Cold Weather Aircrew Boots

To promote early exchanges of information with Industry in accordance with FAR Subpart 15.2, Naval Air Systems Command, Aircrew Systems (NAVAIR-4.6.7.2) of Patuxent River, Maryland is issuing this Request for Information (RFI). NAVAIR is requesting information to identify qualified sources to provide commercially available cold weather boots that provide protection in conditions of 15? and colder. The identified boots will be commercially available options for use by Navy and Marine Corps aviators and maintainers and potentially other personnel throughout the military services. Interested parties are invited to describe their capabilities to provide the product as described herein. The Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) boots submitted in response to this RFI will be evaluated for the capability to meet the material performance requirements listed below and the table listing key system attributes. The boot shall minimize bulk to provide compatibility with aircraft operating pedals and toe holds. The sole shall be evaluated for compatibility with the surface of aircraft pedals, which can be affected if the sole is too slippery or too tacky. The soles shall be evaluated by aircrew for traction in aircraft hangers that have painted floors and typically have residual fluids on the surface. The sole shall also exhibit durability to non-skid surfaces. The boots shall be worn by aircrew and maintainers across all Navy and Marine Corps aircraft platforms. Boots are intended for use around the aircraft for preflight inspections, in the aircraft during flight, and will provide warmth if the aircrew find themselves in an on-ground survival situation. All aircrew could be exposed to precipitation during preflight conditions. For aircrew in tactical aircraft, the conditions could range from 15? or warmer with little to no wind in the aircraft. For rotary wing aircrew, the conditions could have an air temperature of -10? with the wind speeds up to 100 mph for 3 hours at a time. Boots for maintainers shall have a steel toe to allow wear upon shipboard environments. Slip resistance on surfaces with puddles of or a residual coating of hydraulic fluid on the surface is required in addition to slip resistance on cold and icy surfaces. Maintainers spend a lot of time crouching down for long periods of time. The boot needs to be flexible while still providing support when climbing on aircraft. The maintainers have significant wear on the toe area due to abrasion when crouching or kneeling and scraping the toe on the ground or non-skid surface. The toe area of the boot needs abrasion protection. Key System Attributes Development Threshold Test Method KSA 1: The boots provide flame resistance. The boot shall self-extinguish within 5.0 seconds with no melt, drip or burn through. NFPA 1971, Section 8.5, Test 4 KSA 2: The boot shall provide protection from burn injury. The boot shall provide protection from second degree burn that is > 10 seconds and time to pain that is > 6 seconds. NFPA 1971, Section 8.7, Conductive Heat Resistance Test 1 KSA 3: The boot sole shall provide resistance from conductive heat. The temperature of the insole surface in contact with the foot shall not exceed 111'F. NFPA 1971, Section 8.8 Conductive Heat Resistance Test 2 KSA 4: The boot shall provide impact protection to the toes from heavy, falling objects. (Note: Navy shipboard requirements prefer use of a steel toe.) Provide I/75 impact resistance and C/75 compression resistance. ASTM F2412 and ASTM F4213 KSA 4: The boot soles do not pick up Foreign Object Debris (FOD) during use. The tread shall not pick up and retain FOD. Analysis of tread design, user evaluation KSA 5: The boot soles provide adequate traction on aircraft and in environmental conditions. The boot sole shall have a minimum static coefficient of friction value of 0.5 on a smooth steel surface with oily/wet drops (7 drops hydraulic fluid with 25 mls distilled water) and as determined through user evaluations. SATRA TM144: 2007 KSA 6: The hardware on the boot does not become loose and create FOD. Hardware shall withstand a minimum pull force of 66 LBF (294 N) to remove hardware. NFPA 1977 8-4.8 Hardware Attachment Strength KSA 7: The boot shall be compatible with aircraft interfaces. The boot shall not interfere with aircraft operations such as operating pedals, climbing, footholds, etc. User evaluation KSA 8: ALSS compatibility. No interference when wearing or using ALSS equipment. Boot height shall not exceed 8-1/2 (+ ) inches. Measurement from the inside of the boot at the heel to the top of the back of the boot. User evaluation for ALSS compatibility. KSA 9: The boot soles shall be Petroleum, Oil, Lubricant (POL) resistance. The sole compound shall have not more than 70% swell when exposed to artificial gasoline (Fuel B) and Hydraulic Fluid (ASTM #3 oil) after 46 hours. ASTM D471 Volume Swell KSA 10: The sole shall not come loose from the boot. The outersole to cushion midsole bond strength shall not be less than 100 lbs. ASTM D2208 KSA 11: The boot shall provide insulation from cold temperatures 15? and below, in wind and precipitation. The boot as a whole shall provide insulation to prevent frostbite after 4 hours at -15? combined temperature and wind chill. clo testing on copper foot, thermal modeling and user evaluation KSA 12: Boots worn by Search and Rescue aircrew performing winter mountain rescue operations (May require a different boot that also meets KSA's 1 through 11) The boot design shall allow attachment of ice crampons. User evaluation. KSA 13: The toe of the boot for maintainer use shall not abrade and expose the safety toe. The material covering the safety toe area of the boot shall be more abrasion resistant than leather meeting MIL-PRF-3122 Type I. Abrasion testing of material and a user evaluation. The Navy plans to approve COTS boots for use that meet user requirements for local procurement by squadrons as required for mission needs. Cost will be a consideration in determining COTS boots approved for use. There is no current plan to add this item to the federal supply system. Multiple boots with varying levels of insulation could be approved if found to be acceptable. Interested parties are invited to describe their capabilities as well as provide samples as described herein. In response to this RFI, please provide specification sheets showing the compliance with the above listed requirements, which will be at no cost to the Government. RFI responses are limited to 25 pages. The product sample as well as product information shall be submitted at no expense to the Government. The samples and corresponding information will not be returned. It is also requested that pricing be included with the submitted product and information. Proprietary data MUST be marked on a page-by-page basis, and will be kept confidential and protected in accordance with the Uniform Trades Secret Act. Interested sources shall state whether their product is available commercially, made domestically of domestic textiles (must be Berry compliant - manufacturers must list the origin and place of manufacturing operations of all components). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes for request for information are 339920 - Sporting Goods, 339999 - Other Misc, 424320 - Men's and Boys' Clothing and Furnishings Merchant Wholesalers, 424330 - Women's, Children's, and Infants' Clothing and Accessories Merchant Wholesalers, 315210 - Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors, 315211 - Men's and Boys' Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors, 315990 - Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing, 315999 - General.