanme. We went to jeagers paintball in KS. They are more into tourney ball, and they brought their cleats. I cautioned against cleats on rocky terrain on the drive out. They both said cleats have never wronged them ( me neither until they did). One of the guys in cleats lost his footing on a break that weekend. Both feet went out in front of him and he wrecked his elbow catching himself.

I think both of those guys have cleats for the airball field, and have invested in hikers for everything else.

[Chuck E Ducky]

That’s why I love the indoor turf cleats the spikes are rubber, they wrap the toe for pushing down the snake to. They are flexible enough to grab wet dead fall and paint covers rocks and stuff. I had the same experience with soccer cleats I picked up discount as you a few times. Trail Runners work amazing but I find they are not as durable to the paint oils as some of the Baseball/Football indoor turf cleats.

[martix_agent]

trail running shoes or light hiking boots

[BLachance75]

I wear Altra trail runners. I’m not an ankle support person though so I wear low cut shoes but they do have some taller versions. I don’t like cleats because they suck on rocks or wooden structures.

I’m a big proponent of wearing good socks. I think it makes a huge difference. I’ve converted over to only wearing merino wool socks. I wear Darn Tough socks everyday. I will wear the same pair all weekend while playing multiple days and camping out and when I take them off on Sunday night my feet are dry and don’t stink.

[uv_halo]

I'm a bit of a niche case but, I believe that for actual woodsball, where you're running through uneven terrain, ankle support and good traction are requirements. With myself being a barefoot type of guy, I settled on Belville Tactical Research TR102/105 Minimalist training boots.

[ta2maki]

How are these when treading on sharp rocks? I've been intrigued with minimalist sole footwear since the vibrams came out, but have always been worried about that.

[uv_halo]

ta2maki- Rocks are not an issue. They have reasonably thin sole with treads. Most significantly, they only have 5mm of heel to toe drop and, a wide toe box.

[Shrimp266]

New Balance AT trail running shoes. They are 40 bones at the outlet and lasted 2 full seasons. Easy to clean, comfortable, and low cut but wider tops so I can wear my lace up ankle braces.

[Deus Machina]

Outside of home and school, I used to wear Dockers 'Stratton' boots. Zip-side so they were easy to take off, great (if stiff-ish) ankle support, good tread on the bottom that would dig in but not clog up, nearly watertight, sure footing even on wet floors and oily surfaces, and with your pants over them they just looked like semi-formal cap-toes.
Used them for everything. Walking, paintball, junkyard runs, carrying mangled bodies up rainy sand and gravel hills. Great, but not perfect for anything but multitasking. Nearly worn out three pairs over the years, so it's good they were pretty cheap.

Still looking for a suitable replacement for those. Nothing compares except on the longevity.