Looks like the U.S. Marines are looking for a fresh pair of jungle boots. This summer, according to Military.com, the Marine Corps will testing out 4 different prototypes of jungle boots at the Jungle Warfare Training Center in Okinawa, Japan.

The U.S. Marines solicited from manufacturers in December 2015 for a new jungle boots and awarded last May contracts to Original Footwear, Bates Footwear, Belleville Boot Company, and Rocky Boots to design and develop boots that will be accepted for testing. 400 marines from the 3rd Marine Regiment based in Hawaii will be testing the boots for a two-to-three week jungle training period.

Furtheron to the Military.com report, a pair must weigh less than 2.3 pounds, preferably less than 1.7 pounds; have to be six to nine inches high and should maintain ankle stability. Colors can be in "coyote" or "olive mojave".

With that number of Marines, each manufacturer accepted for testing will be submitting 100 pairs of boots. All pairs will go through rigorous testing in the jungle. Criteria that the boots will follow are mud retention, sole self-cleaning, ankle support, foot support, fast drying, durability, traction, and mobility.

The jungle would always be tough on footwear as it is not always even terrain with lots of ways to wear and tear boots. At the same time, with rain and wet locations encountered in jungles such as rivers, feet can be prone to Trench Foot or Jungle Rot (also known as tropical ulcer). This medical condition happens with feet getting prolonged exposure to wet, damp, and unsanitary conditions.  If left untreated, gangrene can settle in and may lead to amputation.

Soldiers in the tropics are always reminded to always look after their feet to avoid Jungle rot. One way to prevent such condition to develop is to always have footwear dry, and fast drying is an important feature to look into in choosing footwear. Of course, clean socks are highly recommended but sometimes there is no time to put on one if you’re in the midst of a firefight in the middle of the jungle. If possible you can use polypropylene sock liners to draw moisture away from the feet.

After the jungle test, the soldiers will fill up a survey form that will then be sent back to Marine Corps Systems Command (SYCOM) where they will then be observed wear and tear and durability. The results from observations and feedback will then result into a list of specifications that footwear manufacturers can follow and compete for contracts apart from the four manufacturers chosen for the tests.

The Marines are looking into the list of specifications released in the first quarter of 2017 with boots produced based on the specifications being made available in the second quarter.