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Posted: 5/23/2016 1:15:51 PM EDT
[#1]
Back when I was still in I started wearing some 67' dated Rothcos and the sole split at the ball.
Old boots are old............. Also, the imported boots are shit. They usually have a two piece leather lace section instead of a one piece strip. |
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Posted: 5/23/2016 1:58:09 PM EDT
[#2]
There was a boot MFG that made a modern redux of the venerable boot.
I wish Altima still had them. Will see if I can find the link. Not cheap, but possibly more comfy? |
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Posted: 5/23/2016 2:42:02 PM EDT
[#3]
Probably Wellco
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Posted: 5/23/2016 5:28:01 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
There was a boot MFG that made a modern redux of the venerable boot. I wish Altima still had them. Will see if I can find the link. Not cheap, but possibly more comfy? comfort would be nice. About all you can do with the original is get better insoles.. The old ones are made from broken vinyl lawn chairs |
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Posted: 5/23/2016 5:49:02 PM EDT
[#5]
Funny you should mention Jungle boots. I have a pair of size 11s that I am selling. USGI, 70s production, I think.
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Posted: 5/23/2016 6:01:52 PM EDT
[#6]
I had a pair of jungle boots that I wore while I was in Force Recon back in the late '70s to early '80s. They went through some harsh use and still held up. I would be hard-pressed to find a quality pair of jungle boots these days for what I paid for them back in those days. I still have my Cocoran jump boots that I bought back in 1979 after getting out of jump school. They are still in great shape. I even wore them for a while when I was in the Air Force Reserve in the late '90s.
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Posted: 5/23/2016 6:40:37 PM EDT
[#7]
Altama is the best - but jungle boots just don't hold up like Danners or similar. I'm a Merrell guy myself, although I do have an old pair of 66' vintage, Vibram sole 3rd pattern jungle boots - most worn in Vietnam did not have the Panama sole...
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Posted: 5/23/2016 6:59:22 PM EDT
[#8]
As soon as I got out of basic I never wore the speed lace boots again.
I went straight to clothing sales on Ft. Hood and bought green jungles and some Matterhorns. Those inserts sucked bad so I purchased sport insoles and fabricated extra arch supports. Then used 100mph tape to hold the arch support in place. |
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Posted: 5/23/2016 7:01:47 PM EDT
[#9]
I'm in Search and Rescue in the Sierras, do lots of hiking and backpacking, and swear by my Merrells! By the way, my jungle boots have the big lug Panama soles.....
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Posted: 5/23/2016 7:56:09 PM EDT
[#10]
Now and then I get the urge for Jungles and go looking for them with no avail. I used the Altima's when in the service and at the time there was nothing better. The Korean knock-offs weren't bad($20 back then) and broke in quick but didn't last as long.
You guys are cray about Corcoran jump boots. They were the most uncomfortable boot I've ever owned. I still have them being they didn't get used much. The Corcoran 2's might have been better. They definitely had an off road sole but not being a fan of speed laces and prior experience with the standard ones I never considered them. TL:DR- I miss my Altima Jungle Boots. Not the black ones either, OD with standard laces. |
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Posted: 5/24/2016 9:19:48 AM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
As soon as I got out of basic I never wore the speed lace boots again. I went straight to clothing sales on Ft. Hood and bought green jungles and some Matterhorns. Those inserts sucked bad so I purchased sport insoles and fabricated extra arch supports. Then used 100mph tape to hold the arch support in place. I use the Dr. Scholl's gel inserts and they seem to stay put. |
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Posted: 5/24/2016 9:58:41 AM EDT
[#12]
I found the criss-cross nylon mesh insoles were very good for cushioning and getting some room under your feet to help them dry.
You did have to replace them as soon as they started shredding though. Supply had cases of replacement insoles, there for the asking. I doubt most GIs bothered, though. |
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Posted: 5/24/2016 12:46:20 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
comfort would be nice. About all you can do with the original is get better insoles.. The old ones are made from broken vinyl lawn chairs Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
There was a boot MFG that made a modern redux of the venerable boot. I wish Altima still had them. Will see if I can find the link. Not cheap, but possibly more comfy? comfort would be nice. About all you can do with the original is get better insoles.. The old ones are made from broken vinyl lawn chairs I found them again, they are by Nike, but in reading the comms, they wear out quickly apparently. |
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Posted: 5/24/2016 2:45:48 PM EDT
[#15]
I had three sets of Green Jungles.
One field, one garrison and one inspection. Jhud has dibs on the last pair when I find them. $15 each at FT McClellans clothing sales in Jan 93. Had one pair of black jungles and my Cocorans. Only wore the green, black and jump boots on AD. Speedlaces only came out the bag for PLDC. |
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Posted: 5/25/2016 8:34:38 AM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
New Marine Corps RAT boots are great. Have drains like the old jungles'. [b]The spring loaded lace keeper is my innovation...boots never come untied... <a href="http://s258.photobucket.com/user/ColdBlue_2008/media/RAT%20Boots.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh249/ColdBlue_2008/RAT%20Boots.jpg</a> Brilliant! I'm ripping off that idea. |
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Posted: 5/25/2016 9:39:34 AM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
New Marine Corps RAT boots are great. Have drains like the old jungles'. The spring loaded lace keeper is my innovation...boots never come untied... <a href="http://s258.photobucket.com/user/ColdBlue_2008/media/RAT%20Boots.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh249/ColdBlue_2008/RAT%20Boots.jpg</a> Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
There was a boot MFG that made a modern redux of the venerable boot. I wish Altima still had them. Will see if I can find the link. Not cheap, but possibly more comfy? comfort would be nice. About all you can do with the original is get better insoles.. The old ones are made from broken vinyl lawn chairs I found them again, they are by Nike, but in reading the comms, they wear out quickly apparently. New Marine Corps RAT boots are great. Have drains like the old jungles'. The spring loaded lace keeper is my innovation...boots never come untied... <a href="http://s258.photobucket.com/user/ColdBlue_2008/media/RAT%20Boots.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh249/ColdBlue_2008/RAT%20Boots.jpg</a> Those are some super looking boots. Guess I've been out of the loop. |
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Posted: 5/27/2016 7:43:34 PM EDT
[#18]
I'm digging the RATs also... They look better broken in
And maybe this belongs in the A2 forum, but did you know that you can still go see a Ratt show. |
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Posted: 5/28/2016 8:45:31 AM EDT
[#19]
When I was 14 years old, I worked on farms picking fruit and vegetables so that I could buy a surplus pair of NOS Jungle Boots (late 70s). Yep I was into retro even then.
I wore those almost every day walking woods and shooting. I still have the same boots and they are well worn, but they are still very usable. They certainly were well made during the Vietnam war years. |
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Posted: 5/28/2016 1:28:55 PM EDT
[#20]
I remember when I was a kid my grandfather had my dads Vibram Vietnam issue jungle boots from Vietnam. They had no polish on them and were sun bleached and the polish and dye worn off to the leather. I begged my grandfather to let me have them. I was ten and this was in 86. Man sucked grandpa was mean lol and of course the answer was no. Lol. Wonder if my family still has them. I should ask. 1966 pic.
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Posted: 6/2/2016 8:28:34 PM EDT
[#21]
Sometime in the mid 1990's Brigade Quartermaster or US Cavalry (I think BQ) catalog offered some custom Altama "Jungle" boots with a vulcanized spike protective RO SEARCH Panama sole.
They differed from other offerings in that they have nylon coated brass speedlace loops and are 10" tall instead of 8" tall. I bought a pair. Here are pics of them after I served as RO at a very busy pistol stage of a run and gun event back in 2014. It had rained the day of the shoot - these boots were perfect for the task. I wore Goretex socks over my boots socks. By far they are my favorite boots. I've had them for 20 years now. I've used them mostly for hunting in swampy areas or when I know it is going to rain. I should have ordered another pair when they were available. 
I recently bought some later issue all black Altama boots to save my BQ boots. They have the drains, a padded top and speedlace loops. Mine are stenciled Spike Protective - dated 4-97 - with the Panama RO SEARCH soles. |
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Posted: 6/2/2016 8:53:28 PM EDT
[#22]
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Posted: 6/2/2016 9:19:22 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
<a href="http://s164.photobucket.com/user/Jhud_album/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_16.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u32/Jhud_album/Mobile%20Uploads/image_16.jpg</a> I did a little horsetradeing with the range master,I am 
came with original mud...... is this the orignail vibram. No markings but for TREK on the bottom..and 11R They look the part! Nice! |
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Posted: 6/3/2016 7:51:06 AM EDT
[#24]
I have an old set of Black McRae's that were pretty nice and I later bought the Altima ripple sole boots that were more comfortable because they supported my arches a little better. I don't know if the McRae's have the punji insert but at least they're still American made and they have a nice jungle-style ripple sole but I haven't bought them because they're only in Coyote or Tan
https://www.mcraefootwear.com/viewProduct.php?item_id=9189 |
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Posted: 6/3/2016 8:29:41 AM EDT
[#25]
You get a lot of punji traps in your ao op?
Txl |
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Posted: 6/3/2016 8:33:20 AM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
<a href="http://s164.photobucket.com/user/Jhud_album/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_16.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u32/Jhud_album/Mobile%20Uploads/image_16.jpg</a> I did a little horsetradeing with the range master,I am
came with original mud...... is this the orignail vibram. No markings but for TREK on the bottom..and 11R Thin leather, no GI markings or date = Chinese knockoffs. |
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Posted: 6/3/2016 11:49:08 AM EDT
[#27]
Agreed....the stitching isn't correct. I remember US Cavalry outside Gate 4 at Fort Campbell used to sell knock-off jungle boots for $25.00.....
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Posted: 6/3/2016 6:09:54 PM EDT
[#28]
I know this isn't much help but here is a pic of my 1990 boot camp issued jungle boots
  " />
I wore these suckers out as an 0311.  " />
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Posted: 6/3/2016 6:45:13 PM EDT
[#29]
Still have my RO soled Jungle Boots I was issued in 1984 on day one of RIP.
They are worn the fuck out and the metal plates are all busted and make a clicking noise when you walk in them as the plates pop up and down against themselves. I've looked for replacements and seen some advertised on eBay but I don't trust those fuckers. |
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Posted: 6/3/2016 8:11:47 PM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I know this isn't much help but here is a pic of my 1990 boot camp issued jungle boots http://<a href=http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i461/cdwmdw111/IMG_1899_zpsijy8gkal.jpg</a>" />
I wore these suckers out as an 0311. http://<a href=http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i461/cdwmdw111/IMG_1900_zpspos3wwqp.jpg</a>" /> Those look like my field pair from 1993!! |
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Posted: 6/3/2016 9:32:51 PM EDT
[#31]
Awwww well I'll just put done gellin soles in there and wear them out.
And I am in the middle of a bamboo war. Someone gave me a few dump truck loads of dirt. Ten years later I've got a small forest of it all over the property. |
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Posted: 6/4/2016 7:43:22 AM EDT
[#32]
Bamboo's bad but I inherited a Chinese Sumac problem when I bought the house. I had to work at killing those things 3 years in a row to finally stop them from sprouting up everywhere. Like something from an alien planet.
Like a lot of you guys, I think the Jungle Boot was one of the best things the Army ever issued. I wore out a half dozen pairs in the field and since then working in the yard. Have one pair I've packed away and haven't had to break in yet. 1967 10Rs. 
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Posted: 6/4/2016 9:29:20 AM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: You get a lot of punji traps in your ao op? Txl I can't speak for the OP but really for Gen X sufferers of RBRD we dig this type of historical aspect because many of us vividly remember the first time we saw the Green Berets with John Wayne on WTBS, which was no small contribution to our current medical condition. I frankly have no use for them because in cold weather I could swear I felt them inside the soles (but like teenagers today I guess I was good suffering for fashion and given most of my teachers were burned out hippies, I wore anything vaguely military to piss them off) |
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Posted: 6/4/2016 9:12:01 PM EDT
[#34]
I have no idea why this thread is here or left here but whatever, since it is!
VN Jungle Boots are crap for covering ground in rough country. Guys, c'mon. Seriously. In the Civil War, there were many contracts let for boots that were single-footed, meaning, no left or right. Super cool if I could get a pair of those today. What an historical find!! That's how good VNJB's are. Historically significant, but for function, well...LOL They are really neat, and I've owned a few of them, "Vibram" and "Panama"-soled. but wow. Junk. Those of use who live in and work in the mountains are boot crazy. We search {we even Ro-Search! LOL} and struggle all the time to find boots that really work. And we have found a few that do work. VNJB's are...not even close in the line-up. For the most part all gubmnt boots are junk and the GI guys that like them, poor souls, like them because what they've' found are the best of what Uncle Sam allows them to wear. And for that I have a problem not w/ Uncle, not the mil guys. Anyway, the VN Jungle Boots are super cool as like a collection or something. As for covering ground in tough country, they are a joke, but whatever. They are neat from a historical standpoint. Years ago, when I was a kid, I wore out a pair of VNJB's and decided to do a post-mortem. I opened them up and found the steel insert had busted/cracked/broken at the ball of the foot. It wasn't spring steel, but rather simply a piece of stainless steel {it wasn't rusted}. I can't remember which maker those were. But another pair gave me tendinitis in my left heel as the leather/canvas joint was too low for my heel and wore me a terrible hot spot that went on to be crippling. I love VNJB's...as long as I don't have to wear them. LOL. |
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Posted: 6/5/2016 9:11:26 AM EDT
[#35]
Retro boot thread makes more sense than a lot of the stuff posted here.
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Posted: 6/7/2016 1:13:23 AM EDT
[#36]
IIRC, I think the older VN era JB soles were called the 'Sierra pattern' ??
In a trade several years back, I somehow ended up with a NOS pair of Altama Panama type GI's but are too small for me to ever use (8R). Too bad .... they even have the beloved 'DO NOT BOIL' insoles.
BTW, those ripple soled boots are real good for skiing downhill sideways in the mud. 
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Posted: 6/7/2016 10:52:29 PM EDT
[#37]
Back in the early 90s, right after GW1, the Marines were going to phase out the old jungle boots with black jungle boots. However, you could still wear the old OD jungle boots as long as they were serviceable. I went to cash sales and bought I think 4-5 pairs!
 After I got out, I wore out one pair hunting and farming then another pair were wore out while I was in the Air Force Reserve. I think I still have 2 pairs left around here that I need to get out and break in one of these days.
IMHO, they are some of the best boots I ever wore. Once they were broken in, they were like running shoes and yes, I put many a mile on my old jungle boots jogging. "You ain't going to war in a running shoe!" as my old 1st Sergeant would say. LOL However, the insoles IMHO were total junk. I replaced mine with Spenco brand insoles and I was in heaven. Since my days in the Marines, I've worn Danners, USMC RAT boots, and other varieties and the only boots that I liked as well as my old jungle boots were my Desert Storm desert boots. Same thing as the jungle boots but in a tan color, suede rough out leather, a padded color around the ankle and no drain holes but otherwise, pretty much the same thing. Years later when I was deploying to Afghanistan, we were issued some kind of steel toe tan desert boots. Really??? Steel toe boots??? Yeah not gonna happen so I went to the local surplus store and bought another pair of old Desert Storm desert boots and all was right with the world again....after I put in a pair of Spenco insoles of course. 
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Posted: 6/9/2016 8:25:04 PM EDT
[#38]
Old Rothcos. 3rd pattern. My buddy swears by them for climbing slickrock here in AZ. I prefer Merrell's, but the JB isn't bad...
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Posted: 6/10/2016 8:33:39 AM EDT
[#39]
I used to buy these by the sealed case of twelve from a govt surplus contractor in the 80's or 90's. They were $7 a pair in 8, 9, 10, or 11. I inquired how many pair they had, and was told "thousands". Then, one time I called to order more, and was informed that someone in Japan had purchased ALL of them. I think I still have one of the Virtnam dated empty boxes in my garage. If I can find it, I'll post some pictures.
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Posted: 6/10/2016 10:54:09 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I know this isn't much help but here is a pic of my 1990 boot camp issued jungle boots http://<a href=http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i461/cdwmdw111/IMG_1899_zpsijy8gkal.jpg</a>" />I wore these suckers out as an 0311. http://<a href=http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i461/cdwmdw111/IMG_1900_zpspos3wwqp.jpg</a>" /> |
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