The Badgers Nadgers…!!!

I have been very fortunate in being recently asked to field test a pair of the latest Magnum boots. The ‘Ion-Mask’. I have included the links to the Magnum website for you to read up on all the scientific niff naff as it explains the technology better than I ever could.

The main difference with these boots is that they are ‘blood proof’ and ‘water proof’  are breathable and extremely light weight and also chemical resistant.

So there I am getting ready for the old night shift and its persisting down outside (persisting down heavily). My trusty old Magnum Protectors are stood in the corner of the kitchen watching forlornly as I slip on my new Ion-Mask Magnums. If the name alone is anything to go by then these are going to be good…I hope!

Straight away I notice the difference in weight. My old ‘mags‘ are comfortable and feel like an old friend…these new boots feel like slippers that have been bought for me by a very rich old auntie with the promise of a generous gift in her will. They are unbelievably comfortable.

Lacing them up they almost feel like a second skin and I notice the support around the ankles is still as good as my old mags. What I like is the Achilles cut away at the back of each boot. This makes it much easier to crouch or kneel down without feeling the boot tightening against the Achilles or lower calf muscle.

I ‘squeak, squeak’ across the kitchen floor and pick up my keys and important kit for the night shift…packup, water, packup, more packup…and an extra bag of crisps. (I’m cutting down!) Driving to my station I have to remind myself that I’ve not put on a pair of slippers and that I’m wearing the new ‘daisy roots.’

The real test comes halfway through the shift when we are called to a park to reports of a man trying to kill himself. Arriving on scene we make out the outline of a Police van with a couple of officers talking to someone. My crew mate parks up near to the Police van and I step out straight into a bloody great puddle! With the deftness and agility of a startled gazelle I leap out of the puddle and back in the same puddle…only a little deeper!

My immediate thoughts are ‘Oh crap! I’m going to get my new boots mucky!’ and with a renewed spring in my step I gallivant across the puddle like some form of giant mud skipper skittering across the beach! My crew mate just watches from the cab as I act out a poorly rehearsed scene from ‘Dancin’ in the Rain!’  Only instead of looking like Gene Kelly I look more like Lorraine Kelly. (My gran told me about Gene Kelly just in case you think I’m knocking on a bit!).

Looking down at my boots in the dim yellow glare of the neon park lights I am amazed to find that they are bone dry and look exactly the same as they did when they were taken out of the box. If only my trousers were made with ‘Ion-Mask’ technology as they wetly flap around my boots as I approach our ‘patient’. He is depressed and talks of suicide and wants help…so we take him to hospital in the vain hope that he will see someone there from mental health services.

After several more jobs leaping out of the cab (looking before I leap this time) and finding ‘patients’ in bushes, in the street, in their homes and one asleep in a skip I find that my feet still feel comfortable and dry. Getting home I am knackered and struggle to unlace my new boots…my gross motor skills are not good by the end of a night shift!

My honest opinion of these new ‘Ion-Mask’ boots…? 

• Extremely comfortable
• Waterproof
• Good ankle support
• Excellent tread/grip
• Light weight
• Easy clean
• No need to break them in

My only gripe…?

• Would have liked a couple of quick lace hooks in place of normal eyelets to make it easier to put on/take off.

Would I buy a pair…?

• Definitely…100%

Magnum Ion-Mask website