View Full Version : Breaking in 'BOOTS'
No...... not the ones fresh out of MCRD (but that was fun too) !!
General question, and some info for the 'newbees'.
How do you break in your NEW boots/shoes??
Looking for comfort, longevity, and a GOOD spit shine.
I;
Wear 'em a few days before doing ANYTHING.
Scrub with saddle soap, add shoe trees REAL tight, let dry.
Start with polish and buff, a few coats, while wearing daily.
Start spit shineing.
Your way ??
Osotogary
10-27-04, 07:54 PM
As silly as this may seem, at least it has been for me the past couple of years, is that I buy shoes, boots, sandals that fit comfortably from the get go. I then start doing the mrbsox procedure.
The one thing I've learned is not to pay too much attention to the claim that some shoes make about how durable they are and how they are made exclusively for hiking and walking. I bought some real rough and ready, Colorado Rockies type trekking sandles. They felt good from the get go at the store but then, a couple of days later, I had to walk 14 miles home. By the time I reached home my feet looked like ground round and the strap fasteners were cutting into my feet. No prep work on these sandals would have helped. They just weren't good for my feet. Somebody elses feet, maybe, but not mine. It could have been the design.
mrbsox- sounds like your method is tried and true. I also wear two pair of sox, one lightweight (nylon/spandex) and one heavy (work /cotton) for the first week.
dgallagher
10-27-04, 08:59 PM
I don’t know about the new synthetic fibers, but for leather (like cowboy boots) fill them with water and walk in them for 5 minutes. Then dump the water out and wear them till they dry, or at least the rest of the day. They will fit your feet to a “T”. Do the same thing with your cowboy hat.
When you have your boots resoled, have them pull the old strings from the sole. If you leave them they will rot the welt; this way you can resole 5 or more times.
Semper fi
Donny
LivinSoFree
10-27-04, 11:56 PM
The break in may/may not work, but since as of 1 October 2004 the black boots are no longer authorized for wear, the "spit shine" part isn't really applicable anymore... and since basic issue is now Corfams... we can't really break those in either.
kentmitchell
10-28-04, 05:04 AM
It was REALLY fun breaking in a pair of old boondockers (the ankle-high boots worn in WWII, Korea) but those things were tough. Wish I still had mine.
We were issued one pair of boondockers and one pair of rough-side-out brown boots. Right away, we had to start saddle soaping the boots to prepare them for polishing. A coke bottle helped mash down the roughness and defeat the purpose of the material.
Go figure.
Doc Crow
11-09-04, 01:42 PM
From the Old Doc I have always had good luck with getting the new boots standing in super hot water till they are wet clear through and walking them dry. Always made them fit like a glve to my foot. Not sure if this will work for everyone but all my HM's or at least a large chunk did it this way. I got the Idea from an Old Gunny