My First Pair of Air Force 1

For all my years of collecting and wearing kicks, I’ve never owned a pair of Nike Air Force 1’s. Yep, it’s true. The closest I got was my pair of the Air Force 1 and Air Jordan 3 fusion, aka the AFJ3 but never the classic AF1.

Back in 2007, I thought that would be my AF1 breakout year with the focus on the Round Mound of Rebound, Charles Barkley. But I never pulled the trigger.

Most recently, the Year of the Dragon AF1 caught my eye. Its design is clean and simple and ethnic. But then I learned this was a Quickstrike, not a general release. That means waiting in line for the hopes of getting a pair. And did I mention the $200 price tag?

So I passed on the AF1 YotD, but a funny thing happened. I came across the new AF1 Camo (as in camouflage). Available in black or an olive green “cargo khaki,” the images of these AF1s stuck with me. The colors are still somewhat muted but that camo pattern is unmistakable. I couldn’t get these out of my head. Even better, they’re a general release, costing half of the Year of the Dragons. So I got them.

And wow, they don’t disappoint. The cargo khaki colorway is greener than they look on Nike’s site but in a good way. There’s definitely some character with these kicks, and I am pleasantly surprised.