Low boot conundrum

Looks like Militaria-Net's boots are roughout all over now... Soldier of Fortune's are £50 and look like the old Militaria-Net ones. You will need to strip the horrible painted finish from the top of the boot before waterproofing.
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=5403

Cheap boots don't have boot-quality leather and the sole won't have robust construction, you do get what you pay for.

Can't say with any authority on authenticity, but most boots you see are in and out leather for all periods regardless of toe shape. I can't recall seeing all 'roughout' boots, but once you have waterproofed the boots and it has all darkened down (or been blackened & waterproofed) the nap get smoothed over anyway.

Oh, and more info: [link]http://www.dererstezug.com/lowboots.htm[/link]

In the description of the Militaria-net ones it says that they now stock the all roughout ones but are yet to update the picture, so maybe they're preferred by customers?

[EDIT] Just realised that this was the first thing that CW said in his post, that'll teach me to skim read

Thanks CW, very comprehensive. Ahhhh it is paint, that explains why they look so wierd. I've seen re-enactors wearing them and they look awful, presumably they hadn't scrubbed all the gunk off first.

Cheers
Martin

Cheap boots don't have boot-quality leather and the sole won't have robust construction, you do get what you pay for.

Ne'er was a truer word spoken, Dave. My first pair of low boots were like those Epic ones. I took great care of them, always cleaning after events and applying dubbin, but after a couple of years, the hobnails all kept falling out, and when I took them to a cobbler, he said that basically the sole leather was "dead" due to the poor quality.

Hmm, thanks. Maybe I'll end up shelling out for the expensive ones after all. I'll see how flush I feel after Xmas and maybe try some different ones on at Stoneleigh.

Cheers
Martin

I can vouch for the German-made or Czech-made ones. Go direct to the makers - much quicker and cheaper than going via a UK go-between.

http://www.lederarsenal.com/

http://www.wehrmacht-shoes.com/

Have recently acquired a pair of ankle boots, what are people recommendations for waterproofing them, what do you use, what make etc, plus if I was trying to blacken them would it just be a case of using black boots polish or is there a certain technique? Or would a dark brown be more appropriate. Know plenty of you guys use repros so want all the info I can before I set about working on them. Also they appear to be a pair of the old militaria-net ones, so any advice on removing the paint?

Thanks Phil

Paint stripper to remove the paint finish - see my link viewtopic.php?f=45&t=5403

Dubbin (any dubbin/lederfet is absolutely fine but I don't like modern silicon products - proper wax/fat types are best) and age/use will darken the leather by degrees - you can add patina by judicious use of brown and black boot polish in selective areas. If you want to blacken them then do it before applying any polish or dubbin. In my experience authentic iron blacking doesn't work at all well on non-pukka boots as the leather ain't right - so I'd resort to black leather dye, then water treatments. But I love the look of well used and looked after brown boots.

Many thanks Chommers, will have fun with them at some point

I went for some of the mid range ones from Militaria.net. So far I have given them a thick coat of dubbin, followed up by a coat of neatsfoot oil which has rendered them quite dark brown. I'll go over the seams and stitching with some polish to give the colour a bit of depth. Main thing at the moment is stretching the toes a bit to accommodate my enormous feet. The neatsfoot has loosened the leather a bit and after a few applications of leather softener on the inside and wearing them as much as possible they are starting to conform to the shape of my feet. I also soaked the leather laces in neatsfoot oil for two days.

I'll aim to wear them for some walks over winter and apply some more coats of dubbin. If the toes don't sort themselves out I'll maybe put some more neatsfoot on but don't want to overdo it.

I wanted these to be brown as if I need black boots I just wear my 'captured' ammo boots (which now have about 15 coats of dubbin on and are as waterproof as wellingtons).

Cheers
Martin

That's the ticket. Although, for others, there is no need for neatsfoot oil unless you have a specific reason (such as replacing lost oils to paint stripper treatment, or accommodating foot shape) as it make leather fibres slide against one another - which is great for softening old and hard leather, but weakens new leather. Frequent dubbing is sufficient for suppleness and waterproofing. Ditto for laces - soak them in melted dubbin then wipe them dry, rather than soaking in neatsfoot, as the fibres are more liable to part when pulling them tight.

You also need to avoid putting too much dubbin on.
If the leather starts to feel like liquorice then you've overcooked it.