5.11 Tactical A/T Midboot – Our Review

Truth be told, the 5.11 Tactical A/T Midboots are not explicitly marketed as rucking boots…

…and this is smart.

With the amount that we talk about rucking on this site, we obviously have a bit of bias towards the activity. If you were interested in these boots solely for rucking, you wouldn’t be dissapointed.

However, these boots have a bit more going on for them than their ability to effectively (and comfortably) manage weight under load.

With aggressive enough lugs for most “off-road” tasks, ankle support to rival just about any other boot out there, and a seemingly perpetual sale price that makes them really affordable, it’s no wonder that 5.11 hasn’t “boxed” these into any single purpose category.

We’ll give you our rucking-biased review of them; you decide if they’re worth ~$50 for what you specifically have in mind for them.

“Pure” Rucking

Believe it or not, I would argue that something that is missing from a lot of the rucking boots I try out is legit ankle support. Whether they’re “mids” or legit high-top boots, I find that the fabric that surrounds the ankle is…just that…fabric.

I preface this section with this information because the A/T Midboots break the mold here as they have good ankle support, something that is particularly important when engaged in rucking off the beaten path and on terrain that is less even (to be fair, my one bad rolled ankle was on pavement…but you get the point).

Besides the more robust (and oftentimes absent) ankle support, like many of 5.11 Tactical’s footwear offerings, the A/T Midboots come equipped with the A.T.L.A.S. (All Terrain Load Assistance System) to provide better stability and more general support, specifically under load. I notice this helps a bit, but not as much as the gimmicky name would imply.

The Midboots lugs are deep and aggressive enough to handle deeper terrain than most ruckers are likely going to deal with while also providing a pretty good amount of grip. However, I find the rubber to be, for lack of a better term, too “malleable” (compared to those on other boot soles) and don’t think these are as grippy as other options (especially considering the length of the lugs).

Despite being somewhere in between “lightweight” and “average weight” boots, the overall construction and engineering of the A/T Midboots makes them feel slightly lighter than they actually are. This doesn’t make as much of a deal on shorter outings, but if you plan to ruck for a few hours, heavier boots begin to take a toll.

Overall, with so many qualities that facilitate more “pure” rucking ventures, it would be pretty easy to say that this is the area where the Midboots perform most admirably. However, the next category might have something to say about that…

“Pure” Rucking: 90

“Speed” Rucking

Whether you want to admit it or not, if you’re someone who has gotten into rucking in the last ~10 years or so (and your “interest” wasn’t required by the military!), you’re probably, by default, more of a “speed” rucker.

You mainly stick to pavement. Weight is important, but moving it quickly is more important, You use all of the tracking apps.

Sound about right? If so, you’ll be happy to know that while the A/T Midboots aren’t going to set you up to break your 12-mile time in the manner that boots like the GORUCK MACV-1 HI-Speeds will, they aren’t awful boots to move quickly in…or even to do a bit of shuffling in.

Although the boots aren’t the lightest, at ~17 ounces per boot, they’re certainly not “heavy” boots, either. This alone makes them more functional for this type of rucking than many others. The aforementioned ankle support also allows for more confident fast strides as there is less fear of turning or rolling an ankle.

In my experience the A.T.L.A.S. system actually shines a bit brighter here, allowing for a bit more “supported rebounding” at the bottom of each step (as opposed to creating more a “sinking” feeling that makes each step more difficult to ascend from).

As I previously alluded to, I find the lugs to be a bit aggressive for pavement and although they’re not so extreme that I worry about (too much) damage to them or actually a reverse effect (actually losing traction as a result of their presence), at best, they’re a bit superfluous for this type of activity.

Ultimately, I don’t think these are the best for walking fast under load, but running (or, if we’re being more accurate, “shuffling”)…let’s get to that next…

“Speed” Rucking: 87.5

“Dynamic” Rucking

We alluded to this a little bit in the previous section, but most of our comments are more relevant to this section in regard to the types of training/use we have done in the 5.11 Tactical A/T Midboots. Looking back, we’ve honestly done more ruck “shuffling” (and even legit ruck running) in these than we have “fast”, but still walking pace rucking in them.

As with any types of rucking boots (or, really, any types of boots other than dedicated training boots like the Belleville AMRAPS), we don’t recommend these for use in legit “functional fitness” or CrossFit workouts. However, there are certain types of workouts that these are actually very good for, such as this one I had the other week:

Not the longest ruck or run and not the heaviest weight in my bag, but this one was more about speed than anything else…and I think the A/T Midboots were up to task.

Under load and at speed (I “ran” probably 2/3 of the first portion and “shuffled” the other 1/3), I probably could have been alright in hybrid training-running shoes (ex. GORUCK Rough Runners), but not in “traditional”, zero-drop cross-training shoes (ex. Reebok Nanos, Born Primitive Savage 1s). However, the load-bearing capacity and ankle support of these were ideal.

Obviously, the A/T Midboots are heavier than most training shoes and there are plenty of better options for running i.e. the second part of this workout, but I didn’t feel too bad running the back half in these (although my ~7:40-mile pace was nothing to write home about). These aren’t nearly as nice to run in as the MACV-1 HI-Speeds, but they ain’t bad, either).

I haven’t taken on any of the Ruck Race League events in these boots, but tend to think that these could be good options for these types of sessions as they (so far) have been between ~15 minutes (Event 2) to ~3 hours (Event 5) in length and all have had either a significant load or speed requirement.

If you find yourself drawn more towards these “performance rucking” types of sessions rather than “just get out and walk” sessions, the A/T Midboot could be a solid “jack of all trades, master of none” type of option for you.

“Dynamic” Rucking: 95

Everyday Wear

A couple of caveats before we get started here:

• I have the all-black version of the 5.11 Tactical A/T Midboot
• I’m not a “boot guy”

(the second part is pretty much B.S.; I wear my MACV-1s constantly…I just don’t really feel all that “fashionable” for doing so!)

With these in mind, you might be able to imagine why I’m not as high on these boots for everyday wear as I am on them for training/rucking purposes.

I’m not really interested in wearing black boots out with most of my outfits, although I don’t really think the color pattern of the brown and/or other colors is the “right” brown for most other color pairings. With this comment, I promise to never speak of color coordinating outfits again on this site…please hold me to this promise!

These aren’t waterproof. I don’t really mind this fact because there is as much trouble that comes with waterproofing as there is benefit, but as everyday shoes you might be tempted to wear on a rainy day, they don’t really benefit you in this area.

I actually find the reinforced support around the ankle to be more comfortable than I should, but it is far less necessary when casually walking around than it is under load or when traversing more erratic terrain.

Maybe if these are your style, you’ll value them as everyday boots, but I can’t really say I’m a fan for them in this way.

Everyday Wear: 90

Construction & Materials

If you know anything about 5.11 Tactical, you probably know that they have a lot of trademarked/proprietary terms for the materials their gear is made out of. With the A/T Midboots we have the aforementioned A.T.L.A.S. system (essentially a stability plate) and Tac Dry (if you opt for the waterproof version of these boots).

Additionally, the Midboots have some of 5.11’s Echo Foam and Force Foam (for midsole cushioning) as well as the more common (but still rather niche) Ortholite insoles. All of these materials are blends of polyurethane, but are of higher quality (and they do feel and look higher quality) than more standard versions of this material.

Personally, I don’t find the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) -slip resistant outsole to be the best for grip, but as a thick solid, rubber outsole, it does what it needs to do on most terrain.

I think 5.11 Tactical does get a little carried away with the use of their trademarked terms, especially when some of the materials are kinda average, but I do find the materials of these boots to be of a little higher quality than any of the company’s other footwear I’ve tried.

Construction & Materials: 85

Price

This section is a little tricky for a few reasons.

First, the A/T Mid Boots aren’t the least expensive boots/rucking boots out there, but they’re not ridiculously priced, either. If you look around a bit, it’s pretty easy to see that they fit pretty solidly in the “average” or even “reasonable” category of boots of they’re type.

Now, where things get really interesting is when you look at the prices of some of the different color patterns. At just about any given time, it’s not difficult to find at least one (if not more) patterns that are discounted…and I mean, significantly discounted. At the time of this writing, there are 2 different colors (neither of which looks that bad) marked down to ~$50…from $150!

A $150 dedicated rucking boot is “reasonable”; a $50 dedicated rucking boot is an absolute steal (especially considering how decent these are).

I can’t guarantee that you will always be able to find these boots at these discounted prices (especially in your exact size), which is why we have to emphasize the asterisk (*) here. However, I’ve found them on sale with enough regularity (I got mine on sale, after all), that I have adjusted our score to reflect this…and I think you will be able to, as well.

Price: 95

Customer Reviews

The 5.11 A/T Mid Boots don’t have the highest customer review scores of all time, but I think these are at least pretty “realistic” scores. To be honest, the most annoying thing about this category is that every color pattern/combination for the boot has its own listing and, as a result, its own review score (ex. black A/T Mid Boots have a different score than brown ones).

I guess different-colored boots could have been designed/constructed differently…but I find this pretty hard to believe. Instead, it just made compiling the collective review score more annoying/difficult for me (you’re welcome!)

For the most part, when people complain, they mention “comfort” or “long-term durability” more often than anything else. While these negative reviews make up the smallest portion of the boots’ public commentary, these are, nevertheless, the most common sentiments expressed.

Overall, a 4.45 out of 5 collective score is nothing to scoff at. Give the boots’ price point (which many customers would have, of course, factored into their own reviews) a “high B” ain’t bad.

Customer Reviews: 89

Customer Service

Some of you are going to order these off of Amazon and will never be in a situation where you need to deal with 5.11 Tactical’s customer service personnel. This is perfectly fine and I’m sure that if you run into issues, you’ll be able to resolve them with Amazon without any trouble.

For those of you who do order directly from 5.11 Tactical, I would say that chances are good that you won’t run into too much trouble with your order, whether you require support before hitting “buy”, once you’ve received your gear, or in the months to follow.

In my experience, customer service representatives are pretty decent in their response times (I’ve received responses to inquiries in just over 24 hours from sending them over) while being pretty knowledgeable of their own brand’s gear and company’s policies (sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but you’d be surprised…).

Most of the brand’s gear is covered by a 1-year warranty (outside of ridiculous, unintended use) and, judging by how responsive personnel are to negative comments on their main website, are pretty serious about “making things ‘right'” when/if customers express any dissasisfaction with their purchases.

I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we’d rather just be happy with the gear that we’ve bought than receiving “concerned” responses (which I assume lead to follow-up resolutions) on a company’s webpage, but it’s nice to know that someone at 5.11 Tactical is looking out for us.

Customer Service: 95

Who are the 5.11 Tactical A/T Midboots Really For?

I think most of the people considering the A/T Midboots are going to be satisfied with their purchase (we don’t always preface these sections with such statements) although some are definitely going to like these more than others. Let’s see if you fall into either of these camps:

Those who want legitimate ankle support

The Midboots have some of the most substantive ankle support I’ve had in any footwear I have ever owned and I honestly can’t think of a pair of rucking boots I’ve tried in the last few years that are anything like them in this regard.

If your rucking involves largely flat roads that are light on obstacles or terrain, you may not need this support as much as others might, but even when I’m rucking on even pavement, I appreciate this feeling in my ankles.

Those who need slightly more traction when they ruck

The A/T Midboots’ lug pattern isn’t the most aggressive I’ve ever come across, but something about it is arranged in a way that it allows me to much more easily navigate light-to-medium terrain and underbrush better than other lugged shoes and boots.

Like the previous point, this doesn’t apply nearly as much if you mainly ruck on pavement (and, as mentioned before, the lugs may be slightly aggressive for long-term street/sidewalk rucking), but if you ever decide to “live a little” on your outings, you’ll appreciate what these boots have going on down below.

Not for those who need superior grip

Interestingly enough, I don’t think the Midboots perform as well when it comes to sticking to less stable terrain. More specifically, while I think they perform very well in forest underbrush, they aren’t particularly stable on rock faces and they wouldn’t be my first choice for generally craggy terrain.

How we Reviewed the 5.11 Tactical A/T Midboots

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I had these boots in my possession for a long time before I ever laced them up and started rucking (and doing more general activities) in them.

Like…over a year…

Better late than never and when I finally got to it, I pretty much alternated between these and 5.11 Tactical’s Ranger 2.0 shoes for my rucks as well as for more casual outdoor activities (ex. walking my dogs in the morning through lightly wooded areas, etc.).

The A/T Midboots also became my default “training boots” when my CrossFit programming would call for any type of rucking activity. As I mentioned before, this included timed (combined) ruck runs, amongst other things.

5.11 Tactial A/T Mid Boot Alternatives

I can understand if the A/T Mid Boots may not be your exact cup of chowder. I’ve got a few alternative options (the first one is really legit, btw) that you should consider if you’re dead set on getting something else:

The 5.11 A/T Midboots…the best “budget” boots for rucking…?

Yeah, we know; the sticker price on these boots ain’t always as cheap as their sale price.

…but if you’re willing to wait a little bit and are flexible on color, you have a really good chance at being able to pick up the boots that won the title of best “budget” boots on our breakdown of the best boots for rucking.

That ain’t a bad title to have!

Unlike many other options that may excel in a few select areas, the A/T Midboots don’t really have any weaknesses. Even if they don’t quite fit your specific rucking style (ex. pavement “speed rucking”) or priorities, they aren’t so bad at any area that you’d ever regret having them as a boot option on any given day.

Ultimately, there is a good amount of 5.11 Tactical gear that we like when its deeply discounted…but not so much when it’s not. We can’t say that we’d jump at these when they’re at full price (~$150), but we wouldn’t completely dismiss them either. When/if you can get them on sale, they’re a steal.