XBlades Jet 18 Football Boot Review

Josh reviews the XBlades Jet 18, a superb option that's rolled into store for footy players with a wider foot type. Made of kangaroo leather, this premium football boot provides optimal stretch for tackling your sport.

Lace up in a weapon that blends comfort and performance with a bootie construction, soft EVA foam and 4mm heel to toe gradient. Your go-to footy boots are finished off with a cleated system for traction and stability.

Check out the full review with transcript below.

Hey guys, Josh from Sportitude here. Today I’m going to be coming at you with a football boot review.

In my hand I have the XBlades Jet. We haven’t been familiar with XBlades in the past but there was certainly a gap in the market for wider fitting footy boots and Blades have come to the party.

The Blades Jet is a 4E width, so that’s extra wide.

If the football player has a little issue squeezing themselves in footy boots in the past, and always finds they stretch too much, they split or there’s just issues with the forefoot squeezing them in, the Blades Jet kangaroo leather is a boot you should certainly consider.

We’re going to dive into a couple of technical features about this boot. One I’d like to talk about is the sprig configuration, not that I’ve worked with any XBlades footy boots in the past, but knowing the brand, I know the story about XBlades.

When they launched about 15 years ago they had a big cross on the forefoot and big cross on the heel, the idea being to give the foot a lot more traction. It went away for a few years and they’ve come back and designed this moulded sole set up.

What you’ve got here is the cleated system. In terms of the actual 4 cleats at the back of the heel they all sit on the outside. It gives the foot a fair bit of traction and stability underneath the base of the heel.

As you come through to the forefoot the blades do sit on the outside, so then you get that forefoot stability as well when your foot needs it inside that forefoot toe off phase or pivoting phase.

You’ve got a little cleat in the middle to provide more traction or at least to minimise the amount of impact of the sprig configuration through that forefoot.

It’s almost like wearing a screw-in football boot. When you’ve got less studs underneath your foot you’re going to feel them because your foot weight is only held up on the pressure points underneath your foot.

However, XBlades have shared and spread the love with their cleated system.

One thing I’d like to talk about is their Trusstic device through the midfoot. In the XBlades special fashion the big X splits the heel and forefoot and that just gives the boot more torsional stability when you go through midstance phase.

What I’d also like to point out about XBlades is they’re one of the only other boots in the market like Asics that have a heel gradient. It’s not quite as aggressive as Asics with the 10mm drop. XBlades have just launched with a 4mm heel to toe gradient for a little bit of relief on the base of the Achilles and calf.

The Jet is a 4E width, so nice and generous and broad. I need to put something into account – it’s not a true 4E. If I go get a 4E from a running shoe, from a Brooks, New Balance or Asics for example, and put it on and this little guy on the other foot it doesn’t feel as wide as your running shoes.

It’d be fair to say it fits like a 2E which is probably a good thing. If you’re slipping your foot into a 2E kangaroo leather there’s going to be a bit of stretch as well. If it was a true 4E and there was going to be stretch, you’re talking quite a bit of play. Being a ‘4E’ but fitting like a 2E is a good thing with a bit of stretch with the kangaroo upper.

The other feature I do like about this boot is up top they’ve got a very nice sockliner with plenty of heel and forefoot padding for a little more forgiveness underneath the heel and under the forefoot. It’s a great feature.

Also, on the strobel board it is a nice soft EVA foam, so it’s not rigid and hard. They’ve got this little bootie set up as well. This has been quite popular the last couple of years.

We’ve seen a lot of football boots go away from the tongue set up, essentially making the upper just one piece. You slip your foot in, it’s like a bootie, hugs your foot then the laces do their job to give you a customised fit and feel.

One thing I’d like to point out about this boot is the laces don’t go down as far as what you get out of some other football boots.They get a little more real estate through the forefoot for kicking essentially.

That was the idea from the team at XBlades, to give you a little more leather, a little more real estate for your foot to hit the ball in the right area and not have it hidden by lacing that comes all the way down.

There you have it guys. That’s about all the information I can give you on this XBlades Jet kangaroo leather 4E.

It’s a good boot, I’ve been really happy fitting it in store here. It’s been a popular one for some of our podiatrist looking for a wider fitting football boot which is great. You’ll see a few more XBlades on the TV through the AFL and soccer scenes.

There we have it guys, the XBlade Jet. Not a bad looking football boot either. We’ll see you next time.