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Desert Boots

C

CoolGuy

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What do you have to do or be to be issued desert boots?
 
LOL! Well said bud! They are issuing desert CADPAT to the soldiers in Afghanistan. 2,300 troops have it now in Afghanistan. There is a photo of a soldier in full desert CADPAT gear in the Canadian News forum.
 
I think the boots you mean are the US Altama (spelling) type in which I also use. I have found these boots to be the best for my personal use, and I wear them every day here on the job.

Nice suede and cordura, well built and really cool to wear, as my feet have never heated up that bad. The wickedly horrible Australian tan GPs which are not the greatest quality, and a almost are a cheaper version of theh US type really paly havoc on my achilles tendons. Some say the latest GPs are the best, but many also disagree.

The last pair of US desert boots lasted me a long time, infact I had them resoled with vibrum grips as the old Panama soles were too worn, but the remainder of the boots are still in great shape.

So I have two extra pair now (courtesy of a friend of mine in the CF on tour in an unknown ME country got me the extra ones). The US type are common here, but must be privatly purchased thru kit shops or on the outside, but they retail here for about $240.00/pair (ouch). After wearing this type of boot for going on 10yrs, I have yet to be challenged by any authority, but I do have a med chit in my pers file just in case.

As for the traditional regimentality of the CF, I would say the only time one could wear them is in theatre or have them on your clothing card.


Cheers,

Wes
 
While on the Topic of Desert Boots......

When I was in CFB Kingston, for an ORA shoot. I noticed a Note on the Notice Board in the CANEX. It said "Desert Boots needed for Roto to the 'Ghan" I'm guessing theres a shortage of Desert Boots?
Are there any commercial Desert boots anyone would Recommend? Like Something off of uscav.com? Or Brigade Quartermaster?
Thanks Alot

Andrew
 
To get the desert boots, you don't have to be deployed to a desert region, there issued to anyone that goes overseas as far as I know/seen.

CF_Lifer, what is the "Ghan" ? Are you referring to Afghanistan? 
 
I have heard of Canadian soldiers purchasing American desert boots, or trading with Americans because they were never issued any.  I don't know if there is any truth to that.
 
Hmm... when I was on CFB Edmonton most of the soldiers I seen had the tan desert boots. Maybe this was because of their upcomming Roto to Afghanistan and because of a past tour there.
 
Yeah, I guess people who go over there refer to it as the " 'ghan " Thats just what is said on the notice board. "Need Boots for Roto to 'Ghan"
I've seen alot of neat Desert Boots out there. Some anti-mine ones as well. (I dunno how well they would actually work against mines).
Why would they get issued Desert Boots......even if they weren't going to a desert?
What would anyone suggest a boot be made up of? Gore-Tex? Leather? Suede? 8"? 10"?
I'm looking for a Boot with a Vibram Sole, or the like, Breatheable, Cool, and Speed-Lace.
I've seen alot of Boots, ranging from Tan coloured US Army Jungle Boots, to Corcoran Desert "Jump Boots". With Price varying Accordingly. Just looking for some advice.

Andrew
 
I dunno about the speed lace, I've never had a pair of combat boots with speed lace but my Dr. Martins had speed lace and though they were nice to do up, they sure did eat the shoe laces quickly. Just the way the lace pulls through the eyelet seems to wear it faster than regular eyelets.

I've got a pair of black Danner Acadia's with 200gram thinsulate, they're the doggies danglies in the winter but a little warm in the summer.  I'll probably pick up a pair of uninsulated ones next summer, they're by far the most comfortable boots I've ever worn.

http://www.danner.com/categories.asp?catid=12

Cheers
 
I've seen an airforce guy wearing them regularly at CFB Comox, heh.
 
BDTyre said:
I have heard of Canadian soldiers purchasing American desert boots, or trading with Americans because they were never issued any.   I don't know if there is any truth to that.

The people buying them probably haven't been on a tour. As far as I know whenever you go on a tour you are issued two pairs of desert boots. I got mine when I went to Kosovo. And you can't exchange them unless you go on tour.

[quote author=sinblox]
I've seen an airforce guy wearing them regularly at CFB Comox, heh.
[/quote]

I guess the airforce have different rules then, because here at the armoured school you aren't allowed wearing them unless you are in the training area.
 
Inch: I've got two pairs of speed lace boots: a pair of old US desert ones I use for my volunteer work and just wearing around and a pair of CAT steel toes for my job.

I've had the US desert boots for about three years now, with the original laces and they aren't even wearing anywhere.  The CATs on the other hand, have started to wear after about three months.  Nothing big, but its noticeable.  The laces on the desert boots are very thin and hard; it seems like they've been coated with something, likely to prevent fraying and wear.
 
I know the kind of laces you're talking about, I picked up a pair from clothing stores and they seem to last longer than the softer laces.

I don't know of any rules for the Air Force guys, there's guys that wear everything from the issued MkIII aircrew boot (flat sole for FOD vice the tread on the normal MkIII) to Matterhorns that were issued at some units out of Sqn funds to Hi Tech Magnums as well as Jungle boots and Danners.   In most cases it's not too noticeable since we don't blouse our flight suits, so as long as they're black (with the exception of the Jungle boots), no one really cares what we wear.

Cheers
 
If you're looking at getting a set of Desert Boots, I'd recommend Wellco's.  They're reasonably priced, well made and are very comfortable
http://www.wellco.com/html/tihctv.html

They get alot of good reviews from guys over at the Lightfighter forum.
http://lightfighter.net/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=7336015661&f=8406084761&m

The one thing to recognize with Desert Boots is that they won't be nearly as durable as a chrome/oil tanned leather boot that is polished.  Because all desert boots are made with rough-out/suede leather, the leather tends to dry rot and deteriorate.  One way to prevent this is to treat it with leather conditioners such as mink oil or Sno-seal periodically to keep the leather moisturized and nourished.

The other major problem we had with our boots was that the issue Altamas with panama soles were that the soles wore out very quickly.  The average lifespan for the sole was maybe 3-4 months if the boots were worn everyday.

I had a set of Altamas with ripple soles on them and wore them everyday for 7 months in Iraq.  They weren't too bad, but the laces they came with sucked and had to be replaced (were too short and frayed horribly).  The ripple soles were not good in mud, as they tended to get clogged immediately, and the mud would tend to stay attached.  However, the ripple soles were great for climbing around on my LAV-25 though.  They gripped the hand rails and edges of the vehicle beautifully and on several occasions saved me from taking what could have been a nasty spill.

If I was in the market for another set of Desert Boots, I'd give the Wellco's a try.
 
I've been looking around, and I think if you're willing to spend the money on a boot...which is going to last you years and years (Cause honestly, how often are you going to wear a Desert boot) I think those Danners are just right. Well-made, and even with a Vibram Sole. Speed-Lace too. Not cheap though, running at around $240, but I'm sure they're 110% better than anything you get issued......

Andrew
 
Check on Ebay, the boots made by Belleville seem to be pretty high on the scale as well.  You can "buy it now" for about 135, and they are vibram with goretex.  This is also a great place to get 64 pattern ruck frames, and CADPAT stuff
 
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